Monday, July 22, 2013

hot days, cold drinks: hazelnut iced latte

icy, sweet, aromatic and slightly bitter: the perfect glass of hazelnut iced latte.

one of my favorite sweeteners for drinks is liquid stevia.  stevia is an herb that is an all natural sweeter.  the whole leaf herb is a bit bitter/leafy tasting, so i usually buy it in liquid form which is basically a stevia infusion that has been filtered to improve the taste to being just sweet without the other flavors (make sure to research to make sure you buy a brand that is minimally-processed, like sweetleaf.  avoid powders, which are usually much more processed).  stevia is especially great for drinks because it mixes easily into a drink, unlike other natural sweeteners like honey or sucanat.

liquid stevia comes in many different flavors, which i have only just started to try.  the first one i got is hazelnut, which i have used to flavor coffee, milkshakes and ice cream.  one of the reasons i particularly like hazelnut flavor with coffee is that it is not overly sweet.  being a dark chocolate lover as i am, i appreciate the bitter coffee undertones coming through.

'Blue Bottle, Kyoto Style Ice Coffee' photo (c) 2011, Kenny Louie - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/
hazelnut iced latte

1 cup of milk
1 Tblsp instant coffee OR 1 shot of espresso OR 3/4 cup strong coffee
5-10 drops of hazelnut stevia
ice

1. combine milk, coffee/espresso and 5 drops of hazelnut stevia in a cup.  mix with a spoon until blended. taste and add more stevia if needed.

2. add ice and enjoy!

click here for the next recipe in the series: vanilla peanut butter banana shake

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