HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN CHAI TEA

In 2003 I made a trip to China to deepen my knowledge of Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine(TCM). During that trip I got lost in a market in Beijing and found my way to a tea shop. As I looked through the window there were tall glasses of hot water simmering beautiful flowers and herbs. Samples of the infusions were offered in thimble sized teacups. I am a sucker for anything tiny. I tried so many variations and probably bought my weight in tea on that trip as well as many tiny little teacups. I left the shop completely light and maybe a little dizzy from the overindulgence of my favorite, the Oolong. To this day I am still a steeper of herbs and tea and wanted to master making a good Indian Chai from scratch. Many of my recipes are happy accidents so the measurements are usually eyeballed, but this one I wrote down.

It is no accident that I am drinking more tea as I get in touch with my fifty-ish self and as we enter our 4th week of quarantine. Tea has so much to offer, from medicinal benefits like lowering cholesterol and blood pressure, detoxifying the liver, reducing inflammation. The ritual of making and drinking tea can set you up nicely for the solitude that many of us have been forced into, and it can be a recipe that gets taught along the way. Tea is the perfect drink for healing, it is the perfect drink for being in community even if it is virtual, it is the perfect way to start your day and the best way to end a yoga or meditation session. It can be as simple as simmering a piece of ginger and brown sugar, known as Jiang Tang Cha, for nausea, stomachache or cold symptoms. The thing about tea is that it is easy to remedy a mistake by upping the rest of the ingredients to match. I always say, start with less and add as you go. When using green or black leaves, add them last, otherwise the tea becomes bitter.

This recipe is gleaned from my friend Shamina Rao’s Chai, made for me many times at her home, learned from her mother. It makes my house smell nice and offers a wonderful zing to the body on a cold or damp afternoon. Tea is becoming my latest obsession and mixing ingredients that have a direct effect on my current state, well who can beat that. My kitchen looks more an more like an herbal pharmacy and the potions are endless. When this is all over, I will make you a cup, but for now, make this recipe and grab a journal and sit and be quiet or follow that thread of thought you’ve been meaning to write down.

INGREDIENTS FOR CHAI

1/4 cup cloves

3-5 (2 inch) cinnamon sticks

1-2 tablespoons ground ginger

1-2 tablespoons black pepper corns

3/4 cup cardamom pods

1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds - (optional, but great as an added digestive aid)

PREPARATION

Combine all the ingredients in a spice grinder or high powered blender and grind into a course powder. Store in an airtight container.

To make Chai tea, add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of milk of your choice (I like Oat milk here) and 1 heaping teaspoon of chai spice mix to a pot. Bring to a simmer and then whisk for 30 seconds. Add 1-2 black or green tea bags or 1 teaspoon loose tea and let steep for a few minutes. Sweeten with a teaspoon of honey and you are good to go. Strain into a mug and enjoy!

The perfect cup of tea takes practice, start with less and adjust. The recipe above is more robust and spicey when the pepper and ginger are at their full amounts. Get creative, add 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric to make your own spicy anti-inflammatory Golden Milk, or a bit of nutmeg to create a holiday blend. Don’t drink caffeine? Use rooibos or the spice mix on it’s own and you will have a wonderful herbal version.

CBD-INFUSED SUMMER SMOOTHIE

I love food and think about it probably more than the average person. My mind doesn’t just go to flavor but rather how one ingredient might enhance another, or maybe act as the leader while others are there to support it. I think like an herbalist when I cook and create recipes, I have failed miserably many times, but this simple drink was one of my non-recipe wins. I like my fruit on an empty stomach and I like to use the core of the pineapple which is where all the good enzymes tend to live. Mint and lime lift this drink to the next level and CBD infused tea offers me a way to include this plant into my anti-inflammatory dietary plan. When I entered my senior year of undergraduate work at U.C. Davis, I was a Nutrition major. I knew I did not want to be a Dietician or a Food Scientist. I was more interested in the community aspect of food. There was no class for that so I created an independent study of food rituals with my nutrition professor who happened to have the same love of food and community that I did, not to mention that these lectures happened at cafes and restaurants where we shared meals and desserts and looked at food culture from around the world. It was my favorite class/mentorship of my entire college career and maybe that is why I am still grounded in community based nutrition to this day.

As a food and plant based Acupuncturist/Healer, I have always looked for ways to enhance my nutrition through diet. My latest obsession, Culinary CBD. In Chinese medicine, cannabis was used over 1500 years ago as noted in the Shen Nang Ben Cao Ling, The Divine Farmer’s Materia Medica Classic. It’s known as an adaptogen meaning it has the potency to create homeostasis in the body, but Industrial hemp beat it out and it’s medicinal properties were long forgotten. Today it is hard to know what CBD product to choose from, more on that in a minute. I am still experimenting myself, but as with anything I choose to eat, or put on my body, I use the highest quality and most trustworthy sources I can find. When we approach eating as a way to feed the brain, regulate the hormones, nourish the organs and balance the belly mind, it can be so empowering. I don’t eat just for the love of food, I eat in a way to enhance my ability to perform well, feel well, think clearly and pull people together. And it doesn’t have to be elaborate. This no-recipe smoothie was made on the fly after a friend who knew I was feeling down, invited me on a walk in the park, I turned around and invited her for a post-walk smoothie. This is the recipe that came out of that interaction!

INGREDIENTS

1/2 papaya, seeds removed

2 cups watermelon

1 cup frozen pineapple

1/2 banana

10 mint laves

Juice from 1/2 lime

1/2 cup Vybes CBD infused peach ginger tea

Add all ingredients to blender, mix on high for 1 minute and serve. Add ice to the blender if needed. Use coconut milk or water as another liquid option.

*A side note: To get more bang for your buck, you can add in a high grade CBD oil, hemp seeds, chia seeds, flax and other food and plant medicine ingredients. Reach out to me if you are interested in learning how to be your food medicine healer. I can help you!

Want to learn how and why to use CBD and Hemp in your diet? The science is now out there and I am co-leading a mind/body/breath workshop on Thursday June 27th at Hidden Hemp in Brooklyn. Read more and sign up HERE.

Want to diversify your diet and your gut bacteria with more plants? Join the LK5 Summer Cleanse HERE! Meanwhile, eat real food, not too much and add more plants!

LK