Christmas Coffee
Is the Christmas Coffee on the high street part of your Christmas tradition? You know the ones I mean, spicy, chocolatey and creamy names that shout Christmas comfort and joy and draw you ever closer to coffee shop queue.
We all know the Christmas coffees are a bit indulgent. Sure it's Christmas, the time of year when indulgence is common place . This particular indulgence can sometimes be daily and whilst I don't want to pour cold water on your Egg Nog Latte, I do think it's good to know what you're drinking.
Sometimes, especially when weight loss is the goal, we focus on the calories in such drinks but it's actually as important, maybe more important to look at the sugar content.
Dr Rupi from The Doctors Kitchen spoke about this on Morning Live. Across 3 sample drinks from different high street coffee shops, the sugar content ranged from 32g to 41g, in EACH drink. To put that in perspective, that's 7 - 9 cubes sugar per drink (not counting the sweetened cream and marshmallows). To put that further in perspective it is recommended we not have more than 30g of Free Sugars per day. So have one of these drinks and you have to go into hibernation for the rest of the day.
Now, I'm not here to be a scrooge or shout bah humbug, more to suggest one of these drinks is an occasional treat, not a part of your everyday routine in the month of December.
Perhaps you're wondering what the problem is with sugar. Maybe you're shouting at the screen that you don't care about calories or sugar, you don't worry about your weight. This is not a weight issue.
Here's the deal. As well as obesity, excess sugar consumption has been associated with type 2 diabetes, heart disease, high cholesterol, mood disorders, gut issues, certain cancers, tooth decay, non alcoholic fatty liver disease, and more.
But all is not lost. As well as having the odd coffee shop Christmas coffee, why not invite some friends around over Christmas and try out some of Dr Rupi's home made Christmas Coffee's.
Here are the ingredients:
🎄☕Doctor’s Orders Christmas Spiced Coffee☕🎄
👉1 tsp cardamom pods
👉3-4 cloves
👉tiny pinch of sea salt
👉2 tsp Date Molasses (or maple syrup)
👉60mls Espresso (hot)
👉200mls hot frothy Milk (of your choice)
👉1/4tsp finely grated Nutmeg
1. Make a strong espresso style coffee using a machine or whatever you use at home. Should be about 30mls for a single or 60mls for a double shot of espresso.
2. In a pestle and mortar, grind the cardamom pods and cloves
3. Add 1/2 tsp of this mixture into a coffee mug with the molasses and salt
4. Add the coffee and pour over the hot milk
5. Finish with a dusting of Nutmeg and a pinch of the cardamom clove mixture
Here are some other syrup recipes to try out too:
Doctor’s Kitchen Ginger Nut Syrup:
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp honey
tiny pinch of salt
The Doctor’s Chocolate Cinnamon Syrup:
1 tsp 100% cocoa powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp maple syrup
tiny pinch of salt
The Doctor’s Cardamom Salted Caramel Syrup:
1 tsp cardamom pods, crushed
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp raw cacao powder
2 tsp maple syrup
I can't wait to try these at home. If you try them why not tag Dr Rupi and me @janicetraceynutrition if you make them.
For more drinks, healthy flavoured coffees and some Christmas Spritzers, check out my Christmas 22 Webinar and Festive Recipe Book