Healthy Drinks to Get You Through the Season

We have all the gear you need to nourish yourself with cozy drinks like bone broth, tea, smoothies, pressed juice, and Kombucha.

The best adjustable kettles are fully customizable and convenient, and this model excelled. It consistently boiled water in less than 3 minutes, besting every other kettle in the lineup by at least a minute. Its easily visible capacity line and single-knob controls made filling and operating a breeze, and its comfortable, grippy handle and lightweight construction made it easy to hold and steadily pour water for a perfect pour-over coffee. It was also the most accurate option: It hit every custom-selected temperature within 1 degree and held it for 30 minutes.

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Lightweight and easy to lift, this nicely designed kettle held plenty of water for its size—a full 2 quarts. The kettle whistles loudly, and the spout pours neatly. The raised, open handle leaves plenty of space below for opening the lid and keeps hands out of harm’s way. The lid loop is big and comfortable to pull. The kettle showed no damage from our abuse testing and cleaned up nicely. We wish the interior were lighter, but otherwise this is a lovely, sturdy (but not heavy) kettle, which comes in a rainbow of colors at a moderate price.

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We love this midpriced blender from Breville, which makes smoothies and almond butter that are just a touch less fine-textured than our top choice’s but still impressively smooth. It even has a dedicated “green smoothie” button that completely blends fibrous ingredients into a silky drink. It’s reasonably quiet and compact, and it combined ingredients efficiently with minimal pauses to scrape down the sides. It automatically stops every 60 seconds, which can be a little annoying during longer blends, but this wasn’t a big issue during most tasks. Its timer makes tracking recipe stages very easy. 

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This relatively inexpensive blender had very basic, easy-to-use controls (Low, Medium, High, and Pulse) and a comfortable handle. It did a good job with most tasks, crushing ice well and even making great almond butter. Due to this blender’s wide jar, it made somewhat frothy smoothies that had the occasional chunk of unblended fruit. The downsides? It can’t make mayonnaise, and it’s very loud during use.

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This juicer was the most straightforward and enjoyable to use of the masticating juicers, with parts that fit together easily and a relatively fast auger that chewed through carrots, kale, and grapes with ease. As with all the masticating juicers, we had to cut our produce to match the size of its narrow feed tube, but its juice was smooth. It was relatively easy to clean, especially with its included cleaning brush.

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Our winning centrifugal juicer is straightforward to assemble, with parts that fit together well. It’s fast, powering through a pound of carrots in 34 seconds, and it produced smooth juice from carrots, kale, and grapes alike. It had trouble efficiently processing kale leaves, though when we applied a few tips, such as firmly packing the leaves or rolling them up, we had more success. It was among the easiest to clean out of the centrifugal juicers and contained debris fairly well, flinging it from the feed tube much less often than the other centrifugals.

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The most current Instant Pot multicooker is a great, easy-to-use appliance. Its flat-bottomed interior pot allows for even searing. Stay-cool handles mean you can easily move the pot, even when it’s hot. The streamlined interface was easy to navigate. A “favorites” feature lets you save go-to recipes. It has a pressure-release switch that keeps your hand away from the hot steam when you vent the machine, and a diffuser on the vent makes the steam disperse slightly more gently. We liked that we could disable the “keep warm” function so that the food wouldn’t keep cooking once it was done. You can also program a timer to alert you after 5 or 10 minutes of natural pressure release, which saves you a trip back to the machine between cooking stages. A few quibbles: The baking function uses steam, so it’s excellent for cheesecake but not much else. The machine doesn’t have a fan to circulate the water and isn’t as accurate as a good sous vide machine, so it’s not capable of true sous vide cooking. It also couldn’t slow-cook large cuts of meat well. But none of these issues was a deal breaker for us. The pressure-cooking, rice, sautéing, yogurt, and steaming functions were all excellent and are reason enough to get a multicooker.

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It’s easy to use this model: Simply press the large button on the top of the machine until you’ve obtained your desired level of carbonation. The plastic water bottles connect to the machine easily and are dishwasher-safe. The machine uses SodaStream’s new “quick connect” CO2 canisters, which slide into the back of the machine and lock into place when you pull down a plastic handle. Like other models from SodaStream, it takes up fairly little counter space and is sturdy. 

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With a nicely balanced basket and handle, this strainer was a pleasure to use. The wide, rectangular hook made it easy to rest the strainer on a variety of surfaces, including tea cups and small bowls. Its fine-mesh basket also did a great job: It strained and sifted very well, resulting in crystal clear lemon juice and professional-looking dustings of cocoa powder

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Distinct from citrus presses that use small holes, this model features a star-like arrangement of large draining slots, which direct the juice in a steady stream with no splattering or overflowing. Its large, rounded handles were easy to squeeze for testers of all sizes, which helped this press quickly extract far more juice than any other model. Its roomy bowl could also accommodate up to medium-size oranges (but not large ones).

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This classic model was accurate and had bold, easy-to-read measurement lines that clearly corresponded to specific numbers. The handle, though small, was smooth and wide enough to be comfortable. We also liked that the glass resisted staining and was durable. Our one criticism: Using the cup properly requires crouching down and looking at the lines at eye level, which was uncomfortable for some. 

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Our winning spoons had a simple design that allowed for a continuous, bump-free sweep, with a ball-chain connector (similar to what military dog tags hang on) that was easy to open and close. This set's metal construction felt remarkably sturdy, and ingredients didn't cling to the stainless steel. And while the 1-tablespoon measure did not fit into all spice jars, it was a minor inconvenience for an otherwise easy-to-use set.

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When it came to containing tea leaves, this model was the clear winner; not even the smallest bits got through this supertight woven-mesh basket. It was the longest basket in our lineup—clocking in at nearly 4 inches in length—so its bottom was fully immersed in the hot water, which allowed the tea leaves to expand fully whether we were brewing in a mug or a teapot. It was also easy to clean by hand since no tea got stuck in its fine mesh. While the manufacturer claims this infuser is dishwasher-safe, we found that the plastic and mesh deformed ever so slightly after a few runs in the dishwasher, so we recommend washing the infuser by hand.

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This roomy infuser held nearly double the amount of fruit of any other product, giving plain water the robust, bright flavor of whatever we put in. We liked that its oblong, clear plastic pitcher was large enough to hold drinks for a crowd but slim enough to fit in the refrigerator door. The model’s smart design comes with three interchangeable attachments: for infusing fruit, brewing tea, and keeping beverages cold.

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This hot water dispenser impressed us with its easy-to-navigate control panel, the accuracy of its temperature control system, and thoughtful design features that made it easy to use. It was exceptionally accurate; the temperature stayed within 1 degree of 195 degrees for 8 hours. A small screen displayed the model’s heating progress. It had visible 1-liter, 2-liter, 3-liter, and Max (4-liter) interior water-level markings. A floating red ball visible on the exterior of the dispenser allowed us to monitor the water without opening the lid; it was the only model in the lineup with such detail. The whole dispenser rotated smoothly in all directions, and its control panel buttons were slightly raised, which made pressing them easy. The area below the spout was curved inward to accommodate round vessels, ensuring less splashing when dispensing.

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Our favorite plastic water bottle received perfect marks for its simple yet innovative design and durability. This transparent bottle was tinted seafoam green, which made it look similar to glass. Its lid had a rectangular handle that was big enough to comfortably hold while walking and could be easily attached to a backpack while hiking. Despite having one of the largest capacities in the lineup, it was still relatively lightweight when empty and not overly heavy when full. It had an easy-to-use screw-on spout (also referred to as a “chug cap” by YETI), so we didn’t spill water on ourselves like we occasionally did when drinking from bottles with just a wide mouth. We could easily remove the screw-on spout when we needed to fill the bottle or clean it. This bottle was superdurable—when it hit concrete, it bounced and sustained barely any scratches or nicks. It kept water cold for 4 hours, which is typical for plastic bottles. It’s a great option for hikers or those who prefer lightweight, high-capacity bottles.

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This model was efficient for its small size, capable of making just under 1 pound of ice every hour and depositing its first ice batch within 8 minutes of being turned on. Its convenient handle—similar to that of a cooler—combined with its lightweight build made it more portable than any other machine we tested. It did an acceptable job of keeping ice cold, and it recirculated water well to make sure there was always ice on hand. We also liked the distinct difference in ice size options it offered. We were impressed by its simple, clear controls and indicator lights, which allowed us to check its status at a glance. Best of all, it was the only compact model to have an efficient self-cleaning cycle, making routine descalings extremely easy.

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Testers raved about this travel mug, which not only kept coffee hot and cold for far longer than any other mug we tried but also was the easiest to use. Slim from top to bottom, it was comfortable for hands of all sizes to hold, open, and close, but because the opening is narrow, we had to aim a little more carefully when filling it. A simple push of a button popped open its lid, exposing the clean drinking spout within. Testers also loved that this leakproof mug came with an equally easy-to-use locking mechanism, which provided good insurance against accidental spills. Just a few minor durability issues: Like the other models, it dented when dropped, and it smelled of coffee even after several washes. Also worth noting: Because it’s so good at retaining heat, you may want to cool your favorite beverage to the temperature you prefer before sealing the mug or you risk a very hot surprise on your first sip.

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This smart mug is simple to set up and easy to use, and when used with its app, it is the most accurate model we tested. It kept coffee at the temperatures we set for an average of 70 minutes and within our ideal temperature range of 130 to 160 degrees for an average of 90 minutes. We liked that the app sent an alert when the coffee had reached our set temperatures. It charged in just 2 hours, one of the shortest charging times in our lineup. We also liked its built-in safety features; it automatically “sleeps” when it’s empty or after 2 hours of inactivity. If you don’t have a smartphone, you can still use this mug: It’s programmed to maintain a temperature of 135 degrees, though when we tested this function the temperature remained closer to 130 degrees.

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