By: Amadea Morningstar RPP, RPE
This one is for everyone suffering floods in the Gulf coast and Eastern seaboard. In late summer, the drinks so appealing earlier in the season can feel too cold, heavy or moist as rains start. This beverage offers some refreshing relief for dull digestive fire.
MONSOON CHAI
Time: 10 minutes
Serves: 4
Health Building & Gourmet Vegetarian
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
2 bay leaves
½ inch fresh ginger
1 Tablespoon raw dandelion root
1 Tablespoon organic jasmine flowers
3 cups water
1 cup milk (I use almond)
Sweetener to taste (I use 1 teaspoon – 1 Tablespoon coconut sugar per pot)
Measure out the spices into one small bowl. Bring the water to a boil. Put in the spices; simmer 4 minutes. Pour the tea through a strainer into another clean container, pressing the spices against the strainer with a wooden spoon, to get as much of their essence in the chai as possible. Discard the spices. Add the milk and heat, not to boiling. Serve with sweetener to taste.
Effects: tridoshic, good for damp heat, could mildly increases Air/Vata in excess.
This tea supports: digestion, digestive fire, nerves.
Comments: In India, when the monsoon begins in mid to late summer, it’s a tricky time for digestion. While the weather is still hot and overall strength is low, agni (digestive fire) can be dull and at its ebb. The same is true for the Gulf coast now.
At the same time, as airy Vata begins to gather and aggravate with the approach of autumn, we’re still under the heat of fiery Pitta. This milk tea uses a traditional East Indian digestive combination of cinnamon, bay leaf, and cardamom to relieve Vata and sluggish agni, while nourishing the muscles and ligaments. It can be taken before meals for extra digestive support. Note: Jasmine flowers are caffeine-free, unlike the leaves.
Here in the Southwestern desert of the U.S., we encounter similar conditions at this point in summer. It answers the question, what to drink in monsoon? Yet for friends and companions in California, if I could gift a tea to you, it would be hydrating Polarity Tea, Rasa Tea. With prayers in all directions.
TULSI LONGEVITY TEA VARIATION: Instead of jasmine flowers, use 1 Tablespoon tulsi and 1 teaspoon amalaki.
Effects: tridoshic.
This tea supports: digestion, liver, all tissues.
Image thanks to Renee Lynn.
Reprinted with permission from Easy Healing Drinks from the Wisdom of Ayurveda by Morningstar and Lynn. Find more earth-friendly, natured-based vegetarian recipes in Easy Healing Drinks from the Wisdom of Ayurveda, Morningstar & Lynn, 2018.