(This post sponsored by our publishing partner Cripple Creek Backcountry. Next time you’re at the shop, get an espresso from their deluxe Italian machine — authentico!)
No kidding. This is a ski touring blog. Yet 98.6843% percent of our readers drink coffee. I’m not a purist; I like creamer in my java, to smooth out acidity and add a bit of interest to the pallet. But I don’t do much dairy, and off the shelf non-dairy creamers are full of junk I don’t want; often too much sugar and salt, sometimes a laundry list that would make the EPA earn their keep. Food science to the rescue.
What’s creamer, anyway? It is white, has some fat, perhaps tiny dose of salting and sweetness. Yet more, how about creamer that perhaps sates hunger and helps normalize metabolism, the “keto” creamers you’ll find here and there on the ‘net and perhaps on the store shelf. After experimenting, my recipe for “Lou’s Almond Coconut Keto Creamer.”
You’ll need…
Almond milk: unsweetened, 1 quart (946 ML).
Coconut milk: canned, “Thai” brand “cream,” or regular “milk” one can (403 ML).
Gelatin powder, optional: 1 tablespoon.
Stevia sweetener: two or three small “single” packs, very sweet but too much has a chemical taste.
Agave nectar: 1 tablespoon or less, to taste but use very little otherwise you’re not keto!
Liquid soy lecithin: 1/8 cup (10 grams).
Pinch of salt, optional.
Begin with everything room temperature. In blender, combine almond milk and lecithin with a brief spin time at medium speed. Add remaining ingredients, and a pinch of salt if desired. Finish with a longer medium-speed spin, but not too long or the lecithin will stiffen and separate. The lecithin works as an emulsifier, keeping the soy milk and coconut milk from separating. If you don’t like the idea of soy, try other forms of lecithin. Refrigerate in a glass jar. If ingredients separate, try a bit more lecithin in your next batch. If mixture becomes too thick under refrigeration, reduce amount of coconut milk.
I’m told my brew makes my coffee “keto.” I can feel it!
Note about coconut milk: Thai brand “cream” is mostly coconut butter, while the lighter “milk” has a lot of butter as well. Either works, using the milk results in a bit lighter creamer that doesn’t clod up so much once refrigerated. I’ve experimented with both and like the results of using the “milk.”
Note about lecithin: The stuff can make a mess, you’ll surprised how sticky it is. For example, quite a bit will adhere to your measuring cup. Key to cleanup is lots of dish soap. The ideal proportion seems to be about 1% lecithin to the almond milk, which is where I get the 1/8 cup measurement. To avoid having to clean the measuring cup, after you’ve made a few batches you can dump the lecithin in by eye rather than measuring — that’s how I do it. Granulated lecithin might be easier to work with, I’ve not tried it More here.
For a commercial “instant” keto coffee, check out these guys.
WildSnow.com publisher emeritus and founder Lou (Louis Dawson) has a 50+ years career in climbing, backcountry skiing and ski mountaineering. He was the first person in history to ski down all 54 Colorado 14,000-foot peaks, has authored numerous books about about backcountry skiing, and has skied from the summit of Denali in Alaska, North America’s highest mountain. For more about Lou, please see his personal website at https://www.loudawson.com/ (Blogger stats: 5 foot 10 inches (178 cm) tall, 160 lbs (72574.8 grams).
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lou.dawson.writer
15 comments
I just add a pat of butter to black coffee, could try coconut oil if you prefer a sweet taste
Bailey’s Irish Cream
Thanks! (Many do not realize that they become lactose intolerant as adults – at least 75% of the world’s population.)
I tried the Know Brainer Keto creamer after Lou’s highlight from the Denver Outdoor Gear show. I was very impressed with my duration of energy after a single cup of coffee with the Keto creamer at 6am, then 4 hours of ski touring and not hungry until noon. Pretty good for a 54 year old still trying to get out of the suburbs and hit treeline before returning to the duties of fatherhood.
I have decided to only use the creamer on bigger adventures and not a daily habit.
I like Laird Superfood Original Creamer which is mostly coconut with some palm oil.
5Lactose intolerance. Is it the lactose that’s the issue as people become older or all he crap we stick into the land and the cows that create the issues. I’m in he 1.3%, but creamer is a North American thing right?
Lactose is a unique type of sugar. Evolution has made most humans lactose intolerant so that they cannot take mother’s milk from children.
There is indeed a lot of lactose intolerance, it’s not a myth, but I’d never heard that evolutionary take! I thought it had more to do with whether a gene pool was primarily hunter-gatherer or agrarian. In any case, there are multiple methods to figure out lactose intolerance, and it occurs in various degrees, some folks can consume a bit of milk product but have problems if they eat three cow milk meals a day (Switzerland) or just have some cow cream in their coffee. More, enzyme pills take care of the problem if so desired. And it does change with age. Lou
Pastoral, Lou.
For multi-day touring, I love these packets in addition to some MCT Oil powder:
https://smile.amazon.com/Vital-Proteins-Pasture-Unflavored-Individual/dp/B0791CN83T/
https://smile.amazon.com/Vital-Proteins-Pasture-Raised-Grass-Fed-Collagen/dp/B01INKB54I/
After discovering filter coffee (Aeropress,V60) no milk or creamer is allowed in my black drink.
Powdered oil!
Huh, the Tibetans were keto before keto was a thing: yak butter tea. I’ve had it a couple of times, its an acquired taste.
Things are clearly different in the US. Here in Switzerland we don’t do colloidal chemistry to home-make synthetic milk from packaged ingredients to disguise what’s in the cup. Anyone suggesting such a thing would be regarded as very very odd.
My tip would be to pour the US style coffee back into the horse and start with a good espresso made using freshly ground beans and a portafilter espresso machine, or failing that Nespresso is not so bad.
After powdered oil, I expected to see a link to powdered water. Okay, here it is:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dry_water
Is this the answer to the backpacker’s prayer?
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