Flavored Coffee

I love flavored coffee's, nothing helps you to feel more cozy on a cold day than waking up to a nice warm pot of {seasonal} flavored coffee and my house smelling divine. I however find that most flavored coffee makes me feel 'off'. The coffee labels don't really tell you what they use to get the flavor in your coffee, they tell you "Natural and Artificial Flavors", leading me to wonder what exactly are the natural and artificial flavors?

While doing some "googling", I ran across this article by Phil Lempert titled How Natural is "natural flavoring?" in the article he states that "The definition of “natural flavor” under the Code of Federal Regulations is: “the essential oil, oleoresin, essence or extractive, protein hydrolysate, distillate, or any product of roasting, heating or enzymolysis, which contains the flavoring constituents derived from a spice, fruit or fruit juice, vegetable or vegetable juice, edible yeast, herb, bark, bud, root, leaf or similar plant material, meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, dairy products, or fermentation products thereof, whose significant function in food is flavoring rather than nutritional” (21CFR101.22). Any other added flavor therefore is artificial. (For the record, any monosodium glutamate, or MSG, used to flavor food must be declared on the label as such). Both artificial and natural flavors are made by “flavorists” in a laboratory by blending either “natural” chemicals or “synthetic” chemicals to create flavorings."

In this other article I found on Squidoo, it tells us that " A single natural or artificial flavor can contain many different ingredients; e.g. the artficial "strawberry" flavor contains 49 ingredients, most of which are difficult-to-pronounce chemical compounds." and that "The FDA does not require that flavor companies disclose ingredients as long as all the ingredients are considered "Generally Regarded as Safe." This policy allows flavor companies to protect their secret flavor formulas." GROSS. . .

Ok, that was just two articles I found while spending half an hour on this topic, I defiantly need to do some more research into this. I know that my boys are allergic to most "artificial flavors" and now I'm beginning to understand why, who really knows what goes into them and how can I know they are safe to put into my own body, let alone give to my children. 

Back to the coffee, this morning I created a masterpiece, and a stepping stone into my own world of flavored coffee without the additives. This morning I am drinking a homemade cinnamon spice coffee with almond milk and a hint of agave. My coffee is fair trade,  we do our best to buy Fair Trade whenever possible. Kristen over at Rage Against The Minivan has written a great piece on child slavery and our chocolate supply which you can find here if you are so inclined as to get a glimpse as to what "fair trade" really means, and why you should spend the extra money for it. But before you sit down to read that, you should make a pot of this exquisite coffee for yourself, because you deserve it, because it's easy to do, and because it's not only healthier for you but it really does taste better!

Cinnamon Spice Coffee

Start your coffee as your normally would, I fill my wire basket half full of my favorite fair trade, organic kona blend. Then comes the magic, add

1/2 tsp organic cinnamon

1/4 tsp organic cloves

a dash of organic nutmeg

a dash of organic ginger

Stir together, push the brew button and wallah, home made flavored coffee, and you know exactly what went into it! 

I hope you enjoy this, please, let me know. Also, if you have more information on natural and artificial flavors for me, I would love some reading material!