Herbal tea is the welcoming drink of my sessions.

As the days get colder, I like to brew a teapot of chai in the morning and then enjoy its glowing contents throughout the day.
My teapot sits on top of a tealight that keeps the contents hot and the infusion going.

The traditional (masala-) chai is made with black tea and milk in it, but I’ve altered the mixture more to my taste, leaving out the  black tea and milk and adding some herbal heroes into it.

Here’s how I do it:

in the sieve of the teapot I put

loose white tea

peeled, chopped fresh ginger root

cardamom pods, crushed

a cinnamon stick, crushed

black pepper corns

dried pieces of astragalus root

some cloves

a few dried hawthorn haws

and a rosehip

I then pour boiling water over it all until the teapot is full, and let it all simmer over a tealight for a minimum of 30 minutes before drinking. During the day I sometimes add boiling water to the teapot as I’m drinking the tea, replacing some of the fluid, never more than the half of the volume. This way I can enjoy inner heat from the chai through the day.

Most of the ingredients are warming and helping the body to combat any small inconveniences associated with a cold. The astragalus root is there for some extra chi-energy, the hawthorn haws to balance out my Heart, and the rosehip is there for mostly its looks (!) although I hope some of its vitamine C survives the heat.

Do you have a favourite warming-up drink for this time of the year? I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a comment here, or let your voice be heard on the Facebook page.