HOT DRINKS, THEY’RE EVERYWHERE!

Posted on January 14, 2025January 14, 2025 by vlaw759

Especially in winter, hot drinks have a special appeal after skiing or shoveling or when the heating system is on the fritz. And sometimes just for the pleasure of it.

In areas without easy access to safe drinking water, many people prefer to boil all water. Having a hot drink can be a convenient excuse to boil water before drinking it.

Here, for your consideration, are hot drinks galore, from the routine, tried and true to the truly exotic.

Water-Based Drinks

I have a friend who drinks plain hot water, but she is surely in the minority. Putting aside coffee and tea for separate consideration, here are a few ideas for variations on hot water that don’t even need recipes.

Simple additives like a squeeze of lemon, a little sugar, molasses or honey, or some other favorite flavoring such as vanilla, blackberry syrup, etc.

Consider heating un-carbonated flavored water.

Herbs, spices, and supplements can make for a very refreshing and sometimes medicinal beverage when mixed with hot water.

And then there is herbal “tea,” made with water and anything other than Camellia sinensis or Camellia taliensis leaves, such as rooibos, chamomile, or peppermint. This is very convenient, given that there are many varieties commercially available.

Broths and bouillons: water heated with cubes or paste flavored as vegetable, chicken, beef, or whatever.

Coffee-Based Drinks

Coffee isn’t singular. There are over a hundred different types of coffee plants, but only four main types of coffee beans that are commercially produced: Arabica, Robusta, Liberica, and Excelsa. Arabica and Robusta beans are the most popular, making up well over 90% of the market.

The first consideration is black or with various additives. Popular additions include milk of whatever sort, cream, creamer, whipped cream, ice cream, condensed milk, evaporated milk, butter, sugar, sugar substitutes, flavored syrups, or other sweeteners.

A thorough examination of coffee-based drinks is clearly beyond my purpose here. Suffice it to say, the Folgers website alone lists the following:

Espresso, 7 versions
Espresso with coffee, 4 more versions
Cappuccino
Mocha
Lattes, 2 versions
Breve
Macchiatos, 2 versions
Cortado
Dirty Chai
Dalgona
Dessert Coffees, 5 versions
Turkish Coffee
Cuban Coffee
Galão Coffee
Antoccino Coffee

Hot Tea

And then there is real tea, made of leaves from the Camellia plant. Aside from water, tea is the most consumed beverage in the world. There are roughly 1500 types of tea, categorized into a few main types:

Black tea, a fully oxidized tea that can be dark amber to black in color. Some types of black tea include Assam, Darjeeling, Ceylon, and Pue Yunnan.

White tea, a naturally oxidized, non-processed tea that has a floral and fruity aroma. Some types of white tea include Pai Mu Tan and Yin Zhen.

Green tea, a tea that is minimally oxidized to retain its natural green color and fresh flavor. Green tea may have health benefits such as boosting heart health and lowering cholesterol.

Oolong tea, a distinct tea varietal native to Taiwan and Fujian province in China, has properties somewhere between green and black tea. It is a semi-oxidized tea, best steeped for 2–3 minutes at a temperature of 195°F.

Pu-Erh tea gets its smoky, earthy flavor from extended fermentation. After drying in the sun, pu-erh leaves are rolled into a pile and left to ferment for several months, then steamed, compressed, and dried again.

At Oh, How Civilized!, tea and coffee sommelier Jee Choe has provided recipes for a number of hot drinks. Some of these are not tea, in the strict sense, but they don’t clearly fit anywhere else in this blog.

Ginger spice
Pumpkin spice chai latte
Hot citron tea
Decadent chai latte
Easy chamomile tea latte
London Fog (Earl Grey tea latte)
Decadent hojicha latte
Matcha hot chocolate
Decadent Earl Grey hot chocolate
Easy matcha latte (using green tea powder)
Chocolate mint tea latte
Milk tea
Rooibos tea latte (this “red tea” is a South African herb)
Quick and easy Moroccan mint tea
Jujube ginger tea (jujube is a Chinese red date)

Juice-Based Hot Drinks

At its simplest, just heat your favorite juice, such as orange, apple, prune, or whatever.

Hot lemonade (hot water with honey and a bit of lemon) has been a common treatment for sore throats and stuffy heads for centuries.

Hot apple juice is not terribly popular, but its unpasteurized and unfiltered cousin, apple cider, is a very popular hot drink in the fall and winter.

Simply mixing boiling water with a bit of fruit preserves or compote makes a type of hot juice drink, warming and mildly sweet.

Or fancy it up a bit, for example, tomato juice with a dash of Worcestershire, or prune heated with a bit of lemon peel.

Milk-Based Hot Drinks

While some drinks already mentioned might arguably be lumped in with “milk-based” hot drinks, the ones that follow are undoubtedly so.

There is the classic, pure cup of hot (dairy) milk, especially appropriate for nighttime because it contains tryptophan. The brain uses this essential amino-acid to build both serotonin and melatonin, compounds that help us relax and prepare for sleep. Although the amount of tryptophan is small, don’t discount placebo effects, plus the effects of warmth and a full stomach!

Now there are numerous non-dairy milks available: soy, oat, almond, cashew, macadamia, pea, quinoa, rice, and maybe others I don’t know about. Consider these alone or in the options listed below.

You can find the following recipes at Through the Fibro Fog:

Honey ginger warm milk
Turkish salep drink
Cardamom milk
Nutmeg milk
Spiced milk
Turmeric latte
Golden turmeric milk
Plus 2 recipes for steamers and 2 for sweet drinks

Looking farther afield, you can find recipes like hot spiced vanilla custard milk (at The Peasant’s Daughter).

Hot Cocoa and Chocolate

Last but not least, hot chocolate and hot cocoa!

Last because you probably thought of it immediately; not least because it’s such a favorite. The basic questions are, with or without marshmallows, with or without a sprinkle of chocolate or cinnamon on top. Beyond that, what are your favorite flavorings? Peppermint? Maple?

Hot cocoa and hot chocolate are technically two different drinks! Mixing hot water or milk with cocoa powder and sugar will give you hot cocoa, which is what most of us in America think of. However, melting solid chocolate and mixing it with hot milk will give you hot chocolate, a thicker and richer beverage.

If you need a recipe, consult any cocoa tin, any comprehensive cookbook, or go online. Or, for a very simple recipe, you could just heat pre-made chocolate milk.

Try Mexican hot chocolate, with cinnamon and chili powder. Or, for a French variation, melt chocolate with cream until it is barely liquid enough to drink.

For a lighter take on hot chocolate, consider steeping cacao husks. Martha Washington reportedly enjoyed an infusion of roasted cacao husks with her breakfast!

Hot Alcoholic Drinks

Here again, recipes are everywhere in cookbooks and online. And you might note overlap with some of the preceding categories!

Hot toddy is a wintertime favorite. The classic hot toddy is made with hot water, sweeteners like honey or sugar, whiskey (often bourbon), and a stick of cinnamon or star anise.

Another popular wintertime drink is mulled wine. Mulled wine is dry red or white wine heated and spiced with cloves, star anise, and cinnamon sticks, often with oranges.

Because of the lack of pasteurization, apple cider and perry (cider made from pear juice) ferment and become alcoholic very easily. Hot Buttered Spiked Cider, besides the title ingredients, uses dark brown sugar, pumpkin pie spice, rum, orange peel, and cinnamon stick.

Spiked hot chocolate or a hot peppermint patty
Bailey’s hot chocolate
Amaretto coffee
Irish coffee
Spanish coffee
Hot buttered rum
Ginger bourbon
Cinnamon and tequila
Apple brandy hot toddy
Whiskey chai
Gaelic punch, using young Irish whiskey
Sake

Bottom Line: There are myriad ways to drink yourself warm from the inside out, not to mention warming your fingers as well. Go for it!

LIFE’S SIMPLE PLEASURES

Posted on February 13, 2024February 12, 2024 by vlaw759

The first thing I’ll say about life’s simple pleasures is that with age I am more conscious of them. That’s probably because I have more time to notice—and this is a good thing! These are among my pleasures, in no particular order.

Weather and seasons affect me daily, and always have. In the past, mostly that’s been for practical reasons: do I need an umbrella? A snow shovel? Extra sunscreen? While those questions are still relevant, now I’m also aware of breezes on my face, and the skyscape—bare branches against “Carolina”
blue sky—seasonal changes, and the varied faces of clouds.

I have stained glass panels hanging in the window over the sink and in my study window. Sunlight through those windows gives me great pleasure, more than either sunlight or colored glass alone. This underscores my preference for daylight over dark.

Drinking many mugs of water every day has made me aware of the pleasure of ice cubes—one of my favorite things! Our old refrigerator wasn’t dispensing ice well for months, so the contrast with the new one is stark.

And speaking of sensory pleasures, I enjoy flannel sheets and down comforters, and lying in bed deciding whether to get up then or later. (It’s usually later.) Even better is turning off the alarm and going back to sleep. And in a similar vein: I like to nap in my recliner in late afternoon.

*This is not my bedroom, but it sure looks pleasant!*

With the exception of high winds and rain, virtually every breakfast and lunch brings the pleasure of bird and squirrel watching. I’ve now learned the names of our resident bird species: house finches, gold finches, bluebirds, blue jays, titmice, chickadees, robins, mourning doves, mocking birds, cardinals, white-throated sparrows, catbirds, grackles and starlings, and the occasional sharp shinned hawk. I can
usually remember them! But I enjoy them regardless.

The other kitchen table pleasure is watching squirrels. I admire their athleticism. It’s amazing what having back feet that can rotate 180 degrees allows them to do! All the males I call Stanley and all the females, Olive.

Speaking of kitchen pleasures reminds me of coffee—strong, black, and moderately hot. Mocha java, Moka Batak Blend, and Columbian Supremo are among my favorites. Three particular coffee pairings bring pleasure: cranberry-nut bread with plain goat cheese, crusty bread with havarti, and anything chocolate!

Reading. I read every day—sometimes long into the night. Having more books on hand than I’ll have time to read is wonderful. I’ve often said it’s like money in the bank. Should I ever be laid up for three months, I’m prepared!

Read what? It scarcely matters. Mysteries, action/adventure, romance, creative non-fiction, memoirs, popular science… Not much poetry. But a related pleasure is finally allowing myself to not finish a book that is boring or poorly written.

And then there is laughter. It can be any sort of laughter, from giggles to guffaws, tinkling to belly laughs, as long as it comes from joy and pleasure.

Life’s small pleasures are nearly limitless. Blooming plants. Mah Jong tiles, the look as well as the feel of them. Playing computer solitaire. Playing with my jewelry, organizing “sets” of pieces that I find make pleasing combinations.

Rocks, stones, shells, sticks. A completely silent house. This list could run on, but I won’t let it.

You’ll notice that I haven’t mentioned family, friends, love, good health, writing or other big pleasures—because they are big—but pleasurable they are.

Bottom Line: Stop and smell the honeysuckle. You will be glad you did.

Consider Coffee

Posted on February 5, 2019February 6, 2019 by vlaw759

In the U.S. 83% of adults drink coffee, and 64% drink coffee daily. In a study published in the Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal, it was found that 17 percent of Americans drink more than five cups of coffee a day. So? Chances are most if not all of your characters drink coffee. But it turns out, drinking coffee isn’t always the same—e.g., you can order coffee 25,000 different ways at Dunkin’ Donuts. Here are the high points of what coffee choices say about your character’s personality, from a study by clinical psychologist Dr. Ramani Durvasula.

Drink	Personality Traits	The Light Side	The Dark Side
Black coffee	Old school Purist	Keep things simple Patient Efficient	Can be quiet and moody Abrupt and dismissive Sort of set in their ways Resistant to making changes
Latte drinkers (folks who add milk/cream and sugar)	Comfort seekers People pleasers Open book Like to soften the bitterness of life (like they soften the bitterness of coffee)	Generous with time Will go out of their way to help others	Can get over-extended Don’t always take great care of themselves
Frozen/ blended coffee drinks	Try lots of new things Socially bold Trendsetters	Childlike Spontaneous Imaginative	Fall for quick fixes Don’t always make healthy choices Can be reckless
Decaf/soy milk/ Very specifically ordered coffee	Like being in control May be labeled selfish Obsessive Perfectionist Very aware of their health and bodies	Monitor their health Tend to make healthy choices	Overfocus on rules, control, and order Overly sensitive Tend to be worriers
Instant coffee	Traditional in some ways Laid back Procrastinate	Take life as it comes Don’t get too lost in details	Too laid back Put things off and may neglect basic health issues Poor planners

Bear in mind that these are group data and may not apply to every individual. But if you are trying to create an image, know when you are going with the majority and when you are working against it.

A study published in the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs in 2014 found that heavy coffee drinkers were more likely to exhibit traits of alexithymia — aka, difficulty identifying and describing their emotions. What’s more, those who drank a lot of coffee were also more likely to have anxiety and be more sensitive to the negative consequences of getting in trouble. It’s important to note that this study used self-reporting methods and only included 106 participants.

Other research indicates that the only negative personality trait associated with excessive coffee drinking came after 10 cups. People who drink more than 10 cups of coffee a day are more likely than the general population to have a personality disorder. On the upside, the Mayo Clinic and Harvard Health Publishing reported that there are myriad health benefits to drinking a moderately large amount of coffee (say three to four cups per day: longer life expectancy, protecting against Parkinson’s disease, type 2 diabetes and liver disease, including liver cancer. Coffee also appears to improve cognitive function and decrease the risk of depression. For migraine sufferers, it can also help ward off a crippling migraine.

A Few Fun Facts that May or May Not Contribute to Your Story Line

Only two U.S. states produce coffee: Hawaii (Kona coffee), and more recently, California. Most of the world’s coffee comes from Brazil.

Coffee beans are technically seeds, the pits of the cherry-like berries found on the flowering shrubs. Coffee was originally chewed, and the cherries can be eaten as a food. The cherries can also be fermented to make a wine-type drink.

You can overdose on coffee. According to VOX, drinking about 30 cups of coffee in a very short time would be a lethal or near-lethal amount of caffeine. A video from AsapSCIENCE asserts that it would take 70 cups of coffee to kill a person weighing roughly 150 pounds.

Decaf doesn’t mean caffeine-free. Eight ounces of brewed decaf contains 2 to 12 milligrams of caffeine, compared to regular coffee which contains 95-200 milligrams. (A cup of cola has 23-35 milligrams of caffeine.)

Although coffee consumption has been around since about 800 A.D., there were periods when various movements to ban coffee were prominent, especially from 1500 through the 1700s, so be aware if you write historical fiction. Also, FYI, instant coffee has been around for nearly 250 years.

One cup of black coffee has only one calorie.

Coffee grounds can be used as an exfoliant, to make skin feel smoother and look brighter.

There’s a Starbucks at CIA.

We spend, on average, $1,110 per person per year on coffee.

Vivian Lawry

Writer

coffee