Brewing, blending, and baking with the alternatives.
Of all the drinks people miss when they quit caffeine, the blended frozen one comes up the most in July. Not the hot cup, not even the plain iced coffee — th...
Every July I get the same message from readers who’ve just quit caffeine: what do I drink at 3pm when everyone else is getting an iced coffee? And every July...
Chai is the drink I get asked about most by people who’ve just cut caffeine, and it’s the one where the disappointment runs deepest. They assume that because...
Most of the caffeine-free drinks I develop are trying to stand in for coffee. Hot chocolate isn’t, and that’s why it’s such a relief to make. Nobody sips a m...
Most caffeine-free warm drinks are imitating coffee. Chicory, roasted barley, dandelion — they’re all trying, more or less convincingly, to give you back the...
A mocha is the drink people miss most when they leave coffee. Not the plain cup — the mocha. It’s the one that feels like a treat, the one you ordered when y...
I came to carob sideways. A recipe-testing client wanted a hot chocolate their evening-sensitive customers could drink at 9pm without lying awake, and cocoa ...
I make a hot drink every winter morning and an iced drink every summer afternoon. The hot one I can wing — chicory in a French press, splash of milk, done. T...
I get asked about chicory lattes more than any other drink on this site. Some people want a creamy caffeine-free morning ritual, some are tapering off coffee...
I’ll say the loud part first: chicory root is the best coffee alternative you can buy for under ten dollars. I’ve tried all of them — mushroom powders, carob...