Delicately fragrant, and slightly spicy with a coffee kick to get you going!
‘What the heck is this turmeric latte or golden milk all about? Sounds a bit weird!’
That’s what I was thinking about when I first started seeing the hype.
Supposedly the next big cult drink of 2016 due to the anti-inflamatory and anti-oxidant properties of the turmeric. I wasn’t convinced.
Would it be like drinking watered-down curry?
Would it wake me up in the morning like my favourite first cup of coffee – despite the lack of caffeine?
I was going to forget about it – thinking I’d maybe try it if Starbucks put it on their specials menu, but then I kept thinking about a delicious rice-pudding-style dessert called Kheer that one of my Indian colleagues had brought into work once (when I worked in an office job). It was a creamy dessert made with rice, milk and pistachios, but it was also flavoured with cardamon – something I’d only ever associated with savoury dishes. If cardamon could taste so delicious in a sweet dish, then why not turmeric?
So I did a little experimentation….
It tried making it with almond milk and also with regular milk. With and without sugar and also with and without a sneaky spoon of coffee.
And you know what?
It’s flippin tasty!
My favourite version was made with almond milk, a little coconut sugar and coffee. I only used 3/4 tsp of really good quality instant coffee per cup, so you couldn’t taste it too much, but I felt it made it more like a morning drink to get you moving – rather than a warm and comforting drink that makes you want to curl up on the sofa.
The flavour is earthy and warming with a slight hint of heat coming from the turmeric and ginger.
I’ve only recently started using coconut sugar. Have you tried it?
It’s a brown sugar – a little less sweet than regular sugar, and it’s got this deep caramel-ish scent to it. I haven’t tried it in baking yet, but I’m looking forward to using it in some cookies and cakes – like this Carrot and Orange Traybake. It’s supposed to be much better than regular sugar (less processed, more nutrients, lower GI etc). I thought the flavour would work well in the latte without making it sickly sweet.
I don’t usually have sugar at all in coffee, so was really looking for something with just a hint of sweetness to balance out the spices.
