You are going to love these ideas for healthy hot drinks without caffeine or sugar! Gather them up and make a fun healthy beverage center for the cold winter months. I’m excited to share all our favorites!
I have always loved the idea of having beverage centers or drink stations in the home – especially during the cold winter months.
However, we don’t drink coffee . . . so that ruled out cute coffee stations.
We don’t drink alcohol . . . so that ruled out fancy pants alcohol beverage stations.
Additionally, I very much dislike the idea of a hot cocoa stations full of sugary hot chocolate mixes, marshmallows, candy canes, cookies, etc. I mean . . . it sounds super cute but I am not about to throw that kind of temptation in the faces of my kids all day long. Choose your battles, right? (Boy, oh, boy – that would be a battle!)
But I actually do have some great ideas for much healthier warm beverage centers that don’t have any alcohol, caffeine or sugar at all! I wanted to share all my ideas with you today!
WATCH THIS POST ON HEALTHY HOT DRINKS
Join me on YouTube to listen to me talk about all these items on our healthy hot drink center.
CREATE YOUR BEVERAGE STATION
If you can find a corner or your kitchen, or even a spare drawer or cupboard – you can do this!
My daughter actually pulled this old shelf antique piece from her room, and we propped it in an empty corner of my kitchen.
To add some height, I used a vintage footstool, so I could stack even more on top of this piece.
I framed a simple winter print with a thrift store frame, added a small little fresh tree – and this beverage station has all the winter cozy vibes it needed for me to add in the goodies!
CUPS AND ACCESSORIES FOR YOUR HEALTHY HOT DRINKS BEVERAGE STATION
Pick out your favorite mugs and cups for your beverage station.
A pulled out some that I have collected antiquing through the years, and also added in some larger glass tea cups and super cute glass mugs.
Other items you could include in your warm drink station are:
- wooden stir sticks
- mini stir spoons
- coffee straws
- disposable cups for warm drinks
- French Press
- Tea balls
WARM BEVERAGE #1: HEALTHY HOT CHOCOLATE MIX
Did you know you can make a yummy hot chocolate mix in bulk, that doesn’t have any added sugar?!
Yes, yes you can! The key is to add a healthier sweetener right before serving. We like pure maple syrup or raw honey. I feel much better about letting my kids drink a cup or two every day when I know they are not getting a sugar high.
Check out my own recipe for a healthy hot chocolate mix!
WARM BEVERAGE #2: GOLDEN MILK
No one can resist a sip of this sunshine in a cup – especially when it tastes so incredible!
Check out my recipe to make a golden milk mix and then learn how to make it up in a warm cup when ready to drink. This is my favorite warm beverage right now, and I hope you give it a try!
WARM BEVERAGE #3: BLUE MATCHA LATTE
Possibly my best discovery of all time – Blue Matcha Latte!
It is pure delight drinking this vibrant blue drink and the health benefits will astound you! Read all about it and get my recipe here.
WARM BEVERAGE #4: CRIO BRU
For the chocolate lovers, I’m doing you a big favor right now. Crio Bru is ground cacao beans that you can brew up much like coffee.
But it’s NOT coffee – it’s cacao!!
I’m a big big fan of Crio Bru and have been drinking it up for almost 5 years. It is such a guilt-free chocolate fix and warms me from head to toe. FYI – Uber Dark is my all time favorite variety because of the rich, deep roast flavor, but every flavor is delightful.
You can brew it in a french press, but we have found that cooking it in the Instant Pot does a wonderful job at infusing the flavors more intensely. We have recipe for this in the cookbook my sister and I wrote together, or you can check out this blog post to learn more about it.
Use the coupon code “CAMITIDBITS10OFF” to save money on your purchase at Crio Bru.
WARM BEVERAGE #5: PERO
I’m super curious – have you heard of Pero before? It is a blend of roasted grains that actually smells a lot like coffee. This makes it a great alternative if you are trying to kick your addiction to coffee.
I think it is soooooo good, and I love having a deep roasted drink that has zero caffeine.
We like to just add it to hot water and perhaps add a splash of milk, creamer and a dash of pure maple syrup. The maple notes go really well with the roasted wheat flavor notes.
WARM BEVERAGE #6: PACKAGED HERBAL TEA
Supplying some convenient packaged herbal tea has been a great way for me to get myself and my kids to drink more of it. Herbs are so beneficial to our health in so many ways, so I try to find super yummy varieties for us.
WARM BEVERAGE #7: LOOSE HERBAL TEA
I also like to have a supply of loose herbs available to grab on this beverage station. I’ve included some very seasonally appropriate options that can help us with immunity or when we have sick bug going around.
On our station we have
- elderberries
- peppermint (that is great to throw in with your crio bru too!)
- chamomile
- headache and stress blend
- cinnamon sticks and cloves (I also like to throw in with crio bru)
- butterfly pea flowers
- and any others that I feel are needed to support our health at the moment.
I’ve been buying almost all my herbs from Mountain Rose Herbs.
I talked more about the herbs I use during cold and flu season on this previous post.
We typically make these up with the help of the french press and add a spoonful of raw honey and a splash of milk or cream with it. We all enjoy our tea times together, especially when we bring some stories or poems to read together.
WARM BEVERAGE #8: PUKKA CHOCOLATE LATTE
I ran out of this, but found the package to remind me to buy more the next time I am at World Market!
This PUKKA brand is great and they have this caffeine free herbal chocolate latte that is divine! We make it up just like I do the golden milk and blue matcha – and it is delish!
YUMMY SUGAR FREE CREAMERS AND DIPPERS
There is no need to ruin a good healthy warm drink with a bunch of sugary add-ins. I’ve found some options that you can dip or use to cream up your drink in a pinch.
TO DIP: COCONUT CRISPY ROLLERS
These sugar free coconut rolls are amazing!!!! We love to dip them in our drinks, and it is so much better for you that cookies.
TO CREAM: UNSWEETENED COCONUT CREAMERS
There are many great sugar free powdered creamer options out there – but check the ingredients! Many of them have extra fillers. This is why I love this Laird brand. There is only ground coconut and olive oil. I love the flavor and creaminess it adds to my warm drinks. Especially the chocolate ones!
TO CREAM: FREEZE DRIED OR FROZEN CREAM DOLLOPS
You can whip up some whipped cream with or without sugar (I prefer without), and then freeze or freeze dry them to preserve. I never seem to have whipped cream when I need it, so by making some that are shelf stable or frozen saves the day when I want to watch that cream dissolve into milky goodness.
You can read here how we go about freezing them, but if you have a freeze dryer, plop them in the same way as any food.
I hope you have truly enjoyed these 8 healthy hot drinks you can make, that are alcohol, sugar and caffein-free! Let me know if you give any of them a try and what you think!
I mostly drink tea, peppermint and cinnamon but I would like to try the cocoa bru, thanks for all these selections.
Do you have a video on your freeze dryer? Which one do you have?
Really enjoy looking at your pictures and antiques–like that style. Will try the golden milk I think. Want to get a frother? or would a blender do the same thing?
So glad you liked it! I actually prefer to throw it in a blender. It is much more frothy and mixed together. But my kids thing the frother is fun. Mine was only $10, so I went for it. But don’t feel like you need to. The blender does a great job!