Java and Nut Juice...it's a winner. Califia Farm's Cold Brew Coffee with Almond Milk

I don't have a lot of vices but of the few I have, coffee is far and away the most prominent. My coworkers can attest to what a difference in personality I have if I roll into the office in the a.m. sans coffee. Let's just say...it's NOT pleasant.  So imagine my delight, when by happenstance I stumbled across a coffee product line that was delicious, convenient, and good for me?  Lemme tell you about my two new fave beverages:

XX Espresso Cold Brew Coffee with Almond Milk and Triple Shot Cold Brew Coffee with Almond Milk by Califia Farms.  

Both are delicious and low cal, much better than whatever Mocha-Choca-Bullshit you order at Starbucks.  I've bought the individual sizes at the Rite Aid by my work and have bought both individual sizes and the larger sizes in the grocery section of Target.  Raley's and the Co-Op also sell some of their stuff too but I think it might be pricier.  There's other flavors too - Dirty Chai, Salted Caramel, Mocha, Mocha Mexica, and Cocoa Noir. Mmmm...

A few interesting facts:

Califia's bottles are recyclable (Plastic #5).

Califia's almond milk is Kosher. Their products are Pareve and Orthodox Union is their Rabbinical Certifier

Their products are non-organic currently; however, they are all non-GMO.

Califia's iced coffees with almond milk have no saturated fat, ares soy-free, dairy-free, gluten-free, cholesterol-free, and carrageenan-free.

* This is not a sponsored post. The stuff just tastes good and deserved a shout out.

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Beat the Heat by Stopping Into Vic's Café

3193 Riverside Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95818.  (916) 475-1223.
http://cafevics.com

Mr. S. and I have a ritual that's been going for awhile now. Every other week after his haircut, we meet up at Vic's and get two coffees to-go, we then either walk around the Land Park neighborhood commenting on yards (we're always trying to get landscaping ideas for his yard) or head over to the WPA Rock Garden to chat and catch each other up on our days. It's a simple date but a nice one, a little downtime during the hectic week.

Up until recently we would always meet at the Temple Coffee on S Street, but our visits there have been tapering off. Sure, we still go there if we're getting some morning joe to-go but we rarely stay there and hang out anymore. The patio is always too full, the coffee shop is bursting with people camping out with their laptops for HOURS on end and the newer staff members just aren't as friendly. The coffee is still quite delicious though. Vic's, on the other hand, is peaceful, has plenty of seating and the staff always seems glad to see a customer. Best of all, they serve the Temple coffee that I love. By the way, I can attest that their barista, George, makes a mean iced Americano (my current fav summertime drink). In addition to standard coffee drinks, they also serve Italian sodas, loose teas and scrumptious blended drinks with homemade whipped cream.

If you're looking for some nibbles, this community coffee shop also offers a limited menu of breakfast burritos, salads, sandwiches and Old Soul Co. pastries. And of course- you can always pop into their wonderful, old-fashioned ice cream parlor next door afterwards to satiate your sweet tooth. Vic's is a terrific addition to the neighborhood. There's something for everyone. My only wish is that they would invest in some tables for outside. There's plastic patio chairs lined up in a row out there currently, but it's not a comfortable atmosphere for hanging out in and I love to chat while drinking my coffee. Inside though, they do have chairs, tables, booths, comfy couches...and the ever-essential Wi-Fi.

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Jujube-Ginger Tea

If you've ever spent any time wandering around the produce section of an Asian supermarket, you've probably run across these:

The ziziphus jujube goes by many names- but most commonly it's called a red date, Chinese date or jujube. It's part of the Buckthorn botanical family and has been cultivated by the Chinese for over 4,000 years. In ancient times, it was classified as one of the five celebrated fruits of China along with peach, plum, chestnut, and apricot.  

Jujubes are a smooth, oval-shaped edible drupe with a small stone in the center. The outer layer is a bit of a pale yellow-green color and the Styrofoam-like white flesh tastes like a bland apple. Most cultures put jujubes out in the sun to dry out and as they mature they turn a golden brown and take on a sweeter taste. Eventually they take on a red color and wrinkle up like old man testicles. The fruit is used to make a multitude of items- jams, tea, wine, lozenges, a variety of desserts and even jujube butter. (Also jujubes make a great substitute for dates in recipes.) The fruit and seeds are also used in Korean and Chinese medicine to alleviate stress, help with insomnia, lower blood pressure and to help treat colds, flus and sore throats. Jujubes contain twenty times more Vitamin C than any other citrus fruit. 

Jujube Tea

Ingredients

8 cups water
15-20 dried jujubes, cut in half and seed removed
1/2 cup fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
1/4 cup fresh mint, sliced
4 tablespoons honey (optional)

Instructions

1. Wash your dried jujubes in cold water. Discard the water.
2. Place 8 cups of water into your pot. Add in jujubes and ginger. Bring to a boil then lower to a simmer.
3. Simmer for 20 minutes. Add honey and mint. Simmer for 5 more minutes.
4. Remove from heat. Allow to steep for a few more minutes.
5. Strain. Keep the liquid and discard the solids.
6. Serve hot or chilled.

* You can also make this recipe in a slow cooker for a longer steep.
* If you want to change up the flavor, you can substitute some cinnamon sticks for the fresh mint.

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Have You Checked This Out?

Tired of tart lemonades, sugary colas and plain old iced tea? Looking for a new refreshing summertime beverage? Recently, while raiding the frozen food section at Trader Joe's, I was given a sample of their TJ's Pomegranate Green Tea. Now, I think I'm addicted to this stuff and am stockpiling my fridge with it like it's going out of style. It's low in calories, tastes great and both ingredients have been associated with reducing heart disease. How can you go wrong with that?

If that alone doesn't convince you, click below to read about other green tea and pomegranate benefits:  

Green Tea 

Pomegranates

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Wedang Ronde ( Glutinous Balls in Ginger Water )

Ingredients:

• 50 gr peanut,roast, and grind coarsely.
• 50 gr sugar
• 150 gr glutineous rice fluor
• 1,5 teaspoon tapioca starch
• salt
• about 150ml warm water.
• green & red food coloring

The ginger water:

• 300cc water
• 10 cm ginger, crushed
• 2 stalks lemon grass
• 2 pandan ( screwpine )leaves
• 300 gr sugar

Directions:
1. Mix ground peanut with sugar. Set aside. 2. In a bowl, mix glutineous rice fluor + tapioca starch + salt. (or sugar according to Ben) 3.Add warm water little by little until mixture is pliant. 4. Devide the mixture into three. One for red, one green, and one plain. Form litlle balls about the size of a marble. Fill with the peanut mixture. 5.Cook the balls in hot boiling water until floating. Remove and set aside. 6. Boil all the ginger water ingredients. 7.Lower the heat.Keep cooking for another 15 minutes for the spiciness and aroma to infuse. 8. Serve warm/hot with the glutineous balls.

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Indonesian Ice Drink/ Es Campur

This beverage is a favorite in Indonesia and is often sold by street vendors at festivals.The drink’s colorful, varied ingredients give it a very festive look and taste.

ingredients:

• 1 package gelatin dessert, any flavor
• 5 ice cubes per person
  
• 1 14-oz. can pineapple chunks, cut into small cubes
  
• 3 tbsp. canned corn, drained and washed
  
• 3 tbsp. canned kidney beans, drained and washed
  
• 1 14-oz. can coconut segments, cut into small pieces*
  
• 1 14-oz. can mandarin orange segments, drained, washed, and cut into small pieces
  
• 1 mango, cut into small pieces*
  
• grenadine, snow cone syrup, or cherry-flavored Italian soda syrup
  
• 1 14-oz. can reduced-fat sweetened condensed milk

Directions:

1. Make gelatin in a medium casserole pan, according to the package instructions. When it’s firm, cut into small cubes.
2. Grind ice cubes in a blender until well crushed and divide ice evenly into three to six glasses, depending on how many servings you want.
3. Into each glass, sprinkle 1 tbsp.gelatin cubes, 1 tbsp. pineapple pieces, 1 tsp. corn, 1 tsp. kidney beans, 1 tbsp. coconut segments, 1 tbsp. mandarin orange segments, and 1 tbsp. mango pieces.
4. Top each glass with 1/4 cup grenadine or syrup and 1/4 cup sweetened condensed milk. Stir. Serve with a straw and spoon.

*Look for cans of coconut segments inAsian grocery stores.
** See tip on page 42 for instructions on how to cut a mango.

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Ginger Coconut Coffee (Bajigur)

Like most recipes, this one comes in myriad combinations. Some warungs add a layer of sweet bread cubes instead of coconut.

ingredients:

• 1 inch fresh ginger, sliced thinly
• 1/2 tsp, grated fresh nutmeg
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 2 cloves
• 1 inch lemon grass, minced
• 4 Tbs. Coffee, powdered
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 Tbs. plam sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 4 tbs young coconut flesh

directions:

• Heat the ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves and lemon grass in 3 cup water. Simmer ligthly for 10 minutes.
• Turn off the heat, add the ground coffe and allow to steep for a few minutes.
• Strain the solids from this liquid and add the coconut milk, palm sugar and salt. Simmer gently for 2 minutes.
• Add the coconut flesh and a sprinkle of nutmeg on top.

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Es cendol

ingredients

• 125 gr / 4½ oz rice flour
• 50 gr / 2 oz sago flour
• 75 cc / 2½ oz pandan leaves water (boil water with pandan leaves until it has green color)
• 450 cc / 15 oz water
• salt as needed

Other ingredients

• 200 gr / 7 oz palm sugar, boil with 125 cc / 4 oz of water until it dissolves. Strain the palm sugar water and boil again. Set aside.
• 500 cc / 17 oz coconut milk. Boil and set aside to cool.
• 1 can of jackfruit in syrup, cut into small bite-sized pieces (optional)

how to make cendol

1. Mix rice flour and sago flour, then mix it with some of the water.
2. Boil the rest of the water, add green pandan leaves water and salt.
3. Put the flour mixtures into the boiled water.
4. Stir well and cook until it thickens (paste-like).
5. Drain with special cendol strain (usually the strainer has round holes), so when we press the cendol mixture it will go out of the strain as roundish short cendol.
6. Put these cendol directly into a bowl with water and ice in it.
7. Cendol will be solid and then drain them again. Set aside.

how to serve

Put some cendol into a tall glass, pour palm sugar syrup and coconut milk (separate layers). You can add shaved ice or just ice cubes.

variations

Add some jackfruit, cut into small cubes.

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