Ever wake up feeling foggy-headed, not quite up to the day? Or what it asks of you? Me, too. BEFORE, that is! Not too long ago, I was waking up in a low-medium grade sadness I couldn't seem to shake. And I remembered that after a somewhat sleepless night on vacation years earlier, that I'd had a REALLY good cup of coffee (Zoot, Camden, Maine) - and that my mood was transformed!
Wanting very much to get out of my sadness rut, I decided to buy some really good local coffee (Ethiopian Mesela-Harrar from J. Rene Coffee Roasters on Park Road in West Hartford). I hadn't been a daily coffee drinker for decades, but was remembering the amazing cup of coffee my brother-in-law made for me last spring in Chicago. Putting the ideas of mood uplift and awesome coffee together, I also remembered reading about Dave Asprey's 2009 invention: Bulletproof Coffee. What makes it "bulletproof" is the addition of high quality fat. It sounds REALLY weird to people hearing it for the first time, but tea served with melted yak, and now cow butter has been a tradition in the areas around the Himalayas for a long long time. And I'd remembered reading about that in the now discredited Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortensen. So, it didn't seem SO weird to me. Plus I loved butter, and, even more, ghee made by Farm True, located in North Stonington, from grass fed butter from the Hudson River Valley. As a person literally saved by dietary fat, I was intrigued. Armed with my J.Rene kick ass coffee beans, my Chemex, my Farm True ghee, MCT oil, and a few shakes of Penzey's Cinnamon, I made my first ever bulletproof-style coffee, and a new morning routine was born!
The addition of ghee or butter adds amazing flavor and creaminess, and the MCT oil (stands for Medium Chain Triglyceride) is derived from coconut oil, which, as it contains MCTs, burns as fuel faster than other fats. So, the coffee lifts mood, imparts energy, and sates hunger; the MCT oil burns fast in such a way that increases metabolism, and the ghee, well the ghee is just magic! And, unlike a regular cup of caffeinated coffee, which gives a sharp spike of energy, and an equally sharp drop-off - and which, unless I was excruciatingly sleep-deprived, gave me coffee jag - the addition of fat slows the body's absorption of the caffeine, elevating mood and energy to a steady, long-lasting timed-release plateau, without the precipitous drop-off experience of regular coffee. AND, as it sates hunger, you may not want to eat for hours. I generally have my first meal at lunch-time, but am on fire and richly creative in the mornings. If you're caffeine-averse, decaf also works to some degree. Some people use half caffeinated, half decaf coffee. You might also use your favorite tea or yerba mate. Whatever floats your morning!
For those intrepid souls who'd like to try it, here's the recipe:
Cynthia's Magic Coffee
12 oz. of your favorite hot brewed coffee
1 TBSP ghee or butter (I heap my tablespoon!)
1 tsp of MCT oil
Sprinkles of cinnamon to taste (I do 3 or 4 shakes)
Place all ingredients in blender, put lid on and secure tightly, as you don't want hot coffee flying about! Blend on low speed for 30 - 60 seconds, depending on how much frothiness you want (I like less frothiness). Or, if you don't own a blender, place in a glass jar, tighten the lid, and shake until blended.
Blessings and gratitude,
Cynthia
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