I’d like to think that I’m not susceptible to food trends. Rainbow bagels? They look stupid. Unicorn Sundae? Eww – there is too much going on there. But, sometimes something sneaks in. This is especially the case when it’s a healthy food trend. When I scroll down my Instagram feed and I see mac & cheese chips, collagen smoothies and kale-here–there-and-everywhere I realize that I too can get caught up in food fads. Take this morning for instance. I woke up and decided to make myself a Charcoal Latte.
Yup, I actually have the activated charcoal capsules already…
I bought them because, well, I’d heard so much about them on the interwebs. You can make a facial mask with them, they are good for hangovers, they can whiten your teeth – they must be amazing. Of course, I have not tried them for anything other than something food/beverage related. I recently made a delicious Black Lemonade for the wonderful detoxing qualities, and I’d like to think it worked. Well, I need something that works like that today. I am feeling quite waterlogged and my face looks puffy, and I have no idea why (like with most things that have started happening to my body for no reason after I turned 35). As it says on the bottle, activated charcoal provides “digestive support”, so de-bloating and detoxing. Let’s see if this latte helps…

I start by putting my (opened) charcoal capsule, a packet of stevia and a teaspoon of coconut oil in my latte mug. I also put a mugful of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, two packets of stevia and a nice pour of vanilla extract into a pan on the stove. I’ll just let that heat up and come to a near boil. You’ll want to make sure you really add flavor to the milk because the charcoal is flavorless. I am thinking next time I’ll add coconut or almond extract…

I added about 3/4 of the the heated milk mixture to the mug contents and 1/4 to my frothing cup. It looks pretty cool already – like cookies and cream ice cream! <wishful thinking break>…
I begin to froth in my mug to get all of the ingredients incorporated…

I also froth up my milk in the frothing cup.
Again, the frother is the best kitchen tool ever. I’ll never stir with a spoon again!

So there I go, attempting to do latte art…

So, this is a mustache? Something? I don’t know. I still have not gotten any better at the latte art! I will keep trying!
So here we are – a lovely grey latte on a summer day! It’s so vanilla-y and yummy! Here’s hoping my face will return to normal before I have to go out into the public today!
Cheers!