Our team at Konscious Keto loves our coffee. So much so that we have more than seven types of coffee makers!
Keto coffee, also called Bulletproof Coffee (BPC) or butter coffee, is a favorite drink that has taken the low-carb world by storm.
In its purest form, keto coffee has a not-so-secret ingredient and relies on butter and MCTs to create a high-fat meal replacement.
You can buy keto coffee pre-made, but honestly, we think that it’s so easy and inexpensive to make you would do well to give it a try.
While many people think that drinking butter sounds disgusting, the truth is a high-fat coffee (when blended) tastes like a luxurious high-end latte and many people prefer keto coffee over their traditional cup of Joe.
What is Keto Coffee?
Keto coffee took off as a culinary trend after Dave Asprey, founder of Bulletproof and author of New York Times bestseller The Bulletproof Diet, went trekking in Tibet.
There, Dave Asprey discovered that the native people drank butter in their tea as a way to sustain themselves for long hikes in the mountains. Butter tea has been a big part of their culture for many hundreds of years.
Dave, being the bio-hacker that he is, decided to westernize the recipe, and instead of tea, the preferred drink of Tibetan people, he added butter to coffee - now the get-up and go of America.
It provided to be a lucrative business venture as he rolled out many products, including his signature Bulletproof Coffee.
The cool thing about keto coffee, is you don’t have to buy it pre-made, you can, and we think you should make it at home. The trick is to use quality coffee grounds and MCT oil.
We use Brain Octane MCT oil by Bulletproof (no, this post isn’t sponsored!) as it has the best quality of MCTs we've found so far on the market and is made from eco-sustainable sources.
MCT oil is the real magic behind keto coffee. Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) provide fast-acting energy and can help you get into ketosis.
MCTs go beyond the brain barrier and can help you think and react faster to daily tasks. They provide you with instant fuel but also help you get through the day.
Coffee can also boost ketone production so adding MCTs to coffee is a great setup if you want to improve your quality of ketosis.
Before jumping right into your first cup, there are a few important things to consider first.
Who Should Drink Keto Coffee?
While it might seem that everyone and their mother is drinking keto coffee, it’s not super healthy to drink butter every day. Drinking butter - even grass-fed organic butter - can raise your cholesterol.
If you have a family history of heart disease or high cholesterol, or you want to practice better eating habits, consider swapping out butter for ghee.
Secondly, keto coffee is a high-calorie meal replacement. You should drink it in place of a meal, not in addition to breakfast or lunch.
If you’re looking to lose weight on a keto diet, you can omit the butter or ghee from keto coffee and enjoy the benefits of MCT oil.
Enjoying a cup of keto coffee in the morning or afternoon gives you a boost of fat and keeps you feeling full for a long time.
MCTs are made from coconuts, and refined, to create an oil that is delicious and quickly metabolized. MCTs are taken directly to the liver to provide long-lasting energy (much better than energy derived from carbohydrates).
This is why MCT oil is essential on a keto diet: the health impact is numerous, and can improve blood sugar levels, can regulate a sluggish metabolism, and help to reduce your hunger signals.
MCTs are also being used more commonly by doctors to help patients before prescription intervention.
When to Drink Keto Coffee
For most people, keto coffee is a daily ritual they look forward to every morning. At least, it is for us. Keto coffee is all about loading your body with the right fats to fuel itself for a productive and enjoyable day.
Unlike other diets that talk about restriction, you want to nourish your body and give it the tools it needs to thrive.
When you drink keto coffee, it mostly depends on if you fast or not. Drinking keto coffee will kick you out of your fasting state if you add cream.
Generally speaking (purists may disagree), you can usually drink under 50 calories and not break a fast.
MCT and Keto Activate, coming up in the recipes below, also won’t break your fast. You can drink these together in some coffee or with water to help sustain your energy while fasting, to enhance your state of ketosis further.
For everyone else, in the morning it is perfectly fine. We don’t recommend drinking keto coffee after 4 pm as you might have trouble sleeping.
The Best Keto Coffee
We pride ourselves on being coffee snobs, so when we started keto, we wanted to perfect the ultimate keto coffee. We think we’ve done it!
These recipes taste better than the old drive-through coffees we used to get and help maintain a great sense of alertness, and ketosis.
You can use them to supplement your ketogenic diet, to aid in weight loss, or as a delicious snack to power up before a big meeting.
Whatever you need from your day, these are a great foundation to build upon.
Miraculous Mint KETO Chocolate Chip Frappe
Serves 1
Total time: 5 min.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup ice
- 1 ½ cup coconut, almond, or macadamia nut milk
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ ripe avocado
- 1 cup baby spinach
- 1 scoop Keto Activate
- 2 tsp Whole Earth sweetener
- 1-2 tsp peppermint extract
- Optional: 1 tbsp MCT oil
Instructions: Blend until smooth.
Wake Me Up KETO Mocha Frappe
Serves 1
Total Time: 5 min.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups ice
- ½ cup cold brew iced coffee
- 1 tbsp Whole Earth sweetener
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- 1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 1 scoop Keto Activate
- Optional: 1 tbsp MCT oil
Instructions: Blend until smooth.
Irresistible KETO Choco Peanut Butter Shake
Serves 1
Total Time: 5 min.
Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups of ice
- 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk
- 2 tbsp of unsweetened peanut butter
- 1 scoop of Keto Activate
- Optional: 1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
- ¼ cup heavy cream
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
- 2 tsp Whole Earth sweetener
- Optional: 1 tbsp MCT oil and collagen
Instructions: Blend until smooth.
There you have it, three delicious, fat-friendly ways to start your day!
Remember, you don’t have to use all of the ingredients all of the time. Play around with delicious fats like butter, MCT, and Keto Activate to find out what works best for you.
If this is your first time using any of the above, we do recommend starting slow and building up as the energy-boost, and digestive impact of MCT oils can be potent. This stuff is rocket fuel and brain juice all rolled into one.
Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
For more Konscious Keto coffee recipes, visit our Facebook Group.