Tag Archives: mocha

Root to Bean – a Maca Mocha Cocktail

May 7, 2018

I am a little embarrassed how long this recipe took to get up. I made it months ago, but them Vegan MOFO had a challenge for green. So I bumped up my priority to post that cocktail over this one. Then time just went by, then Wolfie switched to “one nap” and I just lost a large chunk of my alone time. So here I am FINALLY posting this.

So I mentioned in my previous cocktail that supposedly 70s cocktails are the new “it” thing. I am not sure about that, I am not one to keep up with trends (boozy or otherwise) but I always had a soft spot for white russians.

Yup- I can hear it. Your skepticism about my love of white russians. And I don’t blame you. Who wouldn’t think of The Dude, in his ragged jammies sloshing in dairy all willy-nilly in his glass. I think some of my favorite things about it is how simple it really is to make. And if you don’t have a creamer, well, you can just have a black russian.

Bum typical Millenial me, I can never just let this drink be. I need to switch things all over with my hipster garbage, even removing the “Russian” out of “White Russian,” and even taking away the “white” out of it. I can hear some old white man screaming “political correctness out of control!” I will admit, I like my recipe, but there isn’t much similar to the original inspiration.

So pretty much I had a bottle of creme de cacao and didn’t know what to do with it. I also had a bottle of Maca Mocha by Rebbl. I love this stuff, so many umami, rich, bitter, and chocolatey flavors. So I thought, why not mix cocoa liquor with cocoa drinks? You can easily sub this with any chocolate plant milk. I’ve done with chocolate ripple and chocolate soy milk, and both yummy.

Are you are wondering what type of creme de cacao do I use? You can easily find some that are vegan at your local liquor store. The creme isn’t for cream, but for the creamy texture from the sugar. You can see on barnivore, all “creme de cacao” are vegan, but the Godiva chocolate liquors ARE NOT VEGAN. And if you are wondering what the difference between “brown” and “white” creme de cacao, it is simply the color (which doesn’t make a difference with this drink.) Feel free to sub it with chocolate flavored vodka, especially if you don’t like your drinks too sweet.

The easy answer for the coffee part of this drink is to use Kahlua. They are vegan, so that is pretty easy. But I’ve been eyeing up this beautiful bottle of Grind Espresso Spirits. It is pretty much a hipster version of Kahlua, coffee flavored rum.

Sadly for my non-drinking readers, there isn’t any real “virgin” version of this drink. So I am sorry about that. But it is a really yummy drink for any chocolate and coffee lover.

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Posted by Jennifer in Recipe Tags: cocktails, coffee rum, creme de cacao, Kahlúa, maca, maca mocha, mocha, rebbl

Vegan Snack Attack #5: Rebbl

December 23, 2015

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The other day I was at Whole Foods looking for some Eggnog, they were all out. I was a little crabby because that was pretty much why I went there. So I handle it the way I always do, grab a fancy as fuck drink. I love liquids, something about slurping up a liquid really makes my tummy happy. I also am a sucker for trying out new flavors and companies. I happen to notice a matcha latte, grabbed it and went to the register.

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It has been awhile since I’ve had a matcha latte since it is something I kind-of have to make at home. There aren’t many vegan matcha latte, which then prompted me to flip to read the ingredients- NOT VEGAN. I do that often when I am hungry, as it happened with Califia’s Protein Drinks (which are now vegan). Luckily it was only honey in the matcha latte, which isn’t the worst considering I still have some mixed feeling about honey consumption (I try to avoid it, but my husband doesn’t so it kind-of sneaks into my diet from time to time.) I am pretty bummed since tea drinks love using honey, and it has been proven that it doesn’t have any special effect on your blood sugar levels short term.

BUT the drink itself was amazing. If you are a “plant based” vegan and will still eat honey, I would recommend this drink. There are tons of flavors going on, and the coconut wasn’t overpowering. I loved how much you could taste of the plants in it, and reminded me of the matcha spirulina shakes I have for breakfast. Well, that wasn’t too far off since there is spirulina in the drink as well.

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Since it was so good I went to the Rebbl website to see if all their drinks had honey. Turns out that they only put honey in their matcha latte and turmeric golden-milk. I noticed they had some maca drinks which I haven’t had any maca in a while, and boy do I love it. I am haven’t had it in a while since of the insane prices that happened last year. So I was irresponsible and ran back to the store after work and grabbed whatever they had- maca mocha.

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Let me say this is super amazing. I think I will be poor because I want to drink this all day. There is no coffee or cocoa (or not much cocoa) in the drink, which I think gives it such a great flavor. They use chicory root, which is known in the USA in the south to be mixed with coffee during rations. Carob has a reputation of being crappy fake chocolate, but I like its richer flavor, especially with savory flavors.

I am really liking these drinks and the company seems pretty awesome as well. They seem to trying and make sure all food is fair trade, and they donate 2% of the sales to Not For Sale. I hope I will be able to try their maca cold brew, reishi chocolate, and ashwagandha chai. I am bummed about the use of honey in their matcha latte and turmeric golden-milk since I liked the matcha, and the turmeric drink looks pretty tasty. I really hope they change the recipe at some point, but for now I’ll stick with that maca mocha.

*NOTE* After writing the rough draft I went to Whole Foods AGAIN and found the reishi chocolate. It was awesome as well, and pretty much satisfied any chocolate milk cravings. The drink was super decadent and would probably taste great if it was gently heated to make a hot chocolate. Although it was super awesome, it was a dynamic in flavor as the matcha or maca mocha drinks.

Posted by Jennifer in Food Review, Reviews Tags: coconut milk, maca, matcha, midweek munchies, mocha, plant based, rebbl, Snack Attack, vegan, vegan snack attack

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Vegan Fudgy Mocha Pops

June 1, 2015

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Is anyone else dying from the heat? Nope? No one? I find it a little funny that Jon and I are probably the opposite of the popular view on temperature. Everyone complains about winter, jacks up their heat, and bundle up. While Jon and I are excited that we can keep COLD this winter in our new house. Normal people talk about retiring in Florida where it is warm, we talk about moving more and more up north. Maybe the north pole. Point is that we are horrible people and are very cranky right now because of this lovely heat.

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I also think I know why I started to drink so much. The heat. Nothing is more satisfying than an cold light beer on a hot day. And it probably helped that I would be in a small kitchen sweating bullets, having a bottle of beer would be nice temporary relief. But beer is expensive, and probably not the best thing for me. So these ice pops will have to do.

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These pops aren’t the healthiest, but they are really cheap to make. So they are healthy for your mental health (less stress about money! okay I know I’m pushing it)! They mostly just use regular sugar, which I find dissolves fine with blender, but I divided the load a little with agave, which also helps prevent ice crystals from forming.

The only thing you’ll need that you might not have is a popsicle mold. I’m not too picky and picked up some molds from a local grocery store. They are plastic jelly belly molds, they aren’t perfect. But I like the shape, they were cheap, and I already own them. There a lots of other options out there including metal molds. But for these molds, this recipe makes enough for 12 popsicles! So I think you save a lot of money by making your own pops instead of buying something else in stores.

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The secret to these pops are leftover coffee. My husband makes coffee every morning with his french press. After he is done there is a small amount of coffee leftover that is thick with coffee soot. I always take this small amount, probably about 1 ounce, and save it in a small container in the fridge. By the end of the week I usually have a cup of really strong coffee to make something with. Even though the coffee is really strong, I am surprised how little you actually taste in these pops!

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I used some silken tofu, but if you don’t want to use that, you can try using 1/2 cup soaked cashews instead. I personally don’t like using them since they have a distinctive odor when you freeze them. It is really odd, and I personally don’t find it as annoying as my husband does. But the fats from the nuts will give a nice creaminess.

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Posted by Jennifer in Recipe Tags: chocolate, coffee, fudgy, mocha, popsicle, silken tofu, tofu, vegan