Caffeine or non Caffeine

My husband has suffered a challenge to his health twice, and caffeine, though not the only culprit, has been a major offender. Finally, this year, he’s decided to quit having caffeine, but he did not want to give up the coffee experience somehow. While in Madrid, my mom introduced us to soluble cereals, that come in grains like instant coffee, and that are a nice approximation to having a hot (or cold) beverage when you please. For him it’s usually on his way to work in the car, or at times at home when you feel like it.

And that’s how we came to the picture products. Most of them are a mix of barley and chicory. The one to the right it’s the store brand of a supermarket in Madrid, it says “cereales solubles” (soluble cereals), and it was bought at a price of approximately $3 dollars. The one next to it, Cafix, has a different ingredient, sugar beets. That we luckily found at a store in our area, Sprouts for $8 dollars. Next in line is Eko, by Nestle, bought in Madrid as well, and that one sells for $5 dollars. The most expensive was Pero, (though the honey application that compares prices and searches for coupons, told me it’s been seen at Amazon at cheaper prices in a month’s time). We bought at Amazon before we checked locally, we paid $9.99. Despite the different bottles, all have the same weight, 200 grams, or 7 ounces.

The Starbucks bottle is not Starbucks Frappuchino, it’s my attempt at making it cold to see how we liked it. We did love it! You can prepare this like instant coffee, with all milk, or with all water, or half and half. We prepare it with water, and some almond milk, or creamer.