A Beginner’s Guide to Learning to Drink Coffee

About six weeks ago I desperately needed a little bit of caffeine to help me stay awake with Jamie during our late-night 2.5 hour drive from Atlanta to Birmingham. After an incredibly busy day, we were exhausted. So we swung into the airport terminal’s Starbucks, and I snagged the most “froo froo” drink (as Jamie likes to call it!) I could find – a white chocolate latte.

And oh my goodness. I loved it. It was a cool evening, so the coffee warmed me right up. I’m not sure how much caffeine a drink like that had in it, but regardless I felt more alert and actually wanted another one.

I told Jamie that maybe I really was missing out on some magic by not trying a little harder to enjoy coffee, so when we got home a few days later Jamie grabbed me a bottle of white chocolate creamer. I ended up putting four tablespoons of creamer and one packet of Equal in my coffee, and I loved it. I struggled with the calorie and sugar count though. As a new coffee drinker, I needed to start with a crazy amount of creamer to take away the bitterness, but I really didn’t want to drink 140 extra calories every morning.

So I decided to talk to my cell phone (a.k.a. IG stories – ha!) and see how my followers enjoyed their coffee without downing a load of calories and sugar, and gosh… I received more comments than I could respond to! I should have known; People love coffee!

Here’s just a handful of flexible concoctions others recommended to try if you’re learning to drink coffee.

1. Heavy whipping cream
2. 1 tbsp creamer + one packet of splenda + a splash of sugar free vanilla syrup
3. Nut pods
4. Half and half
5. Flavored coffee such as Hazelnut or French Vanilla
6. Collagen + coconut oil
7. Unsweetened almond milk + sugar free vanilla syrup
8. Almond milk creamer + sugar in the raw
9. Torani sugar free syrup
10. More expensive, higher quality coffee
11. So Delicious Dairy Free creamer
12. Premier protein vanilla shakes as a creamer (available at Walmart)

I also had a handful of followers ask if I would share my findings, so I decided to go on a little mission the last six weeks to figure out what coffee drink I liked the best and report back. I’m telling you – I previously couldn’t stomach even a sip of coffee, so it’s a bit of a miracle that I’ve found two options – a hot and an iced – that I really love. Keep in mind that I still like my coffee quite flavorful because coffee is still too bitter for my tastebuds. I’m getting there though, one tablespoon of creamer at a time. 😉

My favorite hot coffee

one brewed K cup +  three tablespoons of Pumpkin Spice nutpod* + and one packet of a sugar alternative

*Pumpkin Spice is sold out across the internet but still available in Hazelnut, French Vanilla, and Original.

My favorite iced coffee

one cup of ice + one brewed K cup + one tablespoon of sugar free syrup (I like all kinds so far) + one cup of unsweetened almond milk + and one packet of a sugar alternative (<—- I watched a barista makes this for me a couple weeks ago and recreated it at home. Love it!)

Let’s chat!

1. What’s your favorite coffee concoction?
2. How did you learn to like coffee?