Ahhh… (Photo credit: chugginmccoffee.com)
I can’t think of “winter” and “cozy” together without adding Hot Drinks! I am a coffee fiend and I drink it all year – when the temps reach +30 C, I barely pause before brewing another pot. But in the winter I savour coffee in a whole new way. I love how the cup warms my hands, I love breathing in the steam, and I love how it warms me from the inside out. On one hand, any cheap cuppa will do just because it’s hot. But winter seems like a time to treat myself, and it feels extra-cozy to brew an earthy dark roast.
I make a French press coffee on weekday mornings. I start drinking it at home before work, then pour it into a travel mug and keep drinking it all the way to work. And when I get there, I make some more.
I splurge on two espresso drinks on Saturday and Sunday mornings, made at home. Maybe they are doubles, ahem!
Cuppa Tea (Photo credit: teacouncil.net)
After dinner I have a giant mug of tea, just everyday orange pekoe black tea. Every so often I mix it up and have an Earl Grey, a chai blend, or a cup of fennel tea instead.
Although I like hot chocolate, I don’t have it often. I suppose I have a deep-rooted fear of drinking calories too quickly. Which is silly because there’s room for anything as an occasional indulgence. When I do drink cocoa, I like it the old-fashioned way: a tablespoon each of cocoa powder and sugar, mixed into a paste with a tablespoon of milk, and then a cup of hot milk poured over and stirred. OK, maybe the tablespoon of sugar is quite heaping…
Red, red (Photo credit: tendig.com)
Of course the other warm drink is anything alcoholic. I like a glass of red wine to bring a blush to my cheeks on a frosty day! Eggnog is seasonal, of course, and I can’t help but think of White Russians, too (vodka and coffee liqueur with milk). But I’m not much of an imbiber, I’m afraid.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am rarely without a warm drink in hand. And they are indispensable in winter. I can’t imagine what I would do without them. Eat oatmeal, maybe?
This blog brought to you by your friendly neighbourhood trattoria Italian roast 🙂
As you like it… (Photo credit: istorm.co.nz)
An Exacting Life 
Holy Moly! You must have an amazing tolerance for caffeine! One cup of green tea per day is about my limit. I do love holding a warm mug though…
Other than weekends, I am at 2 coffee and 1 tea each day…is that a lot? 🙂
Your just like your Aunt Pat…bring on the coffee…I Love It! I have at least 4 -5 cups a day! Your cousin
Kurt drinks Espresso only..must say I enjoyed a few cups of it while visiting him… Going to make a cup right
now…… Love ya, Aunt Pat
Hi Pat, Definitely runs in the family! We have an excellent caffeine tolerance! I am just about to make my second double latte on this Saturday morning. Love, Dar
I’m not much of a coffee drinker, and it’s summer here, but I have been indulging in hot chocolate, just because it feels Christmassy 🙂
Do you have any summery Christmas traditions, like drinking a pina colada or going for a swim?
One coffee every morning at work (usually as I read my blogs, though today ‘life’ got in the way – ie work…!). I have tea the rest of the day on a needs basis – again, when I’m cold, or want a snack or a sweet – a tea is less calories. ON the weekends, I get a Mocha each morning – but I mix it up – sometimes the local cafe, sometimes on my way somewhere, or at a destination (like hospital if I’m visiting, for example). I feel joy ‘realising’ my dad is a compulsive coffee drinker and will always join me in one, whenever, but namely on weekends, doing things like those hospital visits. The boy is also into coffee, so this weekend I worked it into the usually Sunday shuffle (he drops me at church). I think he might adjust better to my mad morning schedules with early coffee introduction :p
Oh, and hot coffee still every morning, but in the arvo/evenings it’s hot, and I’m out and tired, I’ll have a slushie version of coffee – enough to cover two main meals in calories I think, but oh so delicious!
Those slushies are the #1 drink in my area in the summer – we call them Iced Capps (for iced cappuchinos). I had to look up that word “arvo,” LOL. Rom is still not a coffee drinker and doesn’t do caffeine at all, so I guzzle on my own (or with extended family because we are all coffee fiends).
Oh yes, us Aussies speak a whole other English! Any wonder anyone understands us!
I will wait for you to start a blog so you can tell us more about that!
So I’ve been thinking, I could just create a mirror blog… Cause I don’t know what I’d talk about – so I could just take on your madly good topics, with my own verbose spin (and stop with all the comment hogging). It’s a thought… Save for those people in my life who’d like to not be in the public light… hmmm