Chai of the Tiger

This morning instead of my usual coffee boost, I decided to get Chai-ed up! I have recently purchased some very expensive tea. It's the sort of thing you can do when you get 99% of your groceries for free. I have been search for ways to make the perfect cup of chai tea and I think I finally may have arrived.

2 pinches of Mandarin Chai Tea (or a tea bag full of your favorite chai blend)

2 cloves

2 big dashes of black pepper

2 big dashes of cayenne pepper

a splash of milk (soy, almond, cow, whatever)

a splash of sweetener (stevia, agave, honey, or as a last resort, sugar)

Boil the water in a tea pot or other pot. Put the tea plus spices in the cup. Pour the boiling water in the cup and let steep for 3-4 minutes. Take out the tea bag/leaves and add the milk and sweetener. Enjoy. It's soooooo goood!

We also enjoyed a cup of ginger tea today as well.

Take a chuck of fresh, peeled ginger and boil it in a pot of water for about 10 minutes. Squeeze some fresh lemon juice and add a dash of cayenne pepper and a good bit of honey and you've got yourself a great drink for fighting the colds that come with this insane "spring" weather.

SCOBY Doobie doo! Kombucha!

Here at the Alamo, we are making Kombucha tea which is (according to Wikipedia) "a fermented tea that is imbibed for medicinal purposes."

Basically, you take a big mushroom pancake known by the acronym: SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast) and drop it in a vat of cold brewed tea (any flavor) and leave it in a dark, musty place (our pantry) for about a month. The original SCOBY, or Mother Mushroom, ferments the tea and gives birth to a "baby SCOBY" which you can then use to make a new batch of Kombucha.

In Chinese, Kombucha is called hongchajun 红茶菌 (literally: "red tea fungus/mushroom"), hongchagu 红茶菇 ("red tea mushroom"), or chameijun 茶霉菌 ("tea mold"). Sounds delicious right??

Well, it tastes like vinegar, but is strangely addictive... AND it has all kinds of medicinal properties (not approved by the FDA). In fact, during the Chinese Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) it was thought to be "a beverage with magical powers enabling people to live forever". So hopefully, that works out for us...

Actual health benefits are disputable but some claims include: cancer-curing, increased energy, sharper eyesight, better skin, and liver detox. Our first batch was ready to drink last night so here we have pictures of the process of taking the baby from the Mother Mushroom and making more magical mold tea!

You'll notice that Lemur is wearing an "Ironman" mask. That is not to protect his identity, it's just something we do here at the Alamo.

Peace,
Phoenix and Cloud