Remember how you were feeling alive in your last dreamy vacation where you immersed yourself in a new culture you’ll never forget? Or maybe that was a staycation where you got time away for yourself to relax and do nothing, or just lay by the pool. I can relate to both!
And, I love rooftop views!
Beautiful rooftop view of Bologna, Italy
…When Life couldn’t be any better. Vatas love this Cloud 9 feeling from heightened senses in different places, Pittas love the getting back to productive routine, and Kaphas love their homey comforts and sleeping in their own bed again.
Life is good and one big harmony for everyone when you’re feeling alive and good again! And you can feel this way in all these different ways because you have all these traits in you (in varying degrees).
Wherever you are, take those feeling-alive dreamy vacation feelings with you. I do!
Sprinkle those joyful feelings throughout the rest of the 365 days. Here’s an example of a typical practice I have.
When I first start my workday, I look at a small framed piece of inspiring artwork in front of me (and I can take an inspiring desk calendar with me wherever I go). It puts a peaceful smile on my face. All is well. 🧡
I also keep a changing-up scenery screensaver on my computer. This is super important for a Vata! But if you like to see the same image over and over again, then find a framed image or words that inspire you.
For now, I have a Matisse postcard image in front of me that is just as good as if I took a look at the image in an original museum painting because I choose to see from the lens that I’m not missing anything.
Visuals are oh-so-important and especially so if you don’t have a vivid imagination. Colors play into the mix. That’s why people feel differently when they wear different color pieces of clothing. Do dogs react differently to different colors? You betcha!
I had one that loved the boldness of red (that’s the same color that bulls run to). And so do us, people. Except we’re a bit more refined and complicated with our color palette choices… more on that below.
As A Vata, if you are one like I am, you’re constantly changing things up and inspired to change at least the colors, if not the clothing style or the entire room (and hopefully your spouse or roommate doesn’t mind. Your dog won’t) 😉. Continue reading “Experience Feeling Alive Every Day”
Tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed feeling as shown in this word cloud are general feelings many of us have.
These are eye-opening common feelings from my community surveyed in September 2021
But you don’t have to stay tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed. It’s the start of a new season and you can transition into your best season (no matter your situation). You can handle it with grace if you stay conscious of your attitudes and what you’re focusing on.
How you react is a direct determinant of how you perceive and interpret your situation.
Today’s blog post (and it’s a big one) is all about your different tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed feelings that bubble up when triggered that arise from some form of dissatisfaction (or trigger) in your life. I’m gonna share how to put those non-serving feelings aside so you can LIVE fully!
And that can start with a recipe that cools and refreshes.
Ice cream cookie recipe below 🍓
If you’re tired overall, then I’ve also got a tea beverage that’ll help put a pep in your step (especially if you have a Kapha imbalance). So keep on reading…
But – just a little side warning upfront: this is a long (and maybe deep) blog post. I didn’t intend for this to turn into an article-length piece, but I’m very passionate about the topic of balance restoration (having suffered in my ways before with unfulfilling work), so I believe that this is useful information for those who want it (and the data is showing people are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated these days).
So to further help with exhaustion and offer some tired relief in the way I know that works, I’m providing some know-how advice and practical nuggets of wisdom that I picked up along my journey.
I chopped up the blog article down into 4 main sections and here are some of the highlights:
Section 1: I explain how feelings can guide you and share what you could productively do with your feelings, plus lessons I learned that can help you turn your life around from tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed feelings.
Section 2: I share how to turn your feelings around with your thoughts and two revelations that changed my life (and since the tennis U.S. Open just ended, I use an analogy from the sporting event to describe how you can improve your thought life).
I also share with you some of my lifelong learner ways you can use to help you turn your life around from tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed feelings. And I explain how to reset your life now to a better path of possibilities.
Section 3: You can learn how to change your moods (whether they’re daily or seasonal moods) and how to use your time wisely with a break pause in your day (and life).
I include plenty of peppery questions you can ask yourself to get to the heart of the matter and find yourself in this season, along with oodles of examples throughout (so be sure to read it all and come back if you need to take a break!)
…and then finally in Section 4: you can learn how to change your perspectives from the tired, frustrated, or overwhelmed lens.
And I wrap up with some joy and inspiring ways you can look forward to your season and the upcoming 4 seasons.
So be ready to be encouraged and if you’re ready, grab a beverage and here we go!…
Emotional wheel is something you’ve probably heard about. Daily, we are bombarded with triggered emotions. If we process them when they happen or within the week, that’s healthy for us so we don’t assume trauma that hurts our happiness. I learned the hard way, but lessons learned gave me wisdom to end the madness even if it was delayed by years.
And these healthy black and white chocolate dipped biscotti (recipe below) ⬇️ represent the refining process of going through (the oven) again to get to the optimal finish line bake. You can make these when you’re working on your emotional wheel feelings, and not sure if you’re feeling up or down or all around that life can serve up.
These black and white chocolate biscotti that are duo chocolate and twice baked, went through the process. So you know they’re healthy! 😅
I was on a recent webinar presentation watching a respected leader and expert I have been listening to for years. She’s usually always on point except for this one display of being on an emotional wheel.
Consequently, her mind jumped all around, from one thought back to another. I felt for her. Like a trouper, she just went on like the professional she is.
Halfway through, she mentioned her forgetful mood was because she didn’t have anything to eat as a result of a hectic morning. But I could see and feel through the screen that the turmoil she was having was from a temporary Vata and Pitta imbalance, simultaneously going on at the same time.
I know that because I’ve been there and I’m sensitive to those imbalances.
We often try and associate our off-ness with a routine missed, or else we just let the moments pass and resolve themselves.
But what if it doesn’t? …and those moody feelings go from a day into days or weeks?
In this webinar I was on, this expert was also more impatient than usual. She didn’t usually point out when she had answered a question already. She typically just graciously found a new way to answer with additional ideas and value. She’s usually very calm and in control in mind-body connection ways.
I’m using this as a case study, as this can happen to any of us in our human-ness, no matter how put together or skilled we are. We’re not robots, thank goodness!
And this helps explain tennis pro, Naomi Osaka’s performance this week in the U.S. Open tennis match (and previous matches) where she has shown signs of frustration, throwing her racquet to the hardcourt. She was up and winning in the first set and then her mind-body turned on her, and she ended up going on a losing streak to a younger underdog player.
This is why they play in professional sports, because mostly if they can contain their emotions and control with a focused, coordinated mind-body, then they shine. But no matter how pro they are, they can lose it if they get inside their heads, and their bodies don’t perform in the tip-top way they want.
Anxiety is one of those emotions that can be crippling. And anger (or irritation as a subtler form) is another. You can go from one undesirable emotion to the next in the spectrum of the emotional wheel.
In my wholeness journey (as a 3rd study case), I’ve learned how to remove and calm those emotions that used to play a regular or seasonal role in my life. I just thought that was the way I was. I didn’t know back then I could do something about it that would change my life.
Then on top of those emotions, I used to think SADD (seasonal affective disorder) was what I would experience all my life from a teenager on, when every February I would feel hormonally imbalanced or slightly depressed. Do they even talk about this anymore as there are so many other known disorders in our more open, aware society?
I knew once March rolled around I was good and chipper again. But not everyone bounces back that way.
As I grew up, I learned to get the right vitamins, minerals, and herbal supplements, and that helped along with all the other healthy and daily practices I implemented to enjoy every day.
In this similar way of seeking knowledge, I learned how to restore anxious-irritated feelings. We all have some feelings we have running on the surface or as undercurrents in our life, and are sometimes stronger based on our life situations.
In my desires and awareness, I learned how to faster restore those symptoms from the body-mind perspective, so that even the inward expression and feelings disappear. That’s a big transformation. And I realized it’s possible to improve your life with better wisdom and practice.
Emotional Wheel: Anxious Vata vs Angry Pitta Imbalances
There’s a varying spectrum of symptoms or descriptions you can use for Vata vs. Pitta imbalances on the emotional wheel.
An anxious Vata imbalance can show signs of being worried, scared or fearful (like if you will lose something valuable or if you feel uncertain about an outcome).
An angry Pitta imbalance can feel hot-tempered, irritated, annoyed, critical, or impatient (or feel a need to be more right about everything than usual).
In both cases, you want to get back to your calmest self as soon as possible. We all know stress causes havoc on our bodies and minds. And when you’re calm, you make better decisions when you can think and act clearly.
But each specific imbalance needs a different remedy.
If you have a Vata imbalance, you can first more notice your symptoms in your heartbeat, stomach, and sweaty hands (before it impacts your mind). You want to control those with your thoughts. You want to change that, to feel fearless and confident.
In a high-pressure situation like in a world-is-watching-your tennis court performance, that’s not easy to do and to revert back right away. At home or in your life, that’s what you want to do.
If you have a Pitta imbalance, your mind can often be impacted first. Triggers can set off your mind, and then your actions create your behaviors that lead to body stressors.
We all are born with a split mind that I won’t get into here, but this can be part of a personal growth journey you take to have one productive, loving mind in your higher self-space.
It’s the stuff I breathe, share, teach (and stand for). I believe your health and happiness are dependent on your growth and based on your choice and decision to take a better path than how you started or were given.
And in either case of Vata or Pitta imbalances, if you’re not calm then you’re stunted momentarily until you can restore and get back to your balance. You’re frozen from being creative and fully productive as your mind is distracted and can be racing, and that can impact your physical health like getting enough sleep and functioning optimally in the waking hours.
…Such as sitting still can be a Vata challenge and getting motivated to do calming yoga can be something you need to convince your body to do if it will cooperate. And a Pitta challenge can be to not express knee-jerk reactions, opinions, or interrupt. These subtle occurrences are emotional wheel signs that can be balance restored. Just like you get your tire wheels balanced (in alignment) on a car, your body-mind needs addressing, tune-ups and check-ins, so it runs optimally for life.
If you have a Vata imbalance you can witness your jumping from task to task more than usual.
When you have a Pitta imbalance you can also be jumpy, but you may want to interject more often.
You can go from one imbalance to another quickly, the same day, or as often as the weather changes (along with the storms in your body), and naturally can go away.
But, a better goal is you don’t want to be jumpy at all. You want to get off the emotional hamster wheel. There’s no good benefit being on it. You want to be cool, calm and collected. Or happy, and your excitement is contagious so you can be your BEST YOU.
If you let go of the unwanted feelings, then that’s victory. But if these hindering feelings spin out of control in your thought life, then you can end up lashing out at others, being angry, or running away. And these can in a usually-delayed way show up on your body in some form.
When your balance is restored, you know because the feelings of calm and peace wash over, and you can find the joyful moments to keep you productive and happy at the moment. You are free and own the most important thing you have, Your Life. You feel on top of the world and your emotional wheel is balanced.
So now you know about the Vata-Pitta differences (or are getting a little more aware). What do you do about restoring your emotional wheel of undesired feelings?
It’s not exactly one size fits all as we have different bodies and minds (biodiversity), but since we’re all born with a body and mind, there are similar specific remedies that work for these imbalances.
For a Vata, ginger, and cinnamon in black teas can be your magic tea. Orange is one of your magical scents.
If you’re a Vata or have a Vata imbalance, you won’t want grassy tasting green teas (green smoothies are okay all the time 😊) or to do the creative activities, as your mind will still want to protect you like you’re being chased by a tiger.
If you’re a Pitta or have a Pitta imbalance, you won’t want sweets. You’ll prefer a plummy-sour fruit flavor or green tea, and you’ll want to get active. You can want the grassy cologne scents that you won’t normally be attracted to if you’re not a naturally dominant Pitta.
From anxiety to anger, you can easily go into a distracted fight-flight-frozen mode.
You get to know which imbalances you have when you like certain scented lotions and perfumes you like sometimes but not others. All that information is connected to your body-mind intelligence and imbalances.
Your body naturally knows what it wants and needs. It’s fascinating. That’s why I’m passionate about restoring imbalances that lead to better daily happiness and long-term health.
You can learn how to do this for yourself and others. As a first step you could take the body balance quiz to get some quick tips on how to restore your dominant imbalance and get advice for deeper insight on your body-mind imbalances. I love this mantra:
“When you know better, you do better.”
-Oprah and Maya Angelou
Break your patterns, stay curious, and with a growth mindset, you can make tweaks and improvements that affect your health and happiness. Let your emotional wheel of feelings help guide you. Be well.
Healthy Biscotti (No Butter or Sugar) - Black and White Chocolate Biscotti
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
2-1/2cup flour
3tspbaking powder
1-1/2tspaniseed, crushed
3/4tspsalt
1/4tspcinnamon
1/4tspnutmeg
1/2cupcoconut oil
1-1/4tspalmond extract
2eggs
1cupsblanched almonds
2tspmilk
finely choped dates, orange zest, dried fruits as sweet
Instructions
Make your dough with the ingredients. It should be cohesive and sticky enough to become a dough. You may need to add more oil or can substitute with yogurt or apple sauce.
Roll our two rectangular loafs flattened at the top in 350°F oven for 25 minutes.
Let cool completely. Then use a serated knife to make even-cut biscotti pieces.
Then flip over and bake for 10 more minutes for twice baked.
Let cool and dip in melted chocolate.
Refrigerate and then dip in white chocolate for duo-chocolate.
Balanced living and wellness is the best way to live a life worth living.
That’s what people discover after they’ve hit rock bottom or they’ve run ragged for long seasons.
When you reset to your calm and whole equilibrium essence, you find your life meaning, purpose, and happiness now and in this season.
That improves mental health that’s delicate to protect for longevity.
If you live every day busy and stressed, even if it’s doing the thing that lights you up and gives you purpose, like owning your own business or being the CEO in your household, you can still feel burnout.
If you don’t develop a strong enough reason WHY for what you’re doing, then you can gradually feel unhappy because you can be missing the meaning piece. Why does the business or my family give me purpose?
Getting to those deeper reasons, you can find it has nothing to do with security or a sense of belonging as you could get those from a solid work career or a community of friends.
It could be more about spiritual alignment, personal growth, and discovering more of who you are.
If you were a rose flower, even during blooming season, your intact delicate petals could become brittle, and fall off under wind-blowing conditions.
But if you knew your purpose and greater giving impact was to be naturally beautiful, fragrant, healthy, and alive, and that your inner beauty helps to spread love to your environment and the world, then you would be able to embrace chaos and changing environmental situations.
You can get your unique raison d’etre (reason of being) when seeking meaning and purpose this season which requires your focus, mindful space, and deeper thought.
Quiet time, introspection, and journaling can bring that wisdom out of you.
If you are body-mind balanced in balanced living, then you can tune in more acutely because when you’re healthy you can do infinitely all that you’re capable and willing to do in alignment.
A healthy body-mind provides the starting foundation for your inner wisdom to grow.
To be healthy, it’s important to find time to soak in what your body is conveying to you in each season of your unique life and take time to nourish your naturally resilient but unique body.
The one and only body you will get and can transform if you wish. A simple daily task of moisturizing your dry skin (the largest organ in your body) can be a healthy body-mind exercise especially if you’re a Vata and have those tendencies.
You could stop to smell the roses daily and sense all their pretty features like bright and pastel colors… subtle rose scents (great for a judgmental mind)… soft and silky smooth texture …and balanced intricate design.
In those mindful moments, you can connect with yourself, and realize how you can make an impact in your life and others this season of life… Time you will never get back. Losing time can be a motivator (Your Why) as it has been for me.
Before I was conscious of body imbalances, I didn’t realize I had fallen rose petals from lack of self-care attention. I may have noticed random petals and brushed that off as nothing.
Had I been more in tune back then, I could have adapted and thrived better to my seasonal situations to keep the petals blooming.
And I would’ve reached my higher frequency instead of survival mode in a modern rat-race work life. You can miss out on fulfilling years of personal growth and finding your whole self that way.
Looking back, I went through the motions. In the season when I had a Kapha imbalance, I couldn’t get myself up an hour earlier than I desired and accumulated more than one of everything.
When I had a Pitta imbalance, I noticed acne in new spots and was more critical than usual.
Multitasking BTW is the epitome of a lack of mindfulness.
Out of living balanced, inconsistent symptoms show up, such as accumulating body weight, feeling impatient, being withdrawn or slower than usual.. and so much more!
When I learned how to restore my gradually stored up appearing imbalances, then I had a new framework and perspective for tackling all that I wanted to do in a loving way and productively.
More importantly, being the person I wanted to be (…and you can too!).
You could be fully aligned with the creative flow (even if you think you’re not creative or in this season). You gain clarity and laser focus (and feel unstoppable, and not starting and stopping).
You can be your super-productive self while still enjoying some of the uneventful days of this season. They don’t matter in balance.
Finding unique joyful activities you love can help to prevent burnout. And proactively learning how to naturally restore your body-mind balanced self and balanced living is how you can start to be your healthiest self (and the best rose in your life).
Each year can be your best year because you make the most out of it and see how what you did brought you to where you are.
Encouragement for today… you every day feel better than the day before if you proactively look for how to intervene and get those wholesome perspectives and wisdom.
If yesterday wasn’t the best, you have a low bar to surpass today. If yesterday was great (hopefully it was) then today you can follow in those footsteps, and also keep trying new things. You keep going and growing.
As busy humans, we have complex lives. One day, we can be pivoting, and the next day looking for more happiness in our lives while handling the necessary tasks in the here and now.
Some of our specific situations can sometimes leave us feeling drained, tired, anxious, worried, annoyed or irritated. If you feel any of those symptoms, you can do something about it.
Your body and mind imbalances can change from season to season and can show up in many ways. The mind and body keeps memory and score.
As part of this season, I hope (and challenge you if that’s what you need!) that you will take time to find your specific purpose, meaning, and take some extra balanced, self-care time out.
6 Productive Take Time Out Activity Ideas For Balanced Living (So You Don’t Burnout!)
Every day, try and choose at least one of these “time out” activities that can be for 10 minutes or more per day. If you only have 5 minutes, then take those 5 minutes.
If you feel guilt about taking time away from whatever your busy list is (work, family, etc.), recognize the feeling, and reason with yourself that this prevents you from burning out in the long run.
When you come back to your busy life, take note that nothing significantly earth-shattering has happened. The more you can record evidence for that, the less guilt if any, you can feel. And then you also gained quality time for yourself, and you feel healthier and happier, and the people around you notice.
Breathing time. If you can’t remember the last time you paid attention to your breath inhale and exhale breathing, then you’re probably too busy to be mindful and too busy this season. Be intentional and come back to it for your health and balanced living.
Break time. In between busy activities, take short breaks to get mindful, Doing laundry, making a snack, pouring water, and looking at nature or a plant that’s moving or growing as you read this and go about your regular day, can be satisfying to a balanced body-mind. If you feel tensions, then something could be off.
Use mind space and relaxing your body, as your break time theme. You could be standing up, taking a walk, or sitting on the deck, and watching the world go by, looking for productive future thoughts to enter. You can start with something you look forward to. If you find yourself pacing or your mind is racing, step outside into new surroundings and air.
Silent time to get a peaceful mind. Have moments in the day where it’s completely quiet in your surroundings, or you put on white noise or a quieting headset.
Let ideas pop into your head. This means not watching the television.
This means tuning out the sounds from your immediate world that can come from another room.
You can meditate, but I suggest keeping your eyes open so you can take a look at your surroundings for inspirational ideas.
“Me time.” I grew up in a decade where it was a less sensitive world than today. People weren’t as aware or empathetic.
Taking “me time” sounded selfish to others, but then our society became more open to the idea that when you practice self-care and self-love, you have more love to give to others (time, space, and forgiveness).
Thankfully living in a more transparent world frees you to be a better you.
If you find pride creeping up, you can have a daily intention or practice to be grateful.
Find gratitude time. Pause and think of a few moments this week that you’re grateful for.
Write them down in a journal or on the back of a temporary envelope if that will help better solidify those temporary memories in your mind.
You can do this while you turn on the news. With sad headlines, you can have deeper compassion, and that helps you find gratitude, meaning, and contentment in your life.
This can improve your daily happiness and feeling good about what you do have and how you can contribute and make an impact to serve and help others.
Gaining an internal and grounded perspective can keep you feeling peaceful and in control, instead of living an up and down daily roller coaster lifestyle based on the highs and lows going on in your life.
If you’re feeling frustrated or defeated:
Find organize task time (or time to piddle around and tidy up). If you feel overwhelmed or are unwinding from the day, doing mindless tasks can feel good and be productive.
You can use this time to also catch up on podcasts or listen to music to get calm and back to your usual self.
If you have more time, you can do a rainy day project like organizing a file, bookshelf, or drawer. Make it fun.
You can create a good memory by stuffing a good ‘old photo, some stickers, or memorable words you write on paper, and add them to your project.
When you’re done, you’ll feel better for your small, but mighty in your mind daily achievement. That can be all your mind needs to relax and get back to the mood you want.
And in the future when you pick up the tangible memory you just made, that can put a smile on your face again. Small tasks can make big differences.
Have a good (no, have a GREAT) balanced living week!
Short on eggs, you can make this easy recipe in 3 minutes.
Course Breakfast, brunch
Cuisine American
Author Brandy @ Healthy Happy Life Secrets
Ingredients
1tbspblueberries, frozen
1/2cupoats
1/2cupmilk
1tbspwhole wheat flour, plain flour, or gluten free flour
1tspneutral oil
Instructions
Mix ingredients and add to your medium hot waffle maker. This is a liquid-y batter. Add more oats to fill in if it becomes too liquid in spots. This is a very forgiving recipe and great for lazy weekends!
Cook for about 3 minutes or until easy to pull in one piece off the waffle iron with a fork.
Flip the bottom for the top as often that's better cooked.
For healthy version, dust collagen powder on top instead of powdered sugar.
Organic cold brew coffee is the coffee you can drink regularly if you’re a cuppa joe in the morning type of person and want to be more healthy.
You can use the information below s to make your organic cold brew coffee and routine. ☕️
Let’s break this down into two parts.
Brewed coffee (or the regular coffee process) yields a more acidic coffee than cold brew in the process.
So if you want a lighter feeling coffee with a medium taste, then cold brew has its body health benefits.
…And why I do organic coffee cold brew daily.
Then, the organic coffee part is important because the bulk of coffee is sprayed with pesticides that we’re ingesting.
And if you’re noticing brain fog or blips in short-term memory has got you these days and you don’t know why, if you do drink regular coffee (cold brew or regular brewed) then the coffee could be the offender.
Switching to organic coffee for a month is a good idea to see if you feel a difference.
Organic coffee to buy can be more expensive and slightly harder to source, but you get to ask yourself what your health is worth and if you want to make the additional search effort.
These are just a few organic cold brew coffee benefits:
☕️ You can make and drink cold brew coffee faster than you can wait for hot coffee to brew (and wait for it to cool some).
I describe below 👇 how you can make your own below if you’ve never made before.
☕️ Cold brew also has health benefits. It’s less acidic through the cold brew process than regular hot coffee or espresso. This is good especially if you have a sensitive stomach or gut lining, and feel heartburn effects from coffee.
☕️ With cold brew, you may not need to eat your first meal first before your first cup as it’s more gentle and doesn’t need the food buffer.
…Many of us wake up groggy and tired, and we want our coffee first thing. But first we need a soft pillow of food in our stomach, that’s not the preference when you’re not quite awake and ready yet for eating.
So that’s where cold brew ROCKS… and is ready for you as you can make the day before or batches days or a week in advance and refrigerate!
☕️ If you gave up on coffee because it tears up your stomach or gives you heartburn, then cold brew coffee could be a good option so you can bring the healthy drink back. This point can’t be emphasized enough. ‼️
Or if you want a lighter cup of coffee during your day that won’t affect your sleep at night, cold brew coffee could be the way to go!
☕️ Cold brew coffee is great for hot weather days as your coffee is served cold. You make at room temperature and then refrigerate.
Making cold brew at home is also a mindful, relaxing activity. And it doesn’t have to end there…
If you know me, you know I like to zhugh up any food or beverages (probably from my catering background), so I’ll share how I do that too below!
What you will need for basic cold brew coffee:
-Ground coffee
-Mesh catcher (with a lip or rim)
-Coffee filters
-Spoon
-Water
-Deep bowl at least 6” high/deep OR pitcher with a large opening almost or just slightly larger than the mesh catcher diameter is ideal (but as long as most the mesh catcher sits inside the pitcher, it’ll work).
If you use a pitcher, you won’t need another pitcher to pour your finished coffee into as your cold brew coffee can go straight into the pitcher and fridge.
Cold Brew Setup:
Bowl: Find or buy a right-size mesh catcher that works comfortably for your cold brew coffee prep setup, where the coffee filter fits in easily.
Rest the mesh catcher to then rest on top of the bowl.
Set the coffee filter to sit in the catcher as flat or parallel to the table surface as best it can, so you don’t have coffee and water in the filter dripping or tipping over. Then you have your bowl setup.
Or…
Pitcher: You can put your filter/catcher ontop of a wider-opening pitcher. If you use a pitcher, you want most of the bottom half of the catcher to sit inside the pitcher so your coffee brewing doesn’t spill over in the sides.
So then you have your setup from one of the options above.
Good job!
Next, you can bring on the ground coffee grinds. See what I did there… ground grinds. 😊
I like to make cold brew coffee in the morning to get a good whiff of the coffee grounds, and as a sensory experience and relaxing mindful activity. 🧡
You can even pull out your setup the day or night before if you just want to make a cup in the morning or a batch for a couple days.
Mind you, the fresh-made coffee will be room temps warmer than when you refrigerate, but that’s actually better for your stomach in the morning when you’re getting your day started.
The stomach prefers room temperature liquids, and preferrably a big glass of plain water first.
And then in choosing coffee types, use ground coffee types. It’s easy to get enamored by coffee flavors, packaging, and brands, but be sure it’s “ground” otherwise they’ll be “whole” and you’ll need to make the grounds.
It’s better to use a mix of superfine ground coffee and a coarser ground coffee so the grounds don’t fall through the filter. Or find one that is just perfect for you and stick with it.
They stay grounded 😉
How to Make Cold Brew Coffee
To start making cold brew coffee, pour your ground coffee mix (about 1/2 cup to ¾ cup coffee grounds total for a large batch) in the filter. Every coffee grind is different. You can use less if you just want to make a cup.
You can start with 1/4 cup coffee grounds to make a cup or two of coffee. These will be the strongest cups from the grounds.
With a spoon, mix the ground coffees up a little in your catcher-filter setup before you pour in water to possibly prevent fine ground coffee from falling through the filter.
Pour cool water over the coffee grounds. Filtered water is good. The cold water is the process secret to keeping the coffee from becoming more acidic (healthy benefit). You can use room temperature water and it will be fine.
After you refrigerate it will be served “cold brew.”
In the beginning, the water will go through the filter fast and you will get a light brown/caramel trail of coffee water in your pitcher or bowl.
That won’t be the final coffee you’ll be drinking.
When you keep pouring into the catcher-filter, then the darker coffee color comes out that you were probably expecting.
Troubleshooting: If your ground coffee mix sends some of the grounds through the filter or you accidentally spill some grounds in your ready-made coffee, then you can simply start over with a new coffee filter in a second bowl.
The second bowl can catch the second round of coffee being made that sometimes can turn out better. Pour your first setup coffee and coffee grounds into the filter of the second.
So back on track… from time to time, take a spoon and stir the coffee ground and water in your filter, trying not to have coffee water overflow.
Keep pouring water as it filters down. And if you pour into a cup, watch it drip darker coffee after the first half of a cup or so.
More Coffee… thinking ahead for tomorrow
Then if you want to add more ground coffee, you can make a bigger coffee batch or a pitcher with your current setup.
This less potent coffee is good for lighter coffees.
…I like to make cappuccinos with after the first two cups of cold brew coffee.
You can make foam or froth milk (I find unsweetened coconut milk the easiest to get a good froth with a frother), or you can use a little whipped cream.
Then I add a dash of cocoa, cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or cardamom.
Oh, and one final cold brew coffee benefit: If you make cold brew coffee at home, you’ll never again be without coffee if the machine doesn’t work! You can always make your own instant coffee without a machine.
You can also pair your plant-based coffee habit to some great plant-based breakfast ideas to break away from the sugar breakfast habits or adding sugar to coffee. Sugar we know accumulates and works to destroy the biome.
So organic cold brew coffee and healthy eating together can be a better habit.
After you have your cold brew coffee setup, pour water through. The first 30 seconds of water pours will go right through. Examine if you're getting the medium to dark brown coffee color (if not, pour the watered down coffee into a temporary glass and then pour through again). If the coffee is too finely ground or too coarse, this can happen. If too fine, add/blend about a tablespoon of a slightly coarser ground coffee to the filter. This should even out the coffee grinds.
Keep pouring water and pour your first cup of coffee (will be the strongest). You can keep going until the cold brew coffee is weaker strength or turning lighter color.
