Dandelion Chai Latte

I am slavishly devoted to coffee. It's goes beyond just a morning ritual for me, it's an all day love affair. So when I recently started to read up on the affects of caffeine on the central nervous system, I couldn't help but feel a bit ashamed of my reliance on this stimulant. So, I took the ill-advised step of going off it, cold turkey, for a day shy of a week.

Day one post-quitting, I was plagued with a headache bordering on a migraine, all day. But the next day, my body seemed to have adapted, but the ritual-seeker in me needed something new to hang my virtual hat on. Herbal tea is okay but there's not much funl in tea the way I make it (a tea philistine, I use bags.). So I turned to (I can't believe I am typing this) Dandelion Chai Latte. And I was pleasantly surprised and very pleased.

Has it filled the coffee void? God, no, don't be silly- could anything?! But it's great to be able to switch it up now and again and have this spice filled drink as a caffeine alternative. I adapted the recipe from Supercharged Foods to suit my tastes.

You need:

6 or so cardamon pods
1/2 tsp clove powder
1 star anise
1 cinnamon quil
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 Dandelion tea bags
1 tablespoon honey
500ml milk

Use a mortar and pestle, or the back of a teaspoon and a saucer, to crush the cardamom and star anise. They just need to be a little smashy to release their flavour.

Put all the herbs into a saucepan with the milk and honey and bring gently to the boil, add the dandelion teabags, then reduce heat and simmer, lid on, for a few minutes.

Strain.

I left it to cool, then mixed with plain milk and frothed to get a latte consistency.

Now... I rate the flavour highly, but this is a little too long and involved a process for me to make regularly, so on day two, I doubled the quantities and froze it in silicone pods for a quicker solution.