5 Colorful Coffee Alternatives to Drink Around the Houses
Soho House, April 2019
From turmeric-infused golden milk to blue spirulina lattes, these are the colorful drinks to try for yourself.
When choosing a warming afternoon drink or a midmorning pick-me-up, a high dose of caffeine isn’t always what you’re looking for. To create more options and to better serve the non-coffee drinkers in our community, our North American coffee manager Amy Finn began working on a new collection of coffee-free lattes with added wellness benefits last year. “On the West Coast, where I’m based, people are really motivated by the health benefits associated with food and beverages,” she says.
The two drinks she started with were the matcha latte and the turmeric-infused golden milk latte, which combines turmeric, ginger and black pepper to achieve an anti-inflammatory effect. She soon followed these up with the blue spirulina latte, which is good for brain, skin and hair health. “The green and the yellow just looked so great together, so I thought I could do a blue one,” she remembers.
Now we serve five wellness lattes in total around our North American Houses, including a new pink beetroot latte. See our full selection of lattes below — and try one of them for yourself — around our North American Houses.
BLUE SPIRULINA LATTE
Butterfly pea flower tea powder
E3Live Blue Majik
Mint-and-honey syrup
Milk of choice
Benefits:
“Blue spirulina is an algae extract that is naturally blue. We pair it with butterfly pea flower tea, which is also rich in phycocyanin, the blue pigment protein, and it’s great for your brain function, your skin and your joints,” Finn says. “It’s kind of like a beauty latte. We sweeten it with a mint-and-honey syrup and suggest using a non-dairy milk like almond or oat.”
Where to find it:
DUMBO House
Soho House West Hollywood
Little Beach House Malibu
GOLDEN MILK LATTE
Turmeric
Ginger
Black pepper essential oil
Honey
Milk of choice (we like almond or oat)
Benefits:
“We use turmeric, ginger, black pepper essential oil and honey, which is a traditional ayurvedic flavor combination,” Finn says. “Turmeric and ginger both contain curcumin, an anti-inflammatory compound. Paired with the piperine found in black pepper, curcumin is better absorbed by the body, increasing the benefits. Then, to round out the spiciness of the ginger and the black pepper, we’ve added a small dose of honey.”
Where to find it:
DUMBO House
Soho House West Hollywood
Little Beach House Malibu
Soho House New York
MATCHA LATTE
High-grade matcha powder
Water
Milk of choice
Benefits:
“Matcha is a stone-ground Japanese green tea. The plant is grown in the shade for the last weeks of its growth cycle, which makes it rich in essential acids — in particular, a nonessential amino acid called l-theanine, which is said to promote a feeling of relaxation,” Finn says.
Where to find it:
All North American Houses
CHARCOAL LATTE
Activated charcoal (from coconut shells)
Raw cacao
Cinnamon
Monk fruit
Benefits:
“The idea behind activated charcoal is that it’s an adsorbent component, which means that it adheres to other — often unwanted — components and removes them, making it ideal for detoxifying,” Finn says. “If you consume a large amount of an adsorbent component, though, it can also drain your body of good minerals, so to balance out this potential loss, we added cacao, which is rich in minerals including calcium, copper, sodium, magnesium, iron, zinc, potassium and phosphorus. To sweeten it, we use monk fruit, which is 200 times sweeter than sugar and doesn’t spike your blood sugar.”
Where you can find it:
Soho House West Hollywood
ROSEMARY MAPLE BEET LATTE
Organic beetroot
Rosemary
Maple syrup
Almond milk
Benefits:
“Beetroot is high in antioxidants and contains nitrate, which is believed to reduce blood pressure and aid circulation,” Finn says. “To amplify these benefits, we add rosemary, which is also a rich source of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory compounds. For the sweetener, we use maple syrup, which contains natural minerals like calcium, iron, magnesium, phosphorus, sodium, potassium and zinc.”
Where to find it:
Soho House West Hollywood