I learned the following tea recipe when I moved out of NYC after September 11th to attend a yoga school in Long Beach, California. It wasn’t until I gave away nearly all my possessions (except Vincenzo) and moved clear across the country that the school was, in fact, a sex cult. Book forthcoming. Anyway, this tea smells fantastic as it simmers – perfect for fall weather – and its ingredients are beneficial to the body.
“Cloves take away pain, cardamom aids digestion, cinnamon is good for the bones, black pepper stimulates the digestive process, and ginger is an Ayurvedic panacea, giving strength and energy. And the synergistic effect of all the herbs is more than the sum of its parts.”
The quote is from Guru Simran Khalsa, a Sikh who practices and teaches meditation and Kundalini yoga. Guru Khalsa is in no way related to the yoga sex cult I attended in Long Beach where I learned all sorts of things from my teachers such as “When I go down on a client, I am channeling the energy of past and present gurus into his body. He may not know it, but he’ll feel it.”
But I digress. On to the recipe!
The ingredients are deceptively simple, it’s important to use fresh spices. If your spices are older than 6 months, you’ll want to replace them before preparing this tea.
Ingredients
- 15 cups cold filtered water
- 6 sticks of cinnamon 3-4″ length
- 12 slices of fresh ginger in ¼” thickness
- 36 whole cloves
- 48 black peppercorns
- 48 green cardamom pods
Directions
- Bring water to boil
- Add cloves and boil for 1 minute
- Add remaining spices, cover and boil for 30 minutes
- Reduce heat and simmer for 2-3 hours
- Strain tea before serving
Tips
- Serve with warm soy milk and sweeten with agave nectar (I use honey, but don’t tell those hateful vegans).
The tea is similar to the yogi tea recipe from Yogi Bhajan but in this recipe we omit black tea leaves. If you want to include tea leaves, the ideal proportion is 1 tea bag to one batch of yoga sex cult tea. Brew for 4 minutes then compost the tea bag.