Beverages

Move over coffee, you're not the only way to energize in the morning. If you'd like to trade that cup of strong black brew for something that wakes you up without the jittery caffeine jolt, here are four non-caffeinated drinks to opt for tomorrow morning.

Apple Cider Vinegar-Cranberry Drink

Actress Nikki Reed uses this blend to help power her through morning workouts, since the apple cider vinegar has been shown to help boost energy (as well as aid in digestion, which can also help put a pep in your step). This apple cider vinegar and cranberry drink recipe is more palatable if you aren't a fan of drinking the vinegar straight.

Green Juice

A tall glass of green juice in the morning offers your body much-needed nutrients for a healthy, energized start to your day. This parsley, apple, spinach, and ginger green juice recipe offers a good dose of vitamin C, antioxidants, and iron, all of which can help raise your energy levels.

Peppermint Tea

If you're craving something hot in the morning, opt for an herbal tea made from peppermint. Even without caffeine, the mint in the tea can help wake you up. Look for noncaffeinated peppermint tea blends at your grocery store, or throw a few mint leaves into a cup of boiling water, cover, and steep for five to 10 minutes.

One more energizing drink after the break!

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Coffee lovers and green tea enthusiasts, unite! A new study out of Japan shows that people who drink both beverages every day have a lower risk of stroke than those who drink just one or the other (or neither).

Researchers have been touting the antioxidant properties of green tea for years, and recent studies show that your daily coffee fix boosts more than just your energy levels. But putting the two drinks together — not in the same cup, of course — may help you reap the health benefits of both.

Researchers looked at the coffee and tea consumption habits of almost 82,369 Japanese adults over 13 years and found that people who had a cup of coffee every day were 20 percent less likely to have a stroke (compared to those who didn't drink coffee at all). But that's not to say that coffee is better for you than tea. In fact, the study noted that people who drank four or more cups of green tea a day were also about 20 percent less likely to have a stroke. Since the two drinks help prevent strokes in different ways, drinking both can lower your risk of stroke more than just drinking one or the other, the study authors explained.

Read on to learn more about the health benefits of both coffee and tea.

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf recently launched a slew of new beverages: a new line of sweet teas, as well as a unique hot-beverage concept, tea cappuccinos. Intrigued by the new concept and a penchant for sweet tea, we took a coffee tea break to see how the chain's latest drink offerings stack up.

A quick word before we delve into specifics (and how each beverage fared): a tea cappuccino, at least by TCB&TL's definition, is a vanilla bean syrup-sweetened, steamed milk-topped beverage with a tea base that's brewed in an espresso machine solely devoted to tea brewing.

Chai Tea Cappuccino

Full of robust, peppery, authentic chai flavor, the Chai Tea Cappuccino was neither too sweet nor flat (as many chai blends unfortunately tend to be). Hints of ginger, cardamom, and other sweet-leaning spices meld perfectly with the vanilla bean sauce and powder, making for a drink perfect for days when an indulgent start is obligatory. For everyday mornings, we'll take advantage of the store's openness to drink customization (and use of loose leaf tea, rather than a concentrated chai base) and order the cappuccino unsweetened to avoid a midmorning sugar crash.

Scottish Breakfast Tea Cappuccino

While we enjoyed the robust, tannic Scottish tea base of this iteration, it lost points when combined with the incongruent vanilla bean sauce, which, while spot on when paired with the chai tea, didn't quite do it for us with the otherwise pleasant black tea. We'd consider reordering this option unsweetened or with a drizzle of honey.

Keep reading to learn how the chain's other new offerings fared.

Coffee breaks just got a little more exciting, thanks to Coco Cafe, a boxed beverage that combines the hydrating powers of coconut water with espresso, a splash of reduced-fat milk, and sugar. While we've been loving the original latte flavor, we recently got a chance to try its latest offerings: vanilla latte and mocha. Fans of traditional bottled coffee beverages will not be disappointed.

If you've ever had a bottled latte or mocha drink, Coco Cafe's offerings are pretty similar tasting, but with a few minor differences. While the taste of coconut water is not at all present in either drink, it does cut through the richness of the dairy. The result is a drink that doesn't taste too heavily of milk, but still retains enough creaminess to satisfy iced-coffee cravings. Of the two, the vanilla was my favorite, the taste of coffee came through with just enough sweetness to balance it out. While the mocha was good, it tasted more like a lightened-up version of chocolate milk than a coffee drink: I couldn't taste the espresso, and the distinct taste of cocoa powder overpowered the drink a little too much for my taste.

As for whether or not the use of coconut water makes this a healthy offering or just a slick gimmick, what Coco Cafe does have compared to similar drinks, is a hefty dose of potassium — 600 milligrams worth. And because it relies more on coconut water than milk and sugar, overall calorie counts are lower (especially in terms of the sugar). Caffeine levels seem to be pretty on point: the 11-ounce drink contains 120 milligrams of caffeine, roughly the amount of a single shot of espresso. And while it is a healthier choice than, say, a bottled Frappuccino, at 140 calories and 19 grams of sugar, Coco Cafe's drinks shouldn't turn into a daily habit. But what they are perfect for are those hot days when a sweet and creamy treat is a must.

Yerba mate, a South American tea derived from the dried leaves of the mate plant, promises drinkers a calm, focused caffeinated feeling — without the jittery buzz that comes from too much coffee. Used for centuries as a social and medicinal beverage, mate has a rich history that links back to indigenous tribes, but this brew might not be as innocuous as once thought.

Drinking mate has been associated with a number of health benefits, everything from lowering cholesterol to supporting liver function. Even alternative and complementary medicine advocate Dr. Weil believes in certain benefits of mate, namely that consumption supports healthy bone density. Researchers from the University of Illinois found that yerba mate actually destructs colon cancer cells. Growing in popularity due to many of these claims, the tea is readily available in supermarket aisles and receives rave reviews, but not all the cancer research is glowing.

Two studies performed in Uruguay have shown the link between drinking mate and esophageal cancer. Researchers found that heavy drinkers of mate were approximately 10 times more likely to develop cancer than people who did not drink mate. The traditional process of smoke-drying the mate leaves used in these traditional communities might have a direct correlation with cancer; surprisingly, a similar risk is associated with drinking scalding-hot beverages, even something as common as coffee or water, so temperature might be a factor, too.

Some of the most popular mate manufacturers have responded to health concerns, explaining that their products are no longer smoke-dried. A more modern air-dried process is believed to significantly lower the risk of carcinogenic compounds polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the chemicals known to be carcinogens at high concentrations in mate. However, just how much is significant has yet to be looked at in detail. With this information and its conflicting research, it's best to enjoy all mate in moderation.

Do you drink mate regularly? Will you think twice before sipping next time?

Ever since I first heard of Pok Pok — Andy Ricker's James Beard Award-winning Thai street food restaurant — I've been eager to try out the zesty cuisine for myself. While that has yet to come to fruition, I've satisfied at least a hint of my curiosity by sampling Ricker's drinking vinegar — a sweet-tart syrup not unlike a shrub — which brings us to today's artisanal pick: Pok Pok's Som Tamarind version ($15).

I first followed the bottle's suggestion, mixing four parts sparkling water with one part drinking vinegar for a tangy spritzer of sorts. Consumed as is, it's a bit too sweet, but diluted down with a ratio closer to 6:1 and punched up with a squeeze of lime, I could —and will — enjoy refreshing glass after glass as we head into sunnier weather. What's more, I can't wait to experiment with this tangy syrup in cocktails, where I imagine it would be a stellar match for tequila or white rum, as well as classic Southeast Asian ingredients like ginger, basil, mint, lime, and possibly even fiery peppers. Stay tuned for the results, and in the meantime, I suggest you order a bottle, or one of Pok Pok Som's other intriguing options like pineapple or pomegranate, and get experimenting yourself.

Just how many calories are in that mojito and mozzarella stick? Check out the chart below before heading out after work or over the weekend so you can keep your happy hour, happy. Let's start with the drinks first and then move on to the food.

To see the rest of the cocktails and a list of the calories in appetizers, keep reading.

Nonherbal teas — those of the black, green, white, and oolong variety — contain high amounts of flavenoids, or antioxidants, that help reduce the risk of certain diseases, boost immunity, and improve heart health. Drinking tea is a good habit to have, but are you harnessing the full power of your mug? Read these tips for making sure you're getting the most antioxidant power out of your drink.

1. Know your steep times: Steeping draws out tea's catechins, so keep your tea in your mug longer to take advantage of these antioxidants. If you're worried about getting a high dose of caffeine in your strong cups of tea, then switch to decaffeinated — the antioxidant makeup of decaffeinated tea is still strong.
2. Don't add milk: Adding milk to your tea may be a treat, but if you're looking to benefit from tea's disease-fighting power, then keep it away from your cup. Studies have shown that milk strips tea of its health effects; one study found that soy milk similarly decreased the health effects of tea as well.
3. Add these instead: Certain items actually increase the antioxidant levels of tea, so go ahead and add them to your mug. Citrus fruits like lemon and lime, for example, have been shown to maximize the effectiveness of green tea's catechins, while cinnamon, honey, and nutmeg all are antioxidant-rich foods in their own right (and make great tea additions).