Vegan friendly coffee – everything you need to know
Coffee doesn’t need to be an Iced Americano to be vegan. I’m here to share with you the things you need to know to order a tasty takeout and what to look out for to make your homemade coffees vegan friendly.
Vegan coffee beans & what to look for
Shaded by the canopies of the trees, shade-grown coffee is grown naturally in tropical and subtropical areas whilst sun-grown coffee is grown in sunnier conditions where the trees grow quickly and produce more berries. Whilst this may be great for speeding up production and increasing revenue, it isn’t so great for our environment and wildlife.
Did you know that shade-grown coffee crops last up to 30 years whilst sun-grown crops have half of this life expectancy and live for an average of 15 years?
Sun-grown coffee requires a lot of chemicals such as fertilizers which produce toxins and deplete the nutrients in the soil making the land unusable for future sun-grown coffee plantations. The fertilizers also risk injuring wildlife due to the toxic water runoff.
Coffee that carries a USDA Organic coffee label has been grown in soil that has been free of fertilizers, pesticides, and herbicides for at least three years.
Shade-grown coffee provides a safe sanctuary for wildlife. Taller trees are planted amongst shade-grown crops to provide a canopy for the coffee trees. The biodiversity helps imitate a natural forest and it provides an ideal habitat for wildlife.
As well as being environmentally and animal friendly, shade-grown coffee is also more flavorsome. The shade slows the growth of the beans allowing them to become denser and develops more flavor.
Whilst it is not required to show whether coffee has been shade-grown or sun-grown, a couple of my favorite coffee bean brands that support shade-grown and USDA organic coffee are https://birdandwild.co.uk or https://jporganiccoffee.com
How to be vegan at home
Great, you’ve got the coffee sorted, now how can you add some luxury to your coffee and still make it vegan friendly? I’ve listed a couple of products below for various ingredients to help you achieve a barista-style vegan coffee at home.
How to be vegan at Starbucks
Whilst I love experimenting and saving money by creating my own at home coffee shop drinks, occasionally we all love a Starbucks.
Whilst coffee is vegan, it’s a common misconception that the only way coffee is vegan is black (iced or hot). This is far from true. I’ve gathered my top 2 vegan-friendly Starbucks orders for you to try upon your next visit.
Green Tea Frappuccino – Order a soy or coconut milk green tea frappuccino with no cream.
Caramel Latte – Order a soy or coconut milk caramel latte with no syrup or sauce.
Starbucks are vegan friendly which makes it easy to substitute or avoid some ingredients to make their coffees vegan friendly.
If you’d like to try a different coffee, there are a couple of things to keep in mind. Replace the dairy milk with soy or coconut milk and avoid the following ingredients: Pumpkin Spice, White Mocha, Caramel Brulee, Whipped Cream, Java Chips, Protein Powder, and Caramel Drizzle.