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Ultimate Pick-Me-Up: Espresso with Orange Juice?

Hot espresso with cold orange juice: It may sound like a crazy combination, but this mix isn’t that absurd and unknown. The drink has long been on the menu at a Phoenix coffee shop and is very popular. In addition to the taste, it also scores with many as the ultimate pick-me-up.

This rarely seen drink mix was created by the cafe “Nami” in Phoenix (Arizona). The pick-me-up drink has been served there since 2011, but nobody really knows how this combination actually came about.

Espresso with orange juice – the ultimate pick-me-up drink?

It’s that easy: Just slowly fill up a glass of cold orange juice with hot espresso. The espresso then settles in such a way that two layers of color are created. Below the orange juice and above the brown espresso – that’s definitely something to be proud of!

When it comes to the taste of the drink, opinions differ. While some describe the taste as interesting and refreshing, critics don’t like the pick-me-up drink at all.

We tried it in the editorial office and in fact, there was nobody who didn’t like it. From “it’s okay” to “I’m sure it’s really good with ice cubes in the summer” to “I’ll make another one” we all had opinions. But does the pick-me-up really give you such an energy boost? Some colleagues felt a tingling sensation in their bodies – but it’s hard to say whether that was just a placebo or a real caffeine kick.

Coffee with lemon – home remedies for headaches?

In fact, combining coffee with citrus is nothing new. In Italy, for example, coffee is often served with a slice of lemon or orange to make the coffee less bitter. However, the espresso-orange juice combination has not yet made it onto the drinks menus of German cafés and bars. Maybe soon?

The well-known home remedy “coffee with lemon” is said to not only serve as a stimulant but even help against headaches and mild migraine attacks (1). An unsweetened cup of espresso with half a squeezed lemon is said to relieve pain because the combination prevents the production of an enzyme that plays a role in pain transmission. This is why many painkillers contain a mixture of caffeine and vitamin C.

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Food

Matcha Tea: Does The Green Pick-Me-Up Make You Healthy and Happy?

Matcha tea was and is the best and finest tea in Japan, which used to be reserved for the elite only. The bright green, frothy drink is still considered a cult drink.

However, the trend towards matcha tea did not come to Germany directly from Japan, but from the USA. Stars, starlets and wannabes have been spotted there with the green “in” drink in their hands for a number of years.

It is said to make you slim, fit and healthy, and helps fight signs of aging and even cancer. Like all other green teas, it also serves as a stimulating alternative to coffee with its caffeine content (tein). Is the expensive cult drink worth its price?

Why is matcha tea actually powder?

Matcha tea is one of the green tea varieties and is traditionally drunk in Japan. The tea probably originally came from China, but was forgotten there. Unlike “normal” green teas, matcha tea is not prepared as a decoction of tea leaves, but from a bright green powder.

This powder consists of finely ground green tea leaves from which the stalks have been removed. “For Matcha of the highest quality, the tea farmers even remove the leaf veins by hand,” explains Heidrun Schubert from the Bavarian Consumer Advice Center

Only the pure leaf remains, which is also consumed as a whole in tea. Since matcha tea is a so-called “shade tea”, the tea bushes are shaded with bamboo mats or similar four weeks before harvest. This makes the leaves particularly intense green.

Prepare matcha tea

If the matcha tea from the green powder is not brewed properly, neither the taste nor the effect are said to be right. Preparing matcha tea is part of a tea ceremony in Japan. You don’t have to make a ceremony out of it at home, but it still takes some practice and effort.

The water for the foamy tea should be as soft as possible, it must have a temperature of 80° Celsius when brewing. The easiest way to check this is with a roast thermometer. About a teaspoon of the powder goes into a bowl, which you then pour on with around 100 milliliters of water.

Then manual work is required – matcha tea has to be opened during preparation. To do this, take a special broom made of bamboo (the Chasen) and stir with a loose wrist in your own movement until the powder has completely dissolved and a fine foam has formed on the surface.

The right accessories

In order for the preparation to succeed, you need the right accessories – a normal teacup or blender is not enough to create the perfect foam. A set consists of the already mentioned bamboo whisk, a suitable bowl and a bamboo spoon for portioning the tea powder. Purists or lovers then get a suitable ladle and a Japanese kettle.

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Lifestyle

The Pick-me-up From the Coffee Can Increase Concentration

Many people turn to coffee as a pick-me-up when they are tired or have a drop in performance. The best-known stimulant can increase concentration. Caffeine does not have an immediate effect. It takes about 30 to 45 minutes to get into the bloodstream. Then it is distributed in the body and works for about 4 hours. In pregnant women, the breakdown of caffeine is slower and can take up to 20 hours. Learn more about caffeine and its effects.

The dosage of caffeine and the effect of the stimulant

Caffeine has a broad spectrum effect. In small doses, the pick-me-up has a stimulating effect on the psyche. Drinking coffee in moderation can increase concentration and combat fatigue. Concentration can be increased in the short term because the body breaks down the caffeine again.

An additional positive side effect is that the ability to remember is increased in the short term. You can benefit from this during examination phases. If you drink the pick-me-up in larger quantities, the caffeine also has an effect on the cardiovascular system. The heart beats more frequently and more vigorously, the pulse increases. However, this increase in blood pressure is minimal and occurs mostly in people who are not used to caffeine.

The stimulant helps against headaches

Caffeine also has an effect on the blood vessels. When you drink coffee, the blood vessels in the periphery dilate and constrict in the brain. Caffeine has a pain-relieving effect. Almost all headache medications contain caffeine. If the blood vessels in the periphery dilate, the caffeine increases athletic performance.

This can be attributed to the increased supply of oxygen to the muscles. The stimulant also increases performance by increasing heart activity. Anyone who drinks the popular pick-me-up coffee is more efficient and alert in the short term.

How the stimulant coffee can increase concentration

Caffeine can trigger an effect and increase concentration because the substance interferes with certain bodily processes. Active nerve cells consume energy. They form adenosine as a by-product. The more active the nerve cells become, the more adenosine they produce.

The substance adenosine protects the brain from overexertion by slowing down the transmission of information from nerve cell to nerve cell. Caffeine works in a similar way in the body. Caffeine docks onto the same receptors without activating them. Therefore, the nerve cell no longer receives a signal to work more slowly and continues to work efficiently. If you drink the stimulant regularly in large quantities, your body gets used to the caffeine and its effect, which reduces it. If you drink a lot of coffee, you can only increase your concentration for a short period of time, because you get used to it. It is best to drink only as much coffee as is good for you and do not intentionally try to induce concentration-enhancing effects.

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