Recipe for happiness: Cold brew with coconut milk.

I know you don't need me to tell you how to make cold brew—there are thousands of recipes out there (though this one's my favorite). And, like it is for me, a good iced coffee is probably one of your favorite warm-weather drinks (it places very closely after an icy glass of sauvignon blanc or a really great iced chai on my top five list). So that's why I thought I'd write about Raleigh, N.C.-based Slingshot Coffee Co. today, which makes some of the best cold brew I've had, and is the perfect fix for when you don't want to make your own but need an iced coffee, stat.

Slingshot makes a ready-to-drink cold brew and a coffee concentrate; I picked up a bottle of the ready-to-drink stuff at Artisan Cheese Company last week and immediately went home for lunch to try it. You can definitely drink it straight, with just ice, but I'm not a black-coffee kinda girl, so I added a tablespoon of coconut milk (I'd opened a can that morning to make one of these), and a little sweetener. Yum. I'd planned on using almond milk with this, but now I think creamy coconut milk is definitely the way to go. And yes, the coffee is amazing—super smooth and flavorful, with notes of cherry, caramel and chocolate. Go get some.

P.S. Coconut milk whipped cream and strawberry coconut smoothies.

Strawberry coconut smoothie.

Sorry for the radio silence around here, friends—I am still sick with an obnoxious cold that just won't seem to go away, and yesterday I decided to start popping cold meds to try to alleviate my symptoms. I think they're helping, and I'm hoping to feel better by the weekend, but man, this week has been a doozy.

So in the spirit of health, I wanted to share with you one of my favorite smoothie recipes. I've been really into making smoothies/shakes in the morning lately, and this one always hits the spot—plus it's dairy-free, with only a couple of ingredients. Happy blending!

Strawberry Coconut Smoothie

1 cup organic frozen strawberries
1 banana, sliced
2 Tbsp. organic coconut milk (let's be real: I use the full-fat version and often I use 2.5 tablespoons, but you could totally use light coconut milk, too)
1 tsp lemon juice, or to taste
1/4 cup water

Blend strawberries, banana, coconut milk, lemon juice and water until smooth. Drink immediately. Enjoy.

Photo: My own.

Perq Coffee Bar.

These days, the perks of living in Sarasota include Perq Coffee Bar (see what I did there?), whose buzz (pun! Again!) began last year and which finally—finally!—opened its doors to the public last month. It's safe to say I'm obsessed, and here's why: Gorgeous space, made-from-scratch baked goods, sandwiches from a favorite local shop, and, oh yeah, the best coffee and tea in town. We're talking fair-trade, single-origin beans roasted in-house, local dairy options, the option to order a drink with almond milk (hallelujah!), tea offerings that are brewed just as carefully as their coffee counterparts, and a bright green Slayer espresso machine that is totally awesome.

Perq's lingo is different than the "small/medium/large/tall/grande/venti" you'll find at most coffee shops, and it's a little confusing at first, but you'll pick it up after a few orders. Also, take it from me: You will leave the shop with good vibrations (literally). I ordered a dirty chai—chai tea with a shot of espresso—a few weeks ago and it was insanely, awesomely strong. Totally worth it. If you're local, you must go.

P.S. My friend Megan also wrote a great post about Perq a few days ago; read it and see her pictures right here. She's convinced me to order a matcha latte next time I'm in, for sure.

On breakfast.

Greek yogurt, fresh strawberries and a good drizzle of local honey, with a matcha latte on the side: This is the breakfast I can't get enough of these days. What's your favorite way to start the day?

P.S. The best pancakes, if you're feeling indulgent.

Switching from coffee to tea.

If I would have told you, oh, six months ago that I was going to switch from drinking coffee (often multiple cups a day) to tea, you probably would have laughed in my face. I was (still am, let's be real) a girl who loves a skinny vanilla latte, who took joy in pressing coffee on weekends, who was always amenable to taking a meeting at a local coffee shop. 

I actually switched from coffee to tea once before, after a gnarly UTI, and I was successful at it for a few months—then I went right back to my old lattes. But this time, a combination of factors—I am a very high-strung person and coffee exacerbates that in me being the main one—led me to the switch, and I have to say, it feels more permanent this time. Sure, there are mornings when I'm dragging, and in fact, the other day I felt like I needed a little something extra, so I had half a cup of coffee with cream and that did the trick. But I didn't even drink the whole thing, which would have been unheard of about six months ago. Coffee feels like a treat now; like something I don't need every day, and I like that. 

(Side note: I do drink multiple cups of tea on most days—matcha or English breakfast in the morning, green tea throughout the day and decaf black tea at night before bed.) 

Another benefit, I've found,  is that I don't feel the need to dump artificial sweeteners into my tea like I did with coffee; I use strictly agave nectar or local honey now (in fact, I'll tell you about my favorite honey later this week). That's something I knew I wanted to do and I'm glad that the coffee-to-tea switch has been the vehicle for it. Yay for healthy changes.

Are you guys coffee or tea drinkers or both? Any favorite teas out there? I'm dying to try some of the Bellocq brand teas—the Afghani chai in particular.

P.S. Funny story: ACS, who is also on a tea kick, is here this week and he makes me tea when I'm in the shower in the mornings (the sweetest, I know). This morning I took a sip of what I thought was English breakfast tea and was like, "Hmm, this tastes rather floral." So I asked him what it was—turns out it was chamomile. I may be off coffee but I need something a little stronger than that in the morning! So funny. 

Photo by Maxwell Tielman for Design*Sponge

Matcha latte.

Over the past year or so, I've come to really love tea. I've always enjoyed a cup of green tea with honey, and a chai tea or chai tea latte is often the perfect afternoon pick-me-up when coffee seems like it might be too much.  Then, a few weeks ago—after coming down with bronchitis, ugh—I began adding a cup of decaffeinated black tea with a tiny splash of half-and-half and a swirl of honey to my nighttime routine. During this time of year, especially, it's warming and soothing and I really like it.

So I was intrigued when, in the February issue of Bon Appetit, I saw a recipe for a matcha latte made with almond milk and water. And this week, I picked up some matcha—green tea powder—at Whole Foods (um, not cheap, FYI) and tried my hand at the recipe. I'm happy to report that it's really delicious—the green tea flavor is even more intense than in a cup of green tea from a bag, and the almond milk adds just the right amount of creaminess. I add a little bit of agave nectar, too, like the recipe suggests, and it's perfect. Since it's caffeinated, I probably won't be drinking this at night, but I'd love to start waking up early enough to relax with a cup of it before I head work in the mornings.

Here's the recipe, if you'd like to try it yourself.

P.S. This hibiscus-ginger warmer from Bellocq on Design*Sponge looks great, too. Yay, tea!

Photo by Christina Holmes for Bon Appetit, February 2013