Homeade, Almost Chai Tea

I love Sunday mornings, waking up late, rolling out of bed, and thinking what can I make this morning? Living in New England this time of year, your body is just starting to adjust to the chilly weather after the grueling humid hot summer and unpredictable fall. I love nothing more than making my own teas from common ingredients I usually always have around my house. They may not be common in yours, but once you find a store in your area that readily supplies these unique ingredients you will forever keep them around! They are tasty, health promoting, and can be used in many unique applications!

I’d like to share the yummy tea I whipped up this morning, its spicy, yummy, healthy, and pretty easy to make! Its not like your Chai Tea you get from Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts. It doesn’t have 65 grams of sugar per cup, and you don’t even have to drive down the road to get it!

I like to call it Homemade Almost Chai Tea.

Ingredients:

Makes about 3 cups of yummy tea!

  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 5 slices of fresh ginger
  • 1/2 vanilla bean
    • you’ll want to use your knife to cut the bean long ways, scrape the beans out with your knife and use the beans and remaining stem
    • or use a tsp of pure vanilla extract WHEN you add your honey.
  • 4 slices of fresh turmeric
  • one stalk of largely diced lemongrass- Find an Asian Market Near Me!2043632515_c404fd5bbc_o
  • 4 cups of water
  • honey to taste, I use about a tsp per cup –> See my must read Post about Honey!
  • milk or cream if desired

Method of Prep

  1. Place your ginger, turmeric, lemongrass, vanilla bean, cinnamon stick, and water in a medium saucepan.
  2. Bring to a boil, and then turn the heat down to low so your pot simmers for about 15 to 20 minutes uncovered.
  3. Prep your mug with your honey, milk, and vanilla extract (if you replaced this with the fresh vanilla bean).
  4. Strain your brewed tea into a large bowl, or if you have a hand held strainer handy just strain the tea right into your cup!
  5. Mix it up and voila you have a yummy healthy tea to enjoy on a chilly morning!

Other Tricks

You can also brew this tea and chill it, and make an iced beverage which would be very yummy!

Or if you would rather make a creamy type Chai latte, you can use milk as your base instead of water. Just be sure you do not bring the milk to a full boil or scald it because it will develop a skin and taste funny which is not very appetizing when you’re looking for a smooth rich tea! You can also use other milks like almond, coconut, or soy!

You can also add other spices or roots to your tea such as cardamon, slippery elm bark, cloves, fennel seed, anise, or nutmeg. Be creative, go outside the box, and try something new! You never know when you’ll discover a new favorite ingredient!

Finally, if you’re one of those non morning people and need an extra kick in your cup, you can steep a bag of black tea in your simmering pot for some caffeine!

Enjoy!

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