Whether you love novelty, like your coffees with just a few simple ingredients, or simply want to try a cold coffee on hot mornings, the shakerato coffee drink has recently entered the coffee scene. This shaken, cold coffee drink got its start around 60 years ago, with Italian cafes featuring it throughout the 1960s, and it's been on the periphery of coffee culture in the United States for years. But now, a healthy shakerato is an option that coffee drinkers of all flavors can make at home, customize, and enjoy every day.

Mixing Up the Coffee Break

Millions of Americans start their mornings with a sip of coffee. It's such an important part of the typical workday that taking a quick coffee break was actually written into union contracts after World War II. Coffee became such a fixture in mornings and afternoons because it provides a wonderful reset to the day: not only does sipping the drink give you a quick mental break away from your current work or settle your thoughts before jumping into a new task, but the coffee itself provides mental and physiological benefits.

Of course, while morning coffees and coffee breaks remained entrenched in our shared culture, the exact nature of what coffee entails has changed drastically through the decades. Some people prefer their routine cup of Joe—black drip coffee that's warm, simple, and easy to make in a rush. Others prefer a complex espresso drink, such as a latte or flat white made with just the right amount of foamed milk and a favorite syrup. Some always like to shake up their coffee routines with trendy novelties, adventurous coffee, and the occasional surprise. These are your Dalgona coffees, your coffees with cheese foam, and your coffees with antioxidant blends. But still, others want coffee with mushrooms and adaptogenic blends that give a gentle boost of energy or let them indulge in a cherished habit without caffeine.

Why Should You Try a Healthy Shakerato?

At their core, shakeratos are simple drinks with the same nutritional impact as nitro cold brews, iced coffees, and piping hot espresso shots. But like all coffee drinks, it's what you make it with that matters. If you use healthy ingredients, it's a healthy drink—but if you use unhealthy ones you don't trust, many of the health benefits simply disappear.

If you love the classics, you've already arrived at a simple way to shake up your morning routine or afternoon break without worrying about additives, allergens, or (if this is your jam) calories. But if you're getting coffee out on the town, you might want to remain vigilant against on-menu shakeratos that contain extras you don't like, and, on the other side of the coin, you can supercharge your homemade shakeratos with healthy coffee blends.

The Original Shakerato Is Worth a Try

The original recipe is just three ingredients: espresso, sugar, and ice. 

Have you already perfected your espresso game to suit your style? If you have an espresso machine at home and beans from your favorite roastery, you can quickly whip up a shot (or two) and be ready. You can also use your preferred brand of instant espresso powder. For those of us who prefer mushroom super blends and coffee alternatives, you can turn your usual cup of coffee into an espresso equivalent by reducing the amount of water you blend in—just be sure to stir it well so you have a thick, rich, and concentrated cup of goodness. 

Then, all you have to do is pour the espresso, sprinkle the sugar, add the ice cubes into a cocktail shaker, cap it, and shake the ingredients together vigorously. The heat from the espresso will start to melt the ice even as the ice chills the liquid, and the rapid agitation will make the cooling mixture frothy and smooth. Sugar will also make the coffee slightly thicker and full of tiny air bubbles, increasing the foaminess (and the longevity of the foam). It's almost creamy, but without using any cream, and that frothiness is what separates the shakerato from a standard cold brew or iced coffee. Then, you can pour it into your favorite cup and enjoy your drink. Classically, it's served in a martini glass, but you can substitute your morning mug or pour it all into a tumbler to go.

Recipe Extras

Some traditional recipes include a few extras. Simple syrup is a popular third ingredient instead of granulated sugar, but you can substitute it with honey, a natural non-sugar sweetener, or even some Laird superfood creamer for just a tinge of sweetness and flavor. Another popular addition is Irish cream liqueur, which turns the coffee drink into an evening treat that's a little easier than a classic espresso martini. Forego one or both of these extras to keep it simple and clean.

You Want a Healthy Shakerato... But What If It's All Spruced Up?

Popular coffee drinks have a lot of extras and delicious razzle-dazzle. When you find a shakerato on the menu at your favorite coffee shop or on the shelves at your local store, you might find additional ingredients like: 

• Cream or milk to supplement the frothy creaminess

• Stabilizers that evoke the frothiness so it's ready to drink months after it leaves the manufacturing line or so your cup stays frothy as you sit and sip for a while

For coffee lovers who like things simple or prioritize having healthy, natural ingredients in their drinks, these challenges are the same across all fun coffee drinks. You never know where added sugars, stabilizers, and preservatives slot into the drink, so always be sure to ask or check the label!

The Healthy Shakerato: Make It Go the Extra Mile With You

One of the best ways to enjoy a shakerato is to start it at home. You can control what type of coffee you use for the espresso shot, what extra ingredients you pour or shake in, and the amount of frothiness and dilution. And, just as importantly, it's a fun drink to try.

Here are some quick ideas about how to boost the drink—and why you should:

• Use your go-to instant latte blend that you've already approved: If you make warm lattes at home with a superfood latte mix, it's easy to simply try the new method of preparation. You can enjoy the performance mushrooms and creamy flavors you already like without missing out on the chilly treat.

• Add a new coffee prep method to your personal routine: The more ways you can make delicious coffees in your own home, the easier you can adapt your routines to your fitness goals, health resolutions, and lifestyle changes. If you've been searching for a cold coffee drink but iced coffee just isn't exciting enough, a healthy shakerato may be a more pleasing option.

• Shakers mean you can get all your favorite powdered blends: Whether you pep up your morning brew with our Daily Greens Powder blend or some protein creamer to power through the morning, or you forego conventional coffee entirely in favor of Organic Performance Mushrooms or matcha, cold drinks have generally been a no-go. Many powders simply don't work well, no matter how much you stir them with foaming tools. This may be the biggest secret reason to make your first shakerato right now: it works because it starts hot, and you blend it twice. Fully incorporate your greens, protein, and healthy coconut creamers into the espresso to have a smooth liquid, and then shake it up with the ice.

Why Try It at All? It's Easy—And It's Fun!

Why should you try a healthy shakerato? We think it's a blast, and it checks all the hallmarks of a great coffee drink, no matter what your coffee palette is: 

• It's easy.

• It's simple—start with two ingredients and start adding from there.

• You can customize it to suit your diet and macronutrient (and micronutrient!) goals.

• It's fancy. You get a foamy, smooth drink, and you can even pour it into a martini glass for fun mocktail flair.

How to Make a Healthy Shakerato at Home

Whether you're planning tomorrow morning's new coffee adventure or you're already in the kitchen looking for your cocktail shaker, the details of how to make a clean shakerato at home are simple. Take a look at the basic recipe, and then we'll explore some easy, clean customization options:

The Recipe

Keep this ratio in mind: 8 parts ice to 4 parts espresso to 1 part sugar—if we're mixing up coffee in a shaker, some cocktail math makes it even more fun. For the traditional recipe, you can also measure it out as:

• 4 oz. ice cubes

• 2 oz. espresso or concentrated latte/coffee mix

• 0.5 oz. sweetener

(As you experiment, keep the coffee-to-ice ratio consistent, but feel free to adapt the sweetener to your own preferences). Once you have your ingredients ready in front of you, there are only two steps to making your healthy shakerato:

1. Add the ice, then the sugar, and then the espresso to your cocktail shaker. Hold the cap in place and shake it for about 20 seconds.

2. Strain out the liquid into your mug or glass. And you're done!

Tips to Making the Perfect Healthy Shakerato

The steps are simple, and before you try it, you may feel like it's not worth searching for your shaker. After all, how could it possibly be that much different from an iced coffee? But there's some surprisingly subtle science guiding all the steps. First and most importantly, starting with a piping hot shot of espresso works wonders. It dissolves granulated sugar and powder mixes far more effectively than cold liquid can, so you get a much smoother drink.

The order in which you add things to the shaker also matters. By adding the ice first, you're cooling the metal cup instead of warming it up like you would if you added the espresso first. Then, when you splash the espresso inside, it hits the sugar first to start dissolving it before it starts to chill. You can achieve the same effect by stirring the sweetener and espresso together first, but you don't have to.

Finally, the sweetener does a bit of work (but coffee drinkers who want to skip the sweetness can still enjoy a foamy, frothy shakerato). Sugars and syrups make the coffee slightly more viscous. If you're making a concentrated shot of your favorite mushroom coffee, the lower water ratio will also make it a bit thicker. This means all the froth you generate by agitating the liquid will stick around longer, and you can sip your shakerato while you relax and enjoy your break.

Some Tips and Tactics So Your First Healthy Shakerato Is a Win for Your Tastebuds and Your Health

As it is, the classic Shakerato is pretty clean. Most recipes recommend around 10-15 grams of sugar, which is a hefty 33% of recommended daily sugar intake for men or 50% of recommended daily sugar intake for women. As long as you account for a traditional shakerato as your sweet treat of the day, it has a place in a healthy diet.

But there are plenty of ways to make it less of a concern. Even better, you can easily transform it from a sweet treat to a health drink that slots neatly into your routine. Here are some fun ways to shake it up and make it even better—and better for you:

Skip the Sugar Altogether

We don't want to villainize sugar. But if you want to enjoy an indulgent coffee without even having to worry about the sugar count, you can eliminate it, reduce it, or replace it with something you like better. If you remove the sugar or put in a teaspoon of sugar instead of a tablespoon, you might see slightly less foam, but it will still froth up a bit. 

Some other easy ways to skip the sugar and keep the full-foam experience are:

• Use flavored coffee blends: You can shake up a tasty mocha latte "shot" that already includes a nice mix of coconut creamer and sweetness (and adaptogens). For some seasonal flair, you can also get your pumpkin spice latte fix, and the cozy spice brings no end of flavor.  Easy!

• Add a bit of powder creamer: Do you prefer your favorite locally roasted coffee beans? Use a superfood creamer made with coconut milk powder, coconut sugar, and spices or flavors. The sugar is from a clean, identified source—coconut—and you get maximum froth potential. There's also no rule that says cold coffees don't pair well with cold weather if you love peppermint mocha creamer.

• Try reduced-sugar options: If you want to reduce the sweetness but are leery of artificial sweeteners and sugar alcohols, opt for reduced-sugar coconut creamers that still add flavor and thickness. 

Skip the Coffee Altogether

Shakeratos are all about espresso—but so were lattes, once upon a time. With all of the different coffee blends and options on the market, even people who aren't coffee drinkers can still get their "morning coffee" and "coffee breaks" with convenience. If you're making a healthy version of a shakerato at home, then you have easy access to your preferred hot drink ingredients. 

Looking for inspiration? Try these simple switches:

• Go decaf: You like coffee, but it's late—what's a mixologist to do? Reach for your decaf coffee beans or Peruvian decaf coffee grounds instead to make your espresso shot. 

• Make it with matcha: Tea is a popular alternative to coffee, and green tea offers an especially nice blend of nutritional benefits. Green tea includes epigallocatechin-3-gallate, a specific green tea catechin, and scientists are continually finding more evidence that tea catechins can help with metabolic syndromes like type II diabetes and reduce coronary disease risks. Matcha is an even more condensed source of catechins, and it includes plenty of theanine and chlorophyll—as well as that energy-boosting caffeine you get in coffee. So blend up a portion of matcha instant latte mix with an espresso-sized shot of hot water for a nicely floral, vegetal shakerato.

• Say goodnight to caffeine: If your idea of a night-time routine involves an iced drink instead of a steamy mug, you can mix up a clean shakerato without caffeine-forward coffees and teas. Try it with a hot chocolate mix with functional mushrooms or our Sleep & Recover blend of botanicals, acerola cherry, and seawater-derived magnesium. Seawater-derived magnesium helps your body sleep by maintaining key neurotransmitters, and that means you have more options if you want to stay away from melatonin.

How to Skip the Shaker

This one's a little silly, but not everyone has a shaker at home. If you skipped the cocktail fad altogether or you're not quite sure where to find your cocktail kit, you can make do. Pour the ice, sweetener, and liquid into a large mason jar or container. Seal it tightly and shake away. This might require 30 or 40 seconds, especially if you're focused on keeping the lid in place. Once you're done shaking it, pour the drink through a kitchen strainer and enjoy your slightly ad hoc shakerato. And if it's delicious, you can find shakers at almost any grocery store or home goods store.

The Benefits of a Healthy Shakerato

Delicious coffee drinks need no explanation. But there are plenty of benefits that shakeratos offer—and even more benefits you can access when you make it a healthy version of the shakerato. Consider all the ways this new coffee drink can substantively improve your day-to-day routine, coffee expertise, and mindset. 

Enjoy a Cold Coffee Drink That Accommodates Your Superfood Performance Mushrooms and Instant Latte Powders

If you're a long-time coffee mix drinker, you've experienced the ups and downs as companies get their formulas just right. However, one sticking point a lot of people have experienced is trying to make cold drinks from their favorite latte mixes and instant options. Powders lump and clump, even the best of them. When they're exposed to water, the outer surface gets hydrated, but that can almost form a shell that prevents deeper water penetration. 

Hot water penetrates much deeper than cold water and does a better job of dissolving granules. The agitation of a frother wand—or, in this case, a shaker—along with hot water eliminates lumps, clumps, and powdery textures. But this still means you've been largely restricted to hot drinks in the past: no iced coffees, no cold brews.

Shakeratos eliminate the problem because you start with a hot liquid that's rapidly chilled after the fact—when there's no powder left. And because you started with a concentrated dose of latte, tea, or espresso, you're left with a pleasantly strong drink that's flavored exactly how you like it.

Experience the Joy of Making Something Fancy on Your Own

Whether you're a foodie or food-conscious, you likely know that cooking at home is much healthier than eating out. But those known benefits aren't just nutritional. Researchers have also been evaluating the psychosocial benefits of learning how to cook and cooking on your own. Positive aspects of knowing how to cook include more socialization, better self-esteem, and improved quality of life. As the research continues to be underway, you can also decide if this benefit works for you with a quick gut check:

• Do you go out for coffee because you can't make the same fancy drinks at home?

• Do you enjoy creating things, but you're often too busy or overwhelmed by big projects?

• Have you enjoyed learning how to cook before?

If so, learning how to make a shakerato—and beyond that, learning how to customize it to suit your unique tastes—is a small burst of self-esteem and self-love you can add to your day.

Make Your Routine a Little More Special 

Predictable routines are good for us—the science on that is pretty clear. Repetition and predictable future events can reduce anxiety, reduce stress, and add a bit of order and clarity to an otherwise hectic day. (Routines are even better when they center around healthy things, but the actual nature of routines helps, as well.) However, the same repetition that gives that sense of calm can also become a little boring. 

If you crave novelty around any of your routines that feature a drink, such as your morning readiness routine, your evening wind-down, or your mid-day reset, making little changes introduces a fresh spark while protecting the structure of the routine itself. If you find yourself getting bored of your hot latte or hot chocolate, try a chilled shakerato and finish up all the steps in your routine.

Add Options So You Can Stay on Track With Your Lifestyle Changes and Nutrition Goals

A big trend in health and nutrition is creating enjoyable, healthy lifestyle changes—and we're all here for it. Researchers who study successful goal-setting know it involves two key components: setting goals with the right characteristics and creating a plan that helps people reach those goals. 

Some common nutrition-related goals may be to eat cleaner, eat fewer ultra-processed foods, consume less sugar, or have a plant-based diet. However, sticking to those changes or achieving dietary goals can be hard if you approach it from a restrictive diet or deprivation-based mentality. "Going without" turns goals into drudgery and increases the risk of failure. That's why the most successful tactics include:

• Finding tasty and nutritious substitutes

• Making room for indulgent treats

• Trying new and delicious options for introducing more nutrients into your diet

• Making small, iterative changes instead of big ones

Healthy, homemade shakeratos are a small tool in your toolbox, but those small tools make all the difference. Try a shakerato instead of a frappuccino (a substitution), or add shakeratos to your day as a tool for using your greens blend or mushroom superfood blend more often.

Give Yourself a Reward for Sticking With Your Morning Routine or Evening Routine

Good goal-setting can also involve a reward system or a contract you make with yourself. Whether you're switching to a reduced sugar lifestyle or you want to have more plant-based foods than animal-based ones, reaching a goal can be hard work. But not every goal is, or should be, about nutrition. If you are trying to wake up consistently, turn off your screens a healthy time before bed, or switch up your productivity routines, give yourself an extra treat every time you make it happen. You can blend yourself up a shakerato for your morning brew and cheer yourself up before heading to work, or you can drink your night-time blend in a cocktail glass to celebrate the win. 

Cold Drinks Offer Their Own Benefits

Do you think cold drinks are especially refreshing? If so, there's some science backing it up. Cold drinks can help with thermoregulation (keeping your body at a safe temperature) if it's very hot outside or if you're exercising. The ice-cold coffee of a shakerato can help cool your body's temperature better than a hot latte or a lukewarm cup of coffee. This can make it an even better addition to your day if you try it after a workout or if you're taking a break in the middle of a hot day.

Cold drinks also taste slightly different than their hot counterparts. Temperature affects the taste of different compounds; for example, colder things have a milder sweetness or bitterness. You can shake things up, enjoy a milder flavor, and cool down just by preparing your drink a different way.

More Coffee Breaks = More Opportunities for Superfoods

Performance mushroom mix coffees include ingredients like chaga, cordyceps, and lion's mane—performance mushrooms that are well-known for helping control oxidative stress, give drinkers more energy, and support brain health. If you're a casual coffee drinker or just have the one-off latte, switching out the coffee for mushroom coffee is an easy way to introduce more of these compounds into your diet so you can experience the beneficial effects.

But more consistent consumption is even better, and getting a daily dose of antioxidant support, neuroprotective compounds, and other nutrients can help you boost your health and well-being over time. By introducing more drinks into your retinue of at-home recipes that you enjoy and can easily make, you increase your likelihood of regularly getting these nutrients without going out of your way.

Recharge and Add Healthy Shakeratos to Your Wellness Journey

There are dozens of different ways to prepare coffee, from espresso-centered macchiatos to smoothies with a dash of coffee and cordyceps. A healthy shakerato is a delicious, frothy treat that can become your morning coffee staple or the occasional refreshing drink after a long hike—now that you have the recipe, it's all yours to make, customize, and share. 

The trick, like with every coffee drink, is to focus on clean, healthy ingredients. By sourcing your coffee from a company you trust and subbing out unknown sweeteners and creamers for options like coconut sugar or coconut milk, you stay in control of your kitchen and your nutrition. 

At Laird Superfoods, we're committed to helping coffee drinkers power their own adventures with delicious coffees, superfood mixes, and creamers. Our ingredients are carefully selected to provide energizing, strengthening, and balancing effects so you can experiment with shakeratos or sip your trusty late-night hot chocolate just the way you want. Explore our Laird superfood creamers, coffee, and instant lattes to make your own shakerato—and let us know what you think! Share your recipe with our community on Facebook or Instagram!

Resources: 

1. Millions of Americans: https://www.ncausa.org/newsroom/nca-releases-atlas-of-american-coffee

2. Written into union contracts: https://en.gastronomiac.com/gastronomical_events/coffee-break/

3. Sugar will also: https://www.seriouseats.com/caffe-shakerato-italian-shaken-iced-coffee

4. Hefty 33% of recommended daily sugar intake for men or 50% of recommended daily sugar intake for women: https://www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-eating/eat-smart/sugar/how-much-sugar-is-too-much#:~:text=What's%20the%20AHA's%20recommendation%20on,or%20100%20calories)%20per%20day.

5. Green tea includes: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2855614/

6. Matcha: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7796401/

7. Powders lump and clump: https://aqualab.com/en/knowledge-base/education-guides/food-manufacturers-step-step-guide-eradicate-caking-and-clumping

8. Psychosocial benefits: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5862744/

9. Predictable routines: https://www.piedmont.org/living-real-change/why-routines-are-good-for-your-health

10. Scientists who study successful goal-setting: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6796229/

11. Can help with thermoregulation: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3472188/

12. Also taste slightly different: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK236241/