THREE DRINKS FOR MORNING PICKME-UP

For a long, long time, I’ve started my day with coffee. Not just any coffee. There has always been a particular way about it. I’ve spent years trying to perfect Spanish café con leche at home. Ditto with attempts to duplicate Cuban and Puerto Rican styles. When I swapped an espresso machine for an AeroPress, I wondered if that would deliver the caffeine hit I wished for.

Now, I find myself waking up to a different sort of morning pick-me-up. It’s one that barely involves caffeine.

“Vital Tonics & Soothing Teas” is a fairly new health book by Rachel de Thample (Kyle Books, $16.95). For those looking to jumpstart 2019 with offbeat beverages, de Thample has drink ideas worth imbibing.

Among her wake-me-ups, a warm, wee mug of Morning Sunshine brightened all four days that I tested it. Clementines, plus fresh ginger and turmeric are truly sunshine on cloudy, cold winter days. Sicilian Garden Tea is puckery with lemon; fresh rosemary gives its subtle nuance.

If you want more of an herb boost, add a few more sprigs and let the tea steep longer than the prescribed 5 minutes.

Butter-froth Coffee, which holds both ghee and coconut oil, is as good as any prescription for bulletproof coffee. The first time I chatted about that highperformance drink was in 2015, before it became hip among the health crazed impressed by its benefits, which are said to include improved cognitive function, increased energy, suppressed food cravings and fat loss. The interview subject: St. Louis Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak. At the time, bulletproof coffee was part of his daily regimen; a routine that rivals anything that perfect sports specimen Patriots QB Tom Brady puts in his body.

Ready for the drink of champions?

LFIGUERAS@AJC.COM LIGAYA FIGUERAS / Morning Sunshine brings together clementine juice, ginger and turmeric.