What is in your glass, your cup or mug is under more scrutiny of late. Headlines, reports, and guidelines could instigate a change in your liquid consumption behaviour, if you feel inclined – I guess it would depend on what it is and how much it affects your life. A recent headline I came across asked if I’d like “Some plastics with your tea?” It was from a reputable source, in a report from McGill University in Montreal, and it got my attention as a tea drinker of all types of tea. This past week here in Canada, alcohol consumption guidelines were updated after 11 years to two drinks a week for men and women — a far cry from previous guidance, which recommended no more than 15 drinks for men and 10 drinks a week for women to reduce long-term health risks. So what’s a person to do? Maybe you’re already on the dry January or sober-curious bandwagon, having tried the increasing market of alcohol-free drinks to ease your it’s 5 o’clock somewhere G&T fix. Maybe the guidelines detailing that having three to six drinks a week increases the risk of developing certain cancers, while more than seven drinks a week increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, with the danger going up with each additional drink, has you looking for something far more nutritious to sip. Hell, you could totally flip the script on that and help to reduce certain cancers, the chance of heart disease, and stroke by what you choose to fill your glass, cup, or mug with. Mmmm, additions to your daily drinks that are purposeful and offer more zing per mouthful than that fancy pants coffee or traditional milk first cup of Earl Grey, dahling. But what would you add, what can you spike your daily drinks with to up their game?

Well, today on EAT THIS with Lianne, let’s talk about some cleaner drinks with a boost with someone who knows a thing or two about how to use her products, Giddy Yo, to healthify the contents of your mug, travel cup, or glass from your cup-o-joe to your staple smoothie and beyond.

Drinks of any kind offer a certain taste, a purpose, comfort, enjoyment, or pleasure, and have a certain mouth feel to them. There’s the warmth from hot drinks, bitterness from coffee, subtly tastes of tea, effervescent from carbonated drinks, and of course sweetness from a non-alcoholic-fatty-liver disease-inducing high fructose corn syrup that’s in your typical can of pop, or the takes-some-getting-used to stevia, Erythritol or xylitol in the less blood sugar impactful versions. Drink preference is very personal and usually fairly strong in opinion about what you put in your drinking vessel. I have heard from many that they just can’t drink water because it tastes like nothing. Then there are people like me, who are water snobs and I have as much preference for the kind and type of water I drink, as a whisky drinker does for their nightcap. There are smoothies that have purposes like refueling after a workout, or those that are a quick blend-and-go for breakfast or snack. Then there are the coffees that offer various pumps of sugary flavours and can have you feeling great in no time for all the sugar and caffeine. Remember the Red Bull and vodka craze – am I dating myself now as it wasn’t that long ago, and could still be going with the Gen Z’ers? I’ll have to check with my 19-year-old… 

What if your cup of coffee could have less mold, toxins, and pesticides with every sip, or your cup of tea without the dose of micro or nano-sized plastics, while having a teaspoon enhancing and adaptogenic powder, making it a super-powered drink? I’m in after experimenting with my mug of almost daily dark hot chocolate with added extras, and I’m game to make each drink that I consume even more beneficial than the last. See below for my recipe.

After receiving the most massive block of vanilla sea salt chocolate before the holidays, some cacao paste (not sure what to do with that yet), blueberry, maca, Camu Camu powder, and even Chaga chocolate from our guest from episode 113, I had to ask Bridgitte Longshore, to come back for another conversation. Bridgitte is the owner and founder of GiddyYo, a local company whose website is worth sitting down and navigating with a worthy cup of goodness. Bridgitte says chocolate is food and that she eats about half a kilo of her chocolate products a week! She spends her days making decisions to ensure our people get the goods that help them cope with life – clean simple good nutritionally dense food. She does that by providing quality in their hand-crafted dark chocolate, adaptagenic powders like mushrooms, and she also offers next-level coffee and a line of clean organic superfoods. Welcome back to EAT THIS with Lianne, Bridgitte. 

So what have you been up to since our last conversation? I have some new medium roast, dark roast and decaf CLEAN coffee gracing my cupboards of late. 

Ok who is about to head to the kitchen to improve your next drink? I saw on Giddy Yo’s website, confirming what I have experienced lately that cacao may be naturally mood boosting, a natural energy enhancer, aphrodisiac and natural appetite suppressant. It’s also a good source of magnesium and other plant derived nutrients.

From our friends RealMushrooms.com, I found a recipe that I’m going to try out for caffeine free mushroom coffee drink that they suggest that you have before bed to help improve sleep. There’s also a cold brew coffee drink that I’m going to try out too. I have their links and recipes with more about the benefits of mushroom coffee on liannephillipson.com too. If you want to try out any of the Real Mushroom options, use realmushrooms.com/eatthis for 20% off! 

Learn More About the Benefits of Mushroom Coffee:

• 5 Long-Lasting Mushroom Coffee Benefits for Tired People
• 11 Mushroom Coffee Recipes with Health Benefits
• DIY Mushroom Coffee: 5 Reasons to Make Your Own (Plus 7 Recipes)

Caffeine-Free Mushroom Coffee Ingredients

If you’re trying to cut caffeine, or you need a warm drink to give you that mental pick-me-up, this cacao, coconut, and mushroom drink is perfect.

• 2 cups water
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Reishi Mushroom Powder
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Cordyceps Mushroom Extract Powder
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Lion’s Mane Mushroom Powder
• 2 tablespoon cacao powder
• 2 teaspoons ginger, freshly grated
• 2 teaspoons Ceylon cinnamon powder
• 1 teaspoon coconut butter
• 1 pinch of Celtic salt
• Raw honey to taste

Steps to Make It

1. Boil water and leave off the heat for 2–3 minutes.
2. In a blender, combine the hot water with cacao powder, Organic Reishi Mushroom Powder, cinnamon powder, grated ginger, coconut butter, and salt.
3. Process on high for 10–15 seconds.
4. Stir in raw honey to taste.

Expert Tips:

• High-quality reishi extract should taste earthy and bitter. The pinch of salt in this recipe brings out any sweet flavors and helps to counter the bitter notes.
• This brew is also ideal before bedtime because reishi can help relax the mind and improve your sleep quality.

Cold Brew Coffee Ingredients

• 1 ½ cups water
• 4 tablespoons freshly ground, coarse coffee
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Reishi Mushroom Powder
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Cordyceps Mushroom Extract Powder
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Siberian Chaga Extract Powder
• ½ teaspoon Real Mushrooms Organic Lion’s Mane Mushroom Powder
• 1 tablespoon almond or cashew butter
• 2 teaspoons ginger, freshly grated
• 2 teaspoons Ceylon cinnamon powder
• ½ cup plant milk or grass-fed dairy milk
• Vanilla stevia, coconut sugar, or honey to taste
• Cashew or coconut shreds to garnish

Steps to Make It

1. Pour room-temperature water into a jar and add your freshly ground coffee. Cover and shake well.
2. Leave the jar in the fridge for 12–24 hours to make your cold brew.
3. In a blender, combine the cold brew with the mushroom powders, nut butter, ginger, cinnamon, and milk.
4. Blend on high for 10 seconds or until the coffee reaches your preferred consistency.
5. Serve the frothy drink in a cup and adjust the sweetness to your liking. Top with coconut or cashew nut shreds.

Expert Tip: For a great-tasting cold brew coffee:

• Start with good quality coffee beans since the coffee notes are more pronounced with this brewing method.
• Grind your coffee fresh and coarse for maximum flavor.
• Experiment with coffee blends that have fruity flavor notes.
• Balance your coffee-to-water ratio well. The perfect ratio of coffee to water is 1:5 for ready-to-drink, though 1:8 works well for French press or weak coffee. Try not to go below 1:3, even for cold brew concentrates.

Leaving your coffee to brew overnight makes cold brewing so simple there’s no need to buy commercial, ready-made cold brews.

The adaptogenic properties of reishi and other mushrooms alleviate fatigue and stress while boosting body systems, including immunity, muscles, and hormones.

Giddy Yo’s site 

Extra recipes 

Euphoric heart opener

Cacao raises spirits, eases the soul and encourages connections. Full-bodied and bittersweet with a curious savoury bite, it’s balancing effect keeps you blissful and tuned-in

• Cacao Elixir Latte with Lion’s mane and Reishi mushroom, turmeric, ginger, on our house-made 70% dark hot chocolate with organic raw cacao + grated cacao butter, spun on organic coconut milk, it’s the perfect drink to have with our Positive Pancakes or our Peanut Butter Sweet Potato Brownie. Makes you feel cozy & good afterwards 
• The Immune Elixir Martini is one of our favourites! We created this drink full of micronutrients and perfect any time of the day! It’s a health shot served in a martini glass with lemon, apple cider vinegar, serotonin honey (from our bee hive) & cayenne pepper.
• Sero-Tini Cocktail the ultimate health shot served in a martini glass with fresh lemon, turmeric, ginger, apple cider vinegar & cinnamon.

While our Elixirs may not give you immortality…. they give you a natural boost to your energy and help your organs function better!

One of the main ingredients we love adding to our Elixirs is Tumeric! Turmeric has amazing benefits such as:

• Brain food booster
• Anti inflammatory for any pain you may be experiencing
• Can help lower blood sugar levels
• Assists in cleaning out arteries 
• Liver detoxification and more!

Hormone-Balancing Chocolate Elixir from Rachaels Good Eats

Not just any hot chocolate, this elixir contains antioxidant-rich cacao plus hormone-balancing maca and Ashwagandha.

Coffee smoothies are brilliant. Really, we’ll give a big “heck yes” to any morning meals that give you a boost. This smoothie takes things next-level with reishi and maca and gets extra creamy with the help of frozen banana and cashew butter. To up its wow factor, freeze cold brew into ice cubes and top the blended goodness with cinnamon.

We’re huge fans of healthy(ish) hot chocolate. This recipe keeps things classic with skim milk and hot chocolate mix but also tastes great with mushroom hot cacao mix and vanilla almond milk. Its minty freshness comes from peppermint extract and fresh mint garnish, and its adaptogenic goodness comes from ashwagandha or maca (we say add both).

Adaptogens are a huge trend in the food and nutrition world right now. To generalize, adaptogens are plant-based foods/supplements that regulate physiological processes. Many adaptogens boast stress reduction properties and YES, there are clinical studies out there. I have personally fallen in love with and have felt a major difference in my stress levels when taking it.

Now maca does offer benefits in terms of stress relief as well as energy enhancement, but historically it’s been used as an aphrodisiac

Recipe

• 2 cups skim milk
• 2 Tablespoons hot chocolate mix of choice (we use Starbucks or Ghirardelli because they don’t use sugar substitutes)
• 1 teaspoon maca powder or adaptogen powder of choice (eg ashwagandha)
• 1/8 teaspoon or a few small drops peppermint extract
• fresh mint garnish

Directions

Add 1/2 cup skim milk to a liquid measuring cup and microwave until hot. Whisk in hot chocolate powder and maca powder until completely combined. Drop in peppermint extract and stir to combine. Heat and froth the remaining milk using a milk frother or frother attachment to an espresso machine. Pour half of the chocolate mixture into each mug and pour in frothed milk into each. Stir gently to combine. Top with additional foam and fresh mint. 

My recipe

1.2 oz dark chocolate 

2 cups boiling water

1-2 tbsp coconut whipping cream

1 tsp reishi mushroom powder

1 tsp cordyceps mushroom powder

1 tsp maca powder 

½ tsp cinnamon

Alternatives: 1 tsp lions mane, 1 tsp blueberry powder, 1 tsp ashwhaganda powder 

If you have a blender to use, add chocolate to it and cover with hot water. Add in coconut cream and powders. Blend until combined and a bit frothy. If you have a whisk, add chocolate and hot water to a mug, and then coconut cream and powders. Whisk until fully combined and frothy on top. Enjoy! 

Chaga Tea – Giddy Yo

Tea Cut Ingredients: Wild harvested Canadian Chaga.

Suggested Use for Tea Cut:  Use 4 TBS GY CHAGA for every 1 litre of water; simmer for a minimum of 15 minutes to make a tonic, or up to 2 hours to make a concentrate, remembering to add water as necessary. You can brew your GY CHAGA up to 3 times or until the dark pigments no longer extract into the water. Store used GY CHAGA in the freezer in between batches. For variety add GY VANILLA BEAN POWDER, cinnamon, fresh ginger or other sweet & earthly spices to the brew.  Add a spoonful of Coconut Oil before drinking.