Hello hello, and welcome to Episode 70 of Life On the Brink!
Today's episode is a celebration of fall flavors in the form of cozy and delicious drinks. Surprise, surprise, there's a lot of tea! Yes, today we're going beyond the pumpkin-spiced coffee and diving into the warm and spicy flavors of autumn. Making these drinks at home is actually quite simple, but are so so yummy. Plus, several of these drinks have health or medicinal properties.
First I've got three original recipes for you, followed up by some new-to-me drinks that I'm excited to try this season and some extra inspiration to help you get started!
ORIGINAL RECIPES
Masala Chai Latte
(serves 1)
INGREDIENTS:
-1 ½ cups almond milk, or milk of choice
⁃1” chunk ginger
⁃6 cardamom pods
⁃3 whole cloves
-1 cinnamon stick
-3 peppercorns
⁃1 black tea bag or around 1 tbsp loose leaf black tea (or if you’re doing caffeine free, rooibos tea is lovely)
⁃Sugar or sweetener of choice
-*optional, for a Golden Chai: 1 tsp ground turmeric*
-ground cinnamon, for dusting
METHOD:
1. Heat the almond milk in a small saucepan over medium heat until it reaches a boil. Meanwhile, using a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger until it's smashed up and very fragrant. Add the cardamom pods and break the pods open, exposing the seeds.
2. Once the milk is boiling, reduce to a simmer over low heat and add the ginger, cardamom, cloves, cinnamon stick and peppercorns. Simmer 5 minutes.
3. Turn off the heat and add the tea. Steep together for another 4-5 minutes.
*if adding turmeric, add it now and make sure it's mixed in well.*
4. Discard the tea bag and larger spices from the pot. Strain the tea into your mug. Sweeten to taste.
*OPTIONAL: using a milk frother, foam up a small portion of the tea mixture and top the drink with the chai foam.*
Top with cinnamon, if desired, and enjoy!
Maple Harvest Tea Latte
(serves 1)
INGREDIENTS:
-about 1 cup hot water (a regular mug’s amount)
-1 bag Trader Joes’ Harvest Blend Herbal Tea
-¼ cup almond milk
-1 tbsp maple syrup
-½ tsp vanilla bean paste
-cinnamon, for dusting
METHOD:
1. Bring the water to a boil and steep the herbal tea as you would normally, making sure to steep for at least 5 minutes. You want a nice, strong brew.
2. In a milk frother, combine the almond milk, maple syrup, and vanilla bean paste. Heat and froth together. If your frother doesn't have a heat function, just warm up the milk in the microwave before foaming it together with the other ingredients.
3. Remove the teabag from your mug. Top with the maple foam and dust with cinnamon.
Spicy Ginger Tea
(makes about 5 cups, between 3-5 servings)
INGREDIENTS:
-1 whole hand of fresh ginger
-5 cups water
-5 black tea bags (or 4-5 tbsp loose leaf black tea)
-2.5 tbsp honey
-5 tsp raw sugar or stevia OR 5 Sucradrops
-juice of 2 lemons
METHOD:
1. Bring the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Meanwhile, using a mortar and pestle, pound the ginger so it's smashed up and very fragrant.
2. Once the water is boiling, remove from heat and add the ginger and black tea. Steep 5 minutes.
3. Remove the tea bags but leave the ginger in the pot. Add the honey or sweetener(s) of choice. Let the tea come to room temperature.
4. Pick out the b
ig pieces of ginger with a fork, then strain the tea over a resealable vessel. Add the lemon juice and stir. Store in the fridge.
*delicious served hot or iced!*
SOON TO TRY
Fire Cider: this is an apple cider vinegar based tonic that I've been scared of for a little while. The ingredients sound crazy, but I was actually able to try some at the farmer's market this past week and it's quite yummy (and spicy, I love).
Most people take it as a tonic in the morning to help fight of cold and flu, reduce inflammation, aid digestion, and a host of other things. I'm searching for a big jar now because I can't wait to make some.
Cider and Maple Old Fashioned: For something a little special and adult, I'm excited to try out some appley cocktails this season. This one is simple to make and sounds delicious!
MORE INSPIRATION
- Simple syrups: they can easily be infused with spices, so a cinnamon or chai-spiced syrup would be another great way to add some fall flavor.
- If you ever work with vanilla beans, don't throw them away! Even after you use up the seeds, you can still use the pod to infuse things. Maybe try a vanilla bean infused sugar or brown sugar (YUM).
- Apple butter is incredibly versatile, even in drink making. Check out Half Baked Harvest's recipe for a Ginger Apple Moscow Mule.
- This is the milk frother that I use and I love it.
This Week’s Little Joy: Caroline Gelen's recipe for brown butter, espresso chocolate chip cookies. They're as good as they sound, and not nearly as complicated as I expected. The brown butter adds so much depth, and dark chocolate with espresso makes them the perfect combo of sweet, bitter, and salty. I made them last weekend for Josh's birthday and WOW what a game changer. Definitely making again!
What I’m Listening To: While making said cookies, I was listening to "Bing & Rosie: The Crosby-Clooney Radio Sessions." This is a really cool album because you get to hear multiple versions of the same tunes, and each performance is a little different. It's also got lots of cute tunes I had never heard before, and Bing and Rosemary together just gets me in the mood for White Christmas, which is fast approaching!
Thank you so much for listening, and to Mack655 who left such a lovely review this week! All your reviews, and even star ratings, over on Apple Podcasts mean the world to me. I'm glad to know you're enjoying this lovely project!
I'll be back soon, friends, have a lovely and cozy week.