RECIPES BY OLIVIA ROSZKOWSKI ✷ PHOTOGRAPHS AND STYLING BY RIKKI SNYDER
When Keurig first introduced the single-brew machine in the early 1990s, it was the answer to a groggy, coffee lover’s dreams—plop in a little cup prefilled with the right amount of caffeine goodness and you had a steaming mug of perfectly brewed coffee in under a minute. But for the environment, the single serve plastic cups were a nightmare. The reality is, one-in-four American households now have a machine on their counters, and billions of the toss-away cups are clogging landfills. How’s that for a buzz kill?
But here’s the good news: You can now opt for reusable K-cups that not only eliminate the plastic waste, but can be used with your own favorite java. So we wondered—what else could this miracle machine brew up in those little reusable cups?
We challenged our own Chef Olivia to come up with delicious, nutritious hot beverages that go beyond the basic brew. Within no time, she was hooked. “I was very impressed once I got the hang of what it could handle!” Olivia says. “It’s super fast and clean up is minimal. You can also extract quite a bit of flavor from a few teaspoons of ingredients. I love it because you can integrate health-supportive superfoods into a quick concoction and have fun with a variety of flavors.”
It’s true, once Chef Olivia got to brewing, it was hard to stop her. These are a few of our favorites.
goji peppermint elixir
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
1 teaspoon peppermint tea
1 teaspoon loose black tea
¼ cup goji berries
2 teaspoons coconut nectar, or to taste (optional)
1 mint sprig
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water.
Add goji berries into 16-ounce mug, and place in Keurig cup slot.
Place peppermint and black tea into stainless steel Keurig compatible cup, and insert into machine. Note: The finer the tea, the more flavorful the infusion.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir in coconut nectar if using, and garnish with mint sprig.
Serve elixir warm or cold.
nettle ginger honey sparkler
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
2 teaspoons nettle tea
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
1 tablespoon raw honey
1 cup sparkling water
1 lemon
1 piece honeycomb
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Place nettle tea, ground ginger, and turmeric powder into stainless steel Keurig compatible cup, and insert into machine. Note: The smaller the tea leaves, the more flavorful the infusion.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir in honey, and cool mixture in freezer for five minutes.
Juice lemon and pour into chilled tea mixture.
Top with sparkling water.
Place honeycomb onto skewer and use as garnish.
hibiscus cinnamon tonic
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
1 tablespoon hibiscus tea
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
6 clove pieces
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 tangerine
1 teaspoon raw honey, or to taste (optional)
¼ cup raspberries
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Place hibiscus tea, ground cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom into stainless steel Keurig compatible cup. Note: The smaller the hibiscus flowers, the deeper the hue of tea.
Cut tangerine into wedges.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir honey into tea, if using.
Add tangerine wedges and raspberries into tea. Serve hot or cold.
shiitake nori miso broth
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
2 ounces organic instant ramen noodles
15 dried shiitake slices
1 tablespoon miso paste
2 teaspoons ginger powder
1 sheet nori
½ teaspoon rice vinegar
¼ teaspoon shichimi togarashi
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water.
Add noodles and shiitakes to 16-ounce mug and place in cup slot.
Brew 1 cup by pressing the center, medium-size mug button once.
Allow to stand for 5 minutes, or until noodles are cooked through and shiitakes rehydrate. Stir in miso paste, until dissolved.
Place ginger powder into stainless steel Keurig compatible cup and insert into machine.
Brew 1 additional cup water into mug with noodles.
Cut nori sheet into squares and add to broth.
Add rice vinegar to broth and garnish with shichimi togarashi.
goji peppermint elixir
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
1 teaspoon peppermint tea
1 teaspoon loose black tea
¼ cup goji berries
2 teaspoons coconut nectar, or to taste (optional)
1 mint sprig
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water.
Add goji berries into 16-ounce mug, and place in Keurig cup slot.
Place peppermint and black tea into stainless steel Keurig compatible cup, and insert into machine. Note: The finer the tea, the more flavorful the infusion.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir in coconut nectar if using, and garnish with mint sprig.
Serve elixir warm or cold.
chamomile honey collagen tea
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
2 teaspoons loose chamomile tea
1 tablespoon unflavored collagen powder
2 teaspoons raw honey, or to taste
1 blood orange
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Add chamomile to stainless steel Keurig compatible cup, and insert cup into machine. Note: The smaller the chamomile blossoms, the stronger the resulting infusion will be.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir collagen powder and honey into tea.
Cut blood orange into slices. Squeeze a few slices into tea, and place remaining slices on a skewer for garnish.
Serve hot or over ice.
honey lavender hot lemon water
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
1 tablespoon food grade dried lavender
1 tablespoon freeze dried blueberries
1 Lemon
2 teaspoons raw honey, or to taste
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Add lavender to stainless steel reusable Keurig cup. Crumble in freeze-dried blueberries, close and insert cup into machine.
Slice lemon, discarding any seeds. Add slices to mug.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir in honey and serve hot.
golden carrot-ginger sipping broth
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
1 medium carrot
2 teaspoons ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
3 sprigs thyme
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon unsalted grass-fed butter
½ teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
4 chives
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water.
Peel and finely grate carrot. Add into a heatproof cup, and place in Keurig cup slot.
Place ground ginger, ground cumin, and thyme into stainless steel Keurig compatible cup, and insert into machine.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir in garlic powder, butter and sea salt.
Chop chives and use to garnish broth.
Serve warm.
lavender sage bulletproof cappuccino
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
1 teaspoon food grade dried lavender
½ teaspoon dried sage
1 teaspoon loose white tea
1 tablespoon freeze dried blueberries, extra for garnish
1 cup rice milk
1 tablespoon refined coconut oil
1 teaspoon honey, or to taste (optional)
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Add lavender, sage, and white tea to stainless steel Keurig compatible cup. Crumble in freeze-dried blueberries, close cup and insert into machine.
Warm rice milk and coconut oil in small saucepan. Use milk frother or carefully blend in blender to create foam.
Brew 1 cup by pressing center, medium-size mug button once to create tea; stir in frothed rice milk.
Stir in honey, if using. Crumble extra blueberries on top as garnish, and serve hot.
fresh mint & kitchen herb collagen tea
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
1 teaspoon loose jasmine tea
1 tablespoon unflavored collagen powder
1 teaspoon agave nectar, or to taste (optional)
3 sprigs fresh mint
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Destem rosemary and add leaves to stainless steel Keurig compatible cup, along with jasmine tea. Note: Do not tightly pack capsule, or tea will be diluted in flavor.
Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Stir in collagen powder to tea, until dissolved. Add agave nectar, if using.
Add mint, and brew for a few minutes. Remove mint sprigs after 2 minutes as they start to discolor or mixture can become bitter.
Serve warm, or over ice.
turmeric coconut cilantro broth
Yield: 2 cups
Gather
2 ounces organic instant ramen noodles
4 sprigs cilantro
1 teaspoon ground turmeric
2 tablespoons coconut cream
½ teaspoon sea salt
1 small red Fresno chili
½ teaspoon toasted sesame oil
To Make
Fill Keurig machine water receptacle with filtered water, and place 16-ounce mug in cup slot.
Add noodles to mug. Brew 16 ounces by pressing the center, medium-size mug button twice.
Allow to stand for 5 minutes, or until noodles are rehydrated and cooked through. Drain remaining water.
De-stem cilantro. Chop leaves and set aside. Add turmeric to refillable stainless steel Keurig compatible cup along with cilantro stems and insert into machine.
Brew 1 cup into mug with noodles, by pressing the center, medium-size mug button once.
Stir in coconut cream, and sea salt. Slice chili and add to broth.
Garnish with toasted sesame oil and chopped cilantro.
