Hot Drinks That Aren't Coffee, Tea or Cocoa

http://www.dvo.com/newsletter/monthly/2022/october/tabletalk2.html

I like a warm beverage in the morning to wake up, but I've never been able to abide the taste of coffee.  I've tried every tea ever made, but they're thin and tend to become acidic.  I used to drink my own double-dark cocoa, but I've had to give that up too.

Wish I could find a warm drink that was:

• rich
  
• thick
  
• not too sweet
  
• not acidic
  
• not too caloric
  
• easy to make
  

I tried "mushroom coffee", but I didn't like the taste. So I'm sticking to real coffee.

Went grocery shopping today, and based on the recommendations listed in the linked article, I looked for and found some chocolate protein powder.

It's low fat, low sugar, low sodium, mixes with hot water, and thickens when you do so. The taste is, well, a little bit like drinking paste or wheat germ. It'll take a little getting used to.

The chocolate protein powder was not a big hit.  Taken straight it is positively glutinous. Mixed with instant cocoa mix it thickens, but adds an unpleasant taste. In smoothies it tends to dominate the fruit flavors.

However, the vanilla variant is much more neutral. A single spoonful in cocoa thickens without causing displeasure, and in smoothies it's quite good at thickening silently.

Does it help with arthritic joint pain?  Nope.