Green Tea Chai

MAKES 3 QUARTS • PREP TIME: 5 minutes • COOK TIME: 45 minutes

How do I love thee? By keeping thee at all times on my refrigerator shelf. Seriously. My husband, Gregg, lives on iced tea, and he loves this green chai in particular. Green tea is a real brain-boosting food, and here we up the ante by adding ginger, cinnamon, and coriander, all of which have top-notch anti-inflammatory properties. In our house, this is a go-to for staying sharp throughout the day.

3 quarts filtered water
1/3 cup sliced peeled fresh ginger
3 tablespoons coriander seeds
1 1/2 tablespoons cardamom pods
4 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
4 green tea bags

In a saucepan, combine 2 quarts of the water with the ginger, coriander, cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower the heat to medium low, cover, and simmer for 45 minutes.

While the chai spice mixture is simmering, make the green tea. In a large saucepan, bring the remaining 4 cups of water to a boil over high heat, then add the tea bags. Steep for 6 minutes.

Remove the tea bags and discard them and strain the chai mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into the green tea. (Reserve the strained out spices; see the Cook’s Note.)

VARIATION: To make a green tea chai latte, combine 1/2 cup of green chai tea with 1/2 cup of Almond Milk or Hazelnut Milk and 1 to 3 tablespoons of maple syrup and gently heat for 2 to 3 minutes (don’t boil). Stir in 1 teaspoon of vanilla, then taste. Add more milk or sweetener if you like, and serve hot or cold.

COOK'S NOTE: Keep the spices that are strained out of the tea and use them to make another, smaller batch of tea. The spices will keep in the refrigerator for 4 to 5 days and in the freezer for a month. To make more tea, combine the spices and 6 cups of water and bring to a boil. Add 2 tablespoons of peeled fresh ginger slices. Simmer for 30 minutes, then strain the tea and discard the spices.

Reprinted with permission from The Healthy Mind Cookbook Copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Katz with Mat Edelson, Ten Speed Press, a division of the Crown Publishing Group, Berkeley, CA.

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