Note: I was sent a DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother in order to write this Iced Latte recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
We had a little bit of a respite from the heat, but those August temperatures are back! So it’s the perfect time to test out DREO‘s BaristaMaker Milk Frother’s Cold Foam option; Iced Latte time!
This Iced Latte recipe includes a recipe for an espresso simple syrup to add some sweetness to the latte without taking away from the bold coffee flavor. You can make the espresso syrup ahead of time and store in your fridge until ready to use.
If you want to learn more about DREO’s BaristaMaker Milk Frother, check out my last post featuring this snazzy appliance: Ube Au Lait.
Ingredients:
Espresso Syrup:
1 tablespoon espresso powder
1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar
Iced Latte (makes one serving, multiply as needed):
Note: I was sent a Hurom H320 Slow Juicer in order to write this post including a recipe for Green Juice. Opinions are mine alone.
This summer, I have really been enjoying having a CSA share again. However, no matter how hard I try, it is still difficult to use up all of those beautiful fruits and vegetables!
When Hurom contacted me about trying one of their Slow Juicers, I felt like the timing was perfect! What a great way for me to utilize these ingredients more, like in this recipe for Green Juice!
My husband has been making himself “green drinks” for years now in a blender (paid link) but I have trouble getting over the super pulpy texture of it. So Hurom’s H320 Slow Juicer (paid link) called out to me immediately. Not only is the juicer quite the visual stunner (shown in color “Kale”), but it also has two different strainers, one which yields an ultra-low pulp juice.
Despite the name, slow juicers are still pretty darn quick. Hurom’s patented Slow Squeeze Technology uses an auger to squeeze out juice (similar to how you would hand-squeeze an orange). This natural motion minimizes damage to ingredients, keeping their natural taste and nutrition intact.
Photo courtesy of Hurom
I am still learning the ins and outs of juicing and how to create the perfect balance of tasty and nutrient-rich juices, but I figured I’d take inspiration from my husband’s green drinks for my first try to make this Green Juice.
This recipe for Green Juice uses quite the colorful group of fruits and veggies, but the color of the kale and spinach wins out in the end, providing that nice green color to the drink.
Ingredients (makes ~16 oz juice; multiply as needed):
Note: I was sent a DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother in order to write this Ube au Lait recipe. Opinions are mine alone.
I am fairly serious about my coffee. I genuinely cannot think of the last time I did not start my day with a home brewed coffee, or a coffee or espresso-based beverage from a local cafe. Despite my love of coffee, I have rarely tried to make fun coffee drinks at home. The frothers I have tried in the past just don’t really seem to cut it; the handheld frothers have trouble creating the microfoam desired for lattes or creating a thick enough foam for my favorite beverages. Not to mention, they don’t do anything to get that foam to the proper temperature!
I was recently contacted by DREO, a leader in smart home innovation, about their launch of the DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother, and I couldn’t wait to try it out! The BaristaMaker is the most professional smart milk frother capable of creating latte art with all types of milk (dairy and non-dairy), delivering barista-quality microfoam at the touch of a button. BaristaMaker also offers multiple frothing settings, allowing you to choose from microfoam, thick foam, and cold foam, depending on your preference and the type of beverage you are making.
DREO is not messing around with this BaristaMaker. DREO BaristaMaker is the culmination of extensive research, patented impeller combo design, and tailored algorithms meticulously developed to replicate the technique of professional baristas. After thousands of simulations mimicking the frothing process of expert baristas in their Beverage R&D Lab, DREO has developed a milk frother capable of emulating the froth quality found in commercial coffee shops, surpassing the capabilities of most traditional, off-the-shelf home frothers with unmatched froth quality and texture.
DREO BaristaMaker Milk Frother will be available on Kickstarter from August 13th, with a Super Early Bird offer of up to 30% off the suggested retail price of $99. If you join the DREO community now, you could win a grand prize worth $3,200! Plus, if you sign up for the BaristaMaker launch on dreo.com, you can now enjoy a $15 storewide discount. On September 15th, the BaristaMaker Frother will be available to the wider public at full price on dreo.com and more trusted retailers.
I am still trying to master my latte art making with the snazzy BaristaMaker (and am having a ton of fun trying!), but wanted to share a recipe that shows how easily you can make a cafe-quality cafe au lait with minimal effort.
I wanted to try out the BaristaMaker’s blending abilities as well as highlight the Hot Thick Foam option. I’m pretty sure an Ube au Lait isn’t a “thing,” but it’s too pretty and tasty to not share! (Plus, “ube au lait” is super fun to say.)
This Ube au Lait recipe is so simple to make and tastes as good as it looks! Ube is one of my favorite flavors to incorporate into, well, anything I can. If you’ve never had ube before, the flavor is similar to vanilla, with a bit more nuttiness, so it is a perfect complement to coffee.
Ingredients (makes 2 coffees)
1 cup (8 oz) milk of your choice (I’ve used whole milk and oat milk)
Note: I was sent a bottle of Valdo Marca Oro Prosecco DOC Brut and a bottle of Valdo Marca Oro Rose Prosecco in order to write this post and recipe for Rosemary Grapefruit Prosecco Cocktail. Opinions are mine alone.
I love a simple cocktail that still somehow feels celebratory. That’s where Prosecco cocktails come in! Prosecco tends to be my sparkling wine of choice. A little bubbly always makes everything feel a bit more special, don’t you think?
Later this month, (June 24-30) is National Prosecco Week so I wanted to celebrate a bit early! National Prosecco Week is the largest nationwide celebration of Prosecco DOC. It’s a nationwide campaign that is supported by the Prosecco DOC Consortium. Every year, National Prosecco Week reaches 1,000+ e-commerce, restaurants, and brick-and-mortar stores across the US!
For this Rosemary Grapefruit Prosecco Cocktail, I’m using Valdo Marca Oro Prosecco DOC Brut. Made with 100% Glera grapes and aged for three months using the Charmat method, this bubbly is characterized by a crisp palate and fine effervescence. This prosecco is structured yet bright, making it a beautiful pairing with the woody rosemary and tart grapefruit.
Ingredients (serves 1, multiply as needed):
Rosemary Syrup (makes enough for about 5 cocktails):
If you’ve never had a Paloma Cocktail before, you are in for a treat! This 3-ingredient cocktail is a refreshing tequila-based drink perfect for warm weather!
Originating in Mexico, Palomas are sometimes compared to margaritas, but they are really closer to a greyhound, which is made with gin and grapefruit juice.
The Paloma Cocktail is one of the most simple cocktails to make. It is made right in the serving glass so you don’t need any bartending equipment to make it!
Ingredients (makes one glass, multiply as needed):
2 ounces blanco tequila
the juice of one lime
4 ounces grapefruit soda (like Jarritos – paid link)
Note: I was sent bottles of OCEAN SPRAY CRAN•TROPICAL™ CRANBERRY TROPICAL JUICE DRINK in order to make this post. Opinions are mine alone.
Outdoor summer events call for fun cocktails, don’t you think? And this oh so pretty (and tasty) Tropical Margarita from Ocean Spray is sure to become one of your favorites outdoor sips!
I’m still trying out some recipes for my sister’s upcoming baby shower, which is going to be bumble bee themed. I’m working on making a beehive cake and have already determined a batch cocktail with honey to serve. Because it is a baby shower, it seemed only appropriate to also serve an alcohol-free beverage. After testing a few versions, this recipe for Honey Ginger Lemonade the perfect nonalcoholic drink for my sister to enjoy!
This recipe has just four ingredients and feels special enough for a baby shower or other celebration!
I am in full preparation mode for my sister’s upcoming baby shower. We are doing a honeybee theme, I’ve been working on a beehive cake, honeycomb decorations, and honey-filled beverages, including this Bees Knees Batch Cocktail.
The Bee’s Knees is a Prohibition-era cocktail made with gin, lemon juice, and honey simple syrup. This batch cocktail version adds lemon seltzer to make it more of a sip-able day cocktail with a little bit of fizziness.
Ingredients (makes 20 servings; multiply/divide as needed):
Note: I was sent samples of various shochu for a virtual tasting and in order to make this Shochu Coffee Seltzer Cocktail. Opinions are mine alone.
One of my favorite things about having this food blog is that I am sometimes given the chance to learn more about ingredients and products that I have never heard of before. Shochu is certainly one of those items, and I am glad I now know about it!
A few months back, I had the opportunity to attend a virtual shochu tasting hosted by Christopher Pellegrini, author of the Shochu Handbook (paid link) and one of the co-founders of Honkaku Spirits. Shochu is a Japanese distilled spirit made from grains and vegetables, typically sweet potato, barley, or rice. Despite being widely available in Japan, shochu isn’t very well known in the US. Apparently less than half of 1% of shochu made in Japan is exported!
Depending on the ingredients in a specific shochu, the flavors can vary wildly. Koji, a mold used to break down the starches into fermentable sugars, can also impact the taste. There are three kinds of koji that are used in making shochu – black, yellow, and white, with white being the most commonly used in shochu. Yellow koji results in a fruity and floral flavor, and is commonly used to make sake, while black koji imparts an earthy, mineral taste to the shochu.
Shochu is typically enjoyed diluted either with hot water or cold water but can be used to make various cocktails as well. For our tasting, we tried eight different shochu, with quite a range of flavors. Nishihira Distillery’s Kana tasted faintly like a bourbon due to being aged up to one year in oak casks. Another from Fursawa Distillery, Motoko, had almost a mushroom-y note to it, very earthy and funky. The one that stood out to me the most, however, was from Tensei Distillery. Mugi Hokka is a dark roasted barley shochu that has dark chocolate and coffee notes to it.
I am quite the fan of Eggnog (as well as its coconut-y cousin, Coquito), so once it hits December, I am up for any excuse to have a little sip of it!
The Mixer, a website with recipes for cocktail making for all occasions, must know of my affinity for eggnog, because they sent me a recipe for an Eggnog Martini that I just had to try and share!
This recipe is quick and easy because it uses store-bought eggnog. To make it even more simple, stir up a large batch so when you’re ready to enjoy with friends, all you have to do is pour it into glasses!
Eggnog is synonymous with the holidays, so I wanted to share The Mixer’s recipe ASAP so you can enjoy it with friends and family as well!
Note: I was sent a copy of Muffins (paid link) by Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
One of the best perks of being a food blogger is the ability to receive and review cookbooks. Not only are they a great source of inspiration for me and my cooking journey, but they also provide a little peek into other fellow passionate cooks and bakers.
This latest cookbook, Muffins (paid link) by Cyndi Duncan and Georgie Patrick, focuses on one of my favorite foods. Muffins are one of my go-to choices for food prepping for the week.
From comforting favorites to spicy surprises, Muffins cookbook includes delicious recipes for more than 70 nourishing breakfast staples, fruity bites for brunch, and savory morsels that go great with soups and salads. The cookbook also includes ingredient substitutions, helpful baking methods, and other useful kitchen tips.
As my husband was paging through the cookbook, their recipe for Spicy Peach and Nut Muffins caught his attention. I used that recipe as inspiration to make these Spiced Walnut Peach Mini Bundt Cakes. Mini Bundt Cakes are essentially fancy muffins anyway, don’t you think?
And, if you have no interest in my fake fancy muffins, no worries! I’ve included info below to make these as normal muffins by using a cupcake pan.
Ingredients (makes approximately 12 mini Bundt cakes or 18 cupcake-sized muffins):
Note: I was sent a Drinkmate OmniFizz Beverage Carbonator in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
I know I’m not alone that once the calendar says September, I start assuming fall weather is right around the corner. And yet, the warm weather always holds on longer than I expect.
This recipe for a Fizzy Bourbon Apple Cider is the perfect cocktail for these still-warm evenings while still having a decidedly autumnal flavor.
This pretty little machine does not require electricity, so it is easy to use basically anywhere. Just screw in the CO2 cylinder, add your ingredients, and press down to carbonate!
The carbonation adds a lightness to the cocktail, resulting in a super refreshing apple cider beverage. This is going to become one of your favorite summer-into-fall cocktails!
Note: I was sent a bottle of Black Button Distilling’s Bespoke Bourbon Cream in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
If you’re a fan of creamy cocktails, I have the perfect cocktail to share with you today! The team at Black Button Distilling sent me a recipe for a Maple Chai Latte Cocktail that sounded so tasty I knew I had to pass it along.
Black Button Distilling, based out of Rochester, NY, was actually Rochester’s first grain-to-glass distillery since prohibition when it was established in 2012. The cocktail is made with Black Button Distilling’s Bespoke Bourbon Cream, which combines their hand finished bourbon and local farm fresh New York State cream — it’s similar to Irish Cream but the bourbon brings a different (and delicious!) flavor profile.
This Maple Chai Latte plays up the vanilla and caramel notes in the Bourbon Cream with the addition of maple syrup, a chai simple syrup, and coffee liqueur.
You can buy chai simple syrup (paid link), but I’ve included a recipe below in case you want to make your own at home, like I did.
Ingredients (serves 2):
ice
3 oz Bespoke Bourbon Cream
4 oz coffee liqueur
1 oz Chai simple syrup (recipe below)
1 oz maple syrup (I used a bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup to really up the flavor!)
Note: I was sent a Holiday Tea Package from Adagio Teas in order to write this post. Opinions are mine alone.
The holidays are fast approaching, so hopefully you’re ok with me doing a Christmas-themed post. I couldn’t wait to show off this yummy recipe for a Reindeer Fuel Tea Latte, and highlight some awesome holiday offerings from Adagio Teas!
Lattes are typically made with espresso and hot steamed milk, but this uses a stronger blended tea from Adagio Teas calls Reindeer Fuel, topped with steamed froth milk.
Reindeer Fuel is a Limited Edition blend of black tea, toasted mate, cocoa nibs, peppermint and ginger that is “specially formulated to give Santa’s team the caffeine boost they need to keep dashing through the snow.” It is only available as a gift with a purchase starting today, November 15th, so if this sounds yummy to you, make sure to stock up ASAP!
There are plenty of awesome gifts for others (or yourself!) at adagio.com, including a tea Advent Calendar to help you count down the 24 days before Christmas and a 12 Days of Christmas Gift Set is intended to be enjoyed during the 12 days after Christmas.
The advent calendar includes 24 individual servings (enough tea for an 8oz cup of tea) for each day between December 1 and Christmas Day. Adagio sent me one of the calendars so if you purchase one, you can enjoy it along with me on my Instagram stories in December!
The 12 Days of Christmas Gift Set includes 12 different teas that line up with the “gifts” listed in the 12 Days of Christmas song. Each single serving of loose tea comes in its own little tin, which line up to create a fun scene. Even better, they can be hung as ornaments until ready to be brewed!
Adagio Teas have a bunch of other Christmas-themed gifts on their website, along with an impressive number of teas, teaware, and other gifts that are worth checking out too.
On to the recipe!
Ingredients (serves 1, multiply as needed):
8 oz boiling water
2 teaspoons Reindeer Fuel tea
1 tablespoon half and half (or oat milk to make dairy free)
Some mornings, I wake up and want to treat myself to something a little bit more special than my typical morning coffee.
Now that I’ve been working from home full time for 18 months, I don’t really go to coffee shops anymore, so in order to have a fancy coffee treat, I have to make it myself!
A frappe is perfect for those mornings where you need a pick me up. It is a blended coffee drink served cold, typically topped with a nice dollop of whipped cream, and is surprisingly easy to make. This Mocha Frappe recipe uses just 7 ingredients to make a chocolatey, frothy coffee concoction.
I suggest preparing the espresso the night before so that you can make it and enjoy it quicker the next morning.
Ingredients (makes 2 servings, multiply as needed):
