This post was originally published on November 17, 2018, and was updated on February 7, 2020.
This spicy Mexican cashew mocha is the ultimate cozy drink for a lazy weekend morning! This is not your average mocha, either- it’s packed with healthy fats from cashews and coconut butter, and it gets its sweetness from Medjool dates instead of sugar. Spice it up with some cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne, and you have yourself one healthy beverage.
Since starting the blog, I have wanted to do a weekly beverage recipe + a roundup of interesting media from around the web for you to enjoy during your weekend downtime. Let me know what you think and if you would like to see this style continue- I am thinking of making these posts a regular Saturday occurrence if you are interested!
I am a beverage aficionado. You can often find me sipping a kombucha, coffee, green drink, or one of my homemade creations at any given hour. What can I say? Girls gotta drink!
My favourite thing to do on lazy weekend mornings is to prepare a special warm drink for myself (something more remarkable than my weekday French press coffee) and enjoy it while doing some journaling.
This particular warm drink is inspired by a luscious drink from my favourite organic vegan cafe in Victoria, British Columbia. When I studied Holistic Nutrition, Bliss Cafe was conveniently located across the street from my college, and it was my go-to spot for study snacks and mid-day pick-me-ups. From time to time, I would order their Mayan Mocha. It was rich, chocolaty, spicy, and had just enough caffeine to get me through morning anatomy and physiology class.
Now that I have moved back east, my high vibe/plant-based dining options are considerably more limited. On the bright side, it has forced me to re-create all of my favourite dishes and drinks from scratch! I really do believe that I have created a Mayan Mocha that rivals its inspiration in flavour and luxuriousness. It practically screams, “Hygge!” Cozy vibes from here on out, folks.
I’ve been loving this podcast lately. Meg and Victoria know wtf is UP with diet culture, health, and wellness without obsession. I just finished listening to Episode 68 about Ayurveda with guest Sahara Rose and am feeling inspired to delve more deeply into this ancient healing science again. If you have always been curious about Ayurveda, including the doshas, dharma, nutrition, and Ayurvedic self-care practices (hello, oil pulling, tongue scraping, and dry brushing), this episode is for you!
George Monbiot delivers the truth again in this Guardian piece aptly titled, “The Earth is in a Death Spiral.” There’s no beating around the bush here- just cold, hard facts. “A young woman called Lizia Woolf stepped forward. She hadn’t spoken before, but the passion, grief and fury of her response was utterly compelling. “What is it that you are asking me as a 20-year-old to face and to accept about my future and my life? … This is an emergency. We are facing extinction. When you ask questions like that, what is it you want me to feel?” We had no answer. Softer aims might be politically realistic, but they are physically unrealistic. Only shifts commensurate with the scale of our existential crises have any prospect of averting them. Hopeless realism, tinkering at the edges of the problem, got us into this mess. It will not get us out.”
On a more uplifting note: More Canadians are getting fed up with political inaction on plastic pollution and are launching their own crackdowns.
This column by Lucy Waverman couldn’t be more timely in this year of the ketogenic diet craze: “…my advice is to eat less pasta, but to enjoy the real stuff when you do.”
I have admired Robyn Nohling for some time now. For those of you who don’t know of her, she is a registered dietitian and nurse practitioner who works with women to heal their relationship with food and their bodies. I really enjoy her “What I Ate” style posts both because they give me meal and snack ideas and because she shows us that as women, we are allowed to have appetites, enjoy our food, and embrace food freedom and not restriction.
On that note, here is the recipe. If you make it, let me know how you liked it by leaving a comment and rating below the recipe, and posting a photo to Instagram with @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen!
Enjoy!
P.S. If you like this spicy mexican cashew mocha, you might also like these healthy warm drinks:
PrintSpicy Mexican Cashew Mocha
This is the ultimate cozy drink for a lazy weekend morning! This is not your average mocha, either- it’s packed with healthy fats from cashews and coconut butter, and it gets its sweetness from Medjool dates instead of sugar. Spice it up with some cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne, and you have yourself one healthy beverage.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup non-dairy milk of choice
- 1 tsp coconut butter
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder or raw cacao powder
- 1/4 tsp cinnamon
- Pinch of cayenne, to taste (optional but recommended!)
- 1/4 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1–2 pitted Medjool dates, depending on desired sweetness
- 3 tbsp raw cashews
- 1 cup strong brewed coffee (hot)
Instructions
- In a small pot, whisk together non-dairy milk, coconut butter, cocoa, cinnamon, cayenne, vanilla, and date over medium heat. Whisk occasionally until warm. Turn down heat to medium-low.
- Add the cashews and brewed coffee to a high-speed blender. Blend on high until smooth.
- Add the almond milk mixture to the blender and blend again until frothy, about 30 seconds.
- Pour into your favourite mug and enjoy!
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