22 super duper great coffee hacks to make your morning cup that much better.
This is everything your soul could ever need to know on National Coffee Day (yes, that’s a real holiday, and it’s today!) and get your celebration started. Peace and caffeine be with you, dear friend.
1. A Mocha Chocolate Smoothie in the morning. From Liana Werner-Gray, best selling author of The Earth Diet 10 Minute Recipes, you’ll need 1 frozen banana, 1 cup almond milk, 2 teaspoons of cacao powder, 1 teaspoon organic coffee and 3 dates. Blend until smooth. High in antioxidants, magnesium and protein to start the morning with a nice healthy bang!
2. Use a natural sweetener like honey, maple syrup, or coconut sugar instead of refined white sugar or a little pink packet. Get wild with your sweeteners, because regular white sugar is so old school.
3. Try coconut creamer or milk instead of dairy. It’s high in antioxidants and won’t cause any dairy-related inflammation.
4. Use it to, um, “clear” your digestive tract. Yes, the caffeine is known to stimulate your bowels (and brain, hooray!), so you can get on with your day. Try using this health hack only if you’re near-ish a bathroom and have some time to kill.
5. Combine your caffeine fix with your kombucha habit. Our fave coffee hacks are combining two life essentials, like kombucha and coffee. This one from Chalk Point Kitchen is singing our names.
6. Make your coffee into a fancy cocktail. Speaking of life essentials, this coffee hack by Gentilly in NYC is basically the kind of stuff that makes angels float down from Heaven and sprinkle good luck dust all over your life. We think, anyway. Here’s the recipe for the Gentilly Latte:
You know you want to drink this spiked latte, we all do.
7. There’s a coffee/tea hybrid that’ll be the best of the coffee hacks for tea drinkers. Jumpy Monkey brew gives you a tasty boost with a unique combination of exotic ingredients. It combines freshly roasted peaberry coffeebeans with Argentine maté, and laces them with almonds, white chocolate and other roasted barks and roots.
Jumpy Monkey coffee enhanced tea by David’s Tea
8. There’s free coffee in your city, most likely. For example, New York Hilton Midtown and Illy are celebrating the art of coffee with free lattes this National Coffee Day from 11am – 3pm. Superstar barista artistMichael Breach will be in the hotel lobby doing complimentary latte art and taking requests. Of all the coffee hacks out there, getting it free and extra beautiful just may be the best.
9. Make coffee ice cubes. Brew some organic coffee the night before, put them in ice cube trays (once it’s cooled) and then freeze.Then each morning just pull out a few coffee ice cubes and pour your non-milk milk or actual milk over it for a delicious chilled coffee drink.
10. Try Tigernut milk. The tigernut is a root vegetable that makes a sweet and creamy milk that is dairy, nut free and soy free plus super high in iron.
11. Add a pinch of salt to your coffee to give it a smoother taste and blend. Experts swear by this one and we’re eager to give it a try.
12. Grind your own beans. David Taft, Coffee Director at Blank Slate suggests trying this to “maximize the freshness and flavor that each bean has to offer.”
13. Pour some hot water over your paper filters before use. Wetting the paper first will ensure the paper doesn’t give off any flavors and that you are only tasting the fresh, glorious beans.
14. Buy a milk frother. These tools will create hot milk so your coffee stays warmer longer – and it will also provide a nice foam on top.
15. Get wild, try a banana milk latte. Never heard of that? It’s cool, it’s pretty new on the scene. More on banana milk lattes and other cool coffee jazz here.
16. Try the Papa Coffey bar from Chocolate Twist. It’s a caffeine-fueled confection made of coffee-infused caramel and bittersweet ganache dipped in bittersweet chocolate.
17. Roast your own beans at home. Who knew that this was even possible? Behmor even connects to your smartphone. Whoa.
18. Try an Aeropress to make your coffee. Similar to other plunge coffee makers but with the added bonus of a little paper filter in the bottom. This makes super smooth coffee and is easy to use.
19. Just schmear it all over your lips gloss form. Can everyone just be grateful for a minute about the fact that they were born into an era where mocha lipgloss is a thing? High five, because cutting out the middle men (read: calories, drinking, sipping, swallowing) is poss one of the most convenient coffee hacks ever. Nice work, Beauty Bakerie.
Swiss Mocha by Beauty Bakerie
20. There’s more FREE coffee! Bless this National Coffee Day thing, because just about everyone and their mother is finding a way to keep us loaded up on the good stuff. Blank Slate Coffee + Kitchen (an all day café in the NoMad neighborhood of NYC) is teaming up with celebrated coffee roaster Devocion (the industry’s only exclusive farm-to-cup coffee provider) to celebrate National Coffee Day.
21. If you haven’t tried out that Bulletproof coffee that everyone was talking about earlier in the year, now is the time. Add some grass-fed butter or coconut oil to your morning cup to add a boost of healthy fats and other nutrients. Read this first though.
Have other great coffee hacks or ideas on where to score the best cup? Leave a comment below to be a community caffeine helper.
Love this article? For more beauty, style, travel, and trending topics check out The Luxury Spot on Facebook. Like us and we’ll love you back!
