The New York Times
On Wellness
By
The End, a slowly growing new coffee shop in Brooklyn, now offers restorative tonics and elixirs. Credit: Paul Quitoriano
The plant-powered potions on offer as of this week at the End, a cheerful new Williamsburg coffee bar with roots in Montauk, are “as psychedelic as you can get without using drugs,” laughs Madeleine Murphy, a partner there. Some of the drinks are stained sea blue, others dusted with a shimmery yolk-colored powder. And all promote wellness – from soothing anxiety to offering energy via sources beyond caffeine.
“We want to leave people in a better place than when we found them,” offers her partner Bret Caretsky, adding that juice is their “gateway drug.” Along with family and friends, Murphy and Caretsky opened Montauk Juice Factory on the East End of Long Island almost three years ago. And the End, which they soft opened over the summer as a coffee shop, offers Montauk Juice Factory’s organic juices alongside apothecary goods and toasts topped with avocado or nut butter — and now, a menu of healing tonics. Based on the Ayurvedic ethos of embracing food (and drink) as medicine, the hot curative lattes and cold flower elixirs blend the bottled juices with ingredients like immune-boosting ashwagandha, mineral-rich blue-green algae and detoxifying Bulgarian rose-petal water. For those really looking to mellow out, try the “anxiety-busting” spiced hot cocoa, which comes spiked with CBD (cannabinoid) oil.
Credit: Paul Quitoriano
Unicorn Latte
This restorative drink is best before a deep yoga session or meditation, served warm or chilled.
Yield: about 3 ½ cups
1 ½ cups raw cashews, soaked for 4 hours
3 ½ cups filtered water
1 vanilla bean, insides scraped out
2 ounces cold pressed ginger
2 ounces lemon juice
1 tablespoon Blue Majik spirulina extract
1 tablespoon maca root
3 Medjool dates
Spirulina powder, to garnish (optional)
1. Mix in a high-speed blender for 1 to 2 minutes until well blended. Store extra in the refrigerator or in an airtight container or Mason jar.
2. Serve warm and frothy or chilled on ice. Optional: Dust with spirulina powder to garnish.
