Replace Your Cup of Coffee With Choffy


Sometimes, a girl just wants a good buzz.

But if the highs and lows you experience while drinking coffee leave you feeling more volatile than the stock market, you could have a caffeine sensitivity — and you’re not alone.

While you might think jitters, cravings and slight anxiety are all just a part of getting your morning fix, there are other options for waking yourself up. And if you’ve got a sweet tooth but avoid hot chocolate because it feels like a 5-year-old’s beverage of choice, we’ve got just the solution for you.
 
It’s Choffy, a brewed chocolate drink made from 100 percent organic cacao beans that are roasted and ground to make a rich sip that gives you energy and antioxidants to boot. Created by a health aficionado who wanted to harness the nutritional benefits of the cacao bean, Choffy is brewed just like coffee and tastes like hot chocolate, but without the caffeine or heavy calories. We’ll drink to that!

Caffeine Junkies Rejoice

Clocking in at only 20 calories per serving, it contains no sugar, gluten, dairy or synthetic chemicals and it spares you the energy crash that any coffee-lover knows too well. You’ll still get long-lasting energy, but it won’t deliver those negative side effects that come with a regular cup of joe.

The lift you get from drinking Choffy is thanks to the stimulant theobromine, which is naturally found in cacao. A gentle, long-lasting stimulant, it delivers energy by dilating the cardiovascular system, which makes the heart’s job easier. The theobromine in Choffy is also a vasodilator, which helps to improve blood circulation, reduce blood pressure and protect against vascular disease. Another plus? The myocardial benefits make it a great drink for before or after exercise.

Bliss, Please

Cacao also contains two bliss chemicals: phenylethylamine (PEA), which is adrenal-related and helps us to feel alert and focused, and anandamide, a mood and depression lifter which is present in our brains when we feel great. Adandamide helps us feel excited, alert and elated ― kind of like when we’re falling in love or browsing 75 percent off clearance racks. So if you’ve been feeling a little lonely lately, pour yourself a cup and invite that cute neighbor over.

Drink to Your Health

Besides the feel-good lift, you also get a heaping dose of antioxidants. An eight ounce brewed cup of Choffy has more antioxidants than a serving of blueberries. These little free-radical busters stomp out toxins, and the polyphenols in cacao can help the enzymes in your body that digest fat and carbohydrates. The sweet taste of the drink can also help curb your cravings for more sugar. Take that, sweet tooth!

The Verdict

Pros: Easy to make. Can be made in a French press or coffee pot. Light, sweet taste. No energy crash. Perfect for a nighttime pick-me-up or to curb sugar cravings.

Cons: Needs to be steeped a while to be as rich as intended—making it in a French press is the best way to make it, not a coffee pot. Naturally a bit bitter, with fruity acidity; some might need non-dairy creamer and/or sugar.

Choffy is available in two flavors: Ivory Coast Choffy, Original, and La Espanola, with beans from the Dominican Republic. Purchase it at drinkchoffy.com in 12-ounce ($15) and 5-pound ($85) bags.

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Liz Farrington, Features Editor
A vegetarian who wishes she could stay vegan, Liz is a media professional and former editor at several fitness and lifestyle publications throughout Southern California. Now principal in Farrington Communications, she does sales, marketing, writing and editing for a range of clients. When she’s not shopping for leather-free handbags or deciding which companies to boycott, the Las Vegas resident enjoys following liberal politics, detoxing at the co-op, scoping farmers’ markets and volunteering for animal rescue.

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