Don't let the title of today's post fool you: this entry isn't only for the yoga fans in the audience....it applies to everyone! I recently started taking yoga as a complement to my usual workout routine to cross- and strength-train (plus the fact that I have ready access to some incredibly functional and chic
yoga mat bags doesn't hurt). At this past week's class, one of the students asked if there was anything beyond yoga poses that can help ease symptoms of the common cold. My instructor happily launched into a discussion of "Yogi Tea" and raved about how this simple tea really helps to clear the circulatory system and alleviate symptoms. Personally, I was too busy trying to hold the "toppling tree pose" to actually remember the ingredients he rattled off but I was able to find a similar recipe on
KundalingaYogaBootcamp.com. This recipe calls for slices of fresh ginger which is usually found in small-ish branches in the produce section. I often get asked what kinds of things will fit into our
small reusable produce bags; they are perfect for fresh ginger as well as some of the other spices in this recipe! Check it out:
Original Yogi Tea Recipe
Yogi Tea
1 Gallon Water
30 cloves
30 whole green cardamon pods
30 whole black peppercorns
1 lg finger of fresh ginger, thinly sliced
5 sticks cinnamon
1 teabag, Black Tea
*Milk and Honey to taste (*optional)
- Bring water to boil.
- Add all spices except black tea bag. Boil 30 -45 min. Longer is stronger.
- Finally, add black tea bag and boil another 5 min. **The
black tea is added last because it amalgamates the spices and sort
of seals them. Also the tannins help assimilate the spices into
the body.
- If adding milk & honey, do so after adding the tea bag and
letting it steep– OR BETTER add milk and honey to individual cup or a
small batch. That way you can store the raw tea in the fridge and
prepare with milk and honey as you go.
- After adding milk and or honey, bring to a boil again, then shut immediately or keep on lowest flame to keep warm.
**
Milk helps to ease the shock of the spiciness on the stomach and intestines so drink with milk if you’re sensitive.Note:
for a stronger tea you can let the spices sit and sink to the bottom.
If the tea gets really strong you can cut it with milk or reconstitute
with a little water.
Hopefully this simple recipe will help ease the sniffles of the season. Leave a comment below if you have other recipes to share or if you've given this one a try! Until next time:
Namaste.
Shantelle
Well, the ginger would kill me with my allergy to it, but at least I wouldn't have a cold, right? It sounds amazing! I know ginger is probably the most important ingredient but I wonder if it could be made without. Also, honey has medicinal properties, and used frequently will help keep you healthy.
ReplyDeleteNice to see you blogging - I like what you're doing here.
I had been looking for something to keep my throat healthy ...Granddaughter keeps bringing home ‘coughs/sniffles/etc’ from school. I’ve been taking Echinacea but I felt I needed something more to compliment the ‘E’ capsules so I’ve just made a batch of Yogi tea. I couldn’t find green cardamon pods locally and had to settle for a sealed 15g bag of crushed green cardamon found at AJS ‘The Grocery’ on Bronte Street. (The 15g apparently equated to 30 pods). Actually, for such a tiny store he had everything else on hand too (fresh ginger/ cinnamon sticks/etc).
ReplyDeleteThe gallon of water eventually yielded a bit more than a litre of the tea. I had a hot mug full added honey and milk and bottled the rest. Naturally because of using just the one tea bag it did seem more like a hot spicy weak tea drink ...but I could definitely feel the heat and spices on my throat. The feeling is hard to describe ...it’s not smooth nor harsh ...the best I can say is if you had a throat itch and you needed something as a throat scratch-er ...this tea would help. It’s quite good and certainly filled the house with a flavoursome aroma. I’ll ration the tea prudently for now ...maybe a teacup a day ...not a mug-ful (it was a very large mug I used earlier).
Love the Blog and the ideas ...very cool. :
Frank W.
ps. I had to use Anonymous since I don't have ID's for the other 'profiles'
Thanks for the feedback, you two! Always nice to try new things and hear how they work for others :)
ReplyDelete