Frozen Cinnamon Turmeric Coconut Milk Latte

Ingredients:

• 6-8 coconut milk ice cubes
• 4 cinnamon sticks
• 2 cups water
• 1.5 cups sugar
• 2 cups coconut milk (carton, not canned - I used unsweetened Silk brand)
• 1.5 tbsp turmeric
• 1/2-3/4 cup strong coffee or 4-6 ounces of espresso

This beverage begins at least four hours in advance (or ideally the night before) with making the coconut milk ice cubes. Any type of milk can be used, of course—I just really appreciate the flavor and nutrient profile of coconut milk. Silk adds even more vitamins and minerals to theirs, so if you use that, then this recipe gets you 66% of your recommended calcium and B12 intake, and 20% of your vitamin D in addition to being very tasty. Also, I’ve tried making blended coffee drinks with regular old water ice cubes, and it turns out very crappy. Don’t do it.

1. Pour coconut milk into an ice cube tray and freeze three to four hours or overnight.
2. Prepare the cinnamon syrup: Add four cinnamon sticks to two cups of water in a pot, heat on medium-high until nearly boiling. Add one and a half cups of sugar, lower heat and stir. Continue cooking for 10-15 more minutes on low, then pour into a small mason jar for cooling and storage. This makes a modest batch that you can refrigerate and use throughout the week in other stuff, too.
3. Prepare strong coffee. I use a six cup Bialetti stovetop espresso maker, which I can’t say enough good things about. It turns even low quality, pre-ground store brand coffee into a rich and flavorful brew, partly because it’s only ever heated on medium. Also, it’s extremely easy to clean compared to a French press! It doesn’t make a true espresso if you’re a purist, but a nice crema is not important in this recipe anyway.
4. Allow the coffee to cool a bit and place in the freezer. I learned way too late in life that hot liquids freeze faster than room temperature liquids (thank you, Bill Nye) so this happens very quickly when it’s freshly made. You could also do this step the night before when you’re making the coconut ice cubes. That would be very smart if you’re planning ahead for a nice morning and not just making it up as you go along on your day off like I did.
5. Prepare turmeric milk. I kept this extremely simple because there’s so much other stuff going on. I just put one and a half tablespoons of turmeric into two cups of coconut milk and heated it on low to allow the turmeric to fully dissolve and let it infuse for about half an hour into a nice deep yellow.
6. Blending time! At last, blend eight coconut milk ice cubes, turmeric milk, two to four tablespoons of the cinnamon syrup (to taste), and espresso into a blender and mix until smooth. I care a lot about kitchen tools so I will mention that I used the Nutri Ninja Pro BL456 for mine. I agonized over what blender to buy after my Nutribullet Pro failed after just a year of minimal use. I’m fairly happy with the Nutri Ninja so far, although I will say that it can be difficult to get that reverse threading to catch for opening and closing. It gets the job done though, and it’s really not bad for $60.

Thank you for reading this far unless you skipped ahead. I don’t blame you if you didn’t read the whole thing, though. It’s so much, yikes. But maybe you can get a really yogic mindset about it and infuse it with love and intentionality along the way.

Also, in the style of Alyson Lewis AKA @fillegrossiere who heavily inspired this in every way, a suggested musical pairing would be “Lambaya Puf De” by Baris Manco.