Thursday, February 9, 2017

Going Vegan - with Coffee! Finding Natural Bliss

Acai bowl toppings, with coconut creamer in the base
When I was training for the marathon, I cut down drastically on the dairy I consumed. I wasn't completely vegan, but I started avoiding milk and using almond or soy milk for my morning coffee.

Vegan dishes
So I was excited to hear about Coffee-Mate's new creamer line, the plant-based Natural Bliss. There are four varieties: vanilla almond milk, caramel almond milk, hazelnut almond milk, and sweet creme  coconut milk.

To highlight these, and offer a deep dive into vegan food, Coffee Mate invited me to a tasting at the Tasting Table Test Kitchen in Soho. There, we were treated to vegan food, cocktails and the full line of plant based creamers.

Cocktail choices
Since I knew I was taking home one of each creamer, I stuck to the cocktails; who can resist a maple old-fashioned? Or, for that matter, an expertly prepared French 75?

The soba noodle salad with shiitake bacon and beet salad with watermelon radish were delicious, but what impressed me most was the acai bowl. The bowls were made with berries, acai, and the coconut creamer. So if you use only a tiny splash of creamer each day, you don't have to worry about it spoiling; you can easily use it up in a smoothie.

We could top our bowls with a variety of fruit, granola and chia seeds. Maybe if I had a high powered blender and a food prep guy on hand I would eat a more nutritious breakfast.

Natural bliss needs to be kept refrigerated, or on ice at a party
I tried the vanilla almond milk in my coffee this morning and it was delicious. And since it was snowing and we'd run out of skim milk, I used the coconut milk to make oatmeal. It was a touch sweet, but tastier and heartier than water and vegan to boot.

The Natural Bliss creamers come in 16 bottles refrigerated containers are made with no GMO ingredients.

Note: Opinions expressed are my own and I was not compensated for this review. Cocktail consumption was an added benefit.

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