Priya Ramachandran

Priya Ramachandran is Coffee Alternatives’ recipe editor. A trained pastry chef, she developed recipes for a West Coast bakery group for six years before going independent.

Her approach: no recipe goes live until she’s made it at least five times, across at least two water types. “Soft Portland water and hard Austin water are basically different drinks.”

She is skeptical of anything that claims to “taste just like coffee” (“taste like and taste as well as are different promises”) and is obsessed with how roasted chicory, carob, barley, and cacao can actually taste great in a cup when you stop trying to fake coffee and start letting them be themselves.

Obligatory recipe opinion: always pre-bloom cocoa powder with a tablespoon of boiling water before adding to a latte. Saves you from a gritty cup.