food Good spiced tea
- Thread starter dragon49
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Tea might be the one thing I couldn't abide spicy. But I'm gonna try some dried aleppo in my jasmine green tomorrow morning. Thanks for the idear dragon49! 
It would have been insane, had I crushed in the same amount of Bhut Jolokias instead of bird peppers. It was still hotter than I imagined. I can eat bird peppers without problems, but something about the heat and the near boiling water hitting the back of my throat made the tea hotter than I imagined.ErolDude said:
One important note that I figured about making homemade mint tea:
Whether the leaves are fresh or dried, crush them up before putting them into the tea ball. This releases the oils. If you fail to do this, the tea will have much less mint flavor.
ok - the aleppo tea wasn't as good as the lemon juice/cayenne pepper powder thing I drink at times. I think I need to switch teas though - jasmine green tea is very mild and easily overpowered. Maybe some Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast - something that will stand up to the assertive aleppo...
Came up with this killer energizing spicy brew recently... kola nut powder, ashwagandha root (bits or powder), yerba mate (smoked or unsmoked, whatever tickles you) and dried chilli.
Make a decoction of kola nut and ashwagandha root (1 tsp of each per cup, simmer 10-20 mins), turn off heat, add yerba mate (1 tbsp) and dried chilli (to desired heat level), cover and let steep for 5-10 mins, strain and serve.
Tastes like it was extracted from the damp coat of a dead wombat (i.e. taste of a real man's brew
) but guaranteed to blow your socks off. Great before getting stuck into any hard yakka, setting off for a hike, etc, etc. Powerfully energizing.
Sub mate with guarana powder and add to the decoction for a more sustained ride.
Should be noted too that this brew is deffo NOT for the caffeine sensitive.
Or if you're just looking for something to chill on, make an infusion of tulsi, lemon myrtle and dried chilli. Calming and mood lifting. Throw in some peppermint too if that is your thing or some chai spices even. So much that can be done with this one. Gotu kola for added mental focus, etc, etc. Also goes extremely well with freshly squeezed lemon/lime and raw honey.
Don't know the availability of lemon myrtle in other parts of the world (native here) but it's one herb I reckon everybody should at least try. Deffo one of my fave teas, by itself and in blends.
Make a decoction of kola nut and ashwagandha root (1 tsp of each per cup, simmer 10-20 mins), turn off heat, add yerba mate (1 tbsp) and dried chilli (to desired heat level), cover and let steep for 5-10 mins, strain and serve.
Tastes like it was extracted from the damp coat of a dead wombat (i.e. taste of a real man's brew
) but guaranteed to blow your socks off. Great before getting stuck into any hard yakka, setting off for a hike, etc, etc. Powerfully energizing.Sub mate with guarana powder and add to the decoction for a more sustained ride.
Should be noted too that this brew is deffo NOT for the caffeine sensitive.
Or if you're just looking for something to chill on, make an infusion of tulsi, lemon myrtle and dried chilli. Calming and mood lifting. Throw in some peppermint too if that is your thing or some chai spices even. So much that can be done with this one. Gotu kola for added mental focus, etc, etc. Also goes extremely well with freshly squeezed lemon/lime and raw honey.
Don't know the availability of lemon myrtle in other parts of the world (native here) but it's one herb I reckon everybody should at least try. Deffo one of my fave teas, by itself and in blends.
Damn - That's a pick me up!
I am not caffeine sensitive at all, but something about Yerba Mate doesn't agree with me. It gives me very bad headaches and I never get headaches.
If I try this, I'll definitely substitute Guarana for the Mate. I find the stimulating effects of Guarana lasts longer than coffee—I think the sustained release effect is due to the other ingredients and how they react to the caffeine.
I am not caffeine sensitive at all, but something about Yerba Mate doesn't agree with me. It gives me very bad headaches and I never get headaches.
If I try this, I'll definitely substitute Guarana for the Mate. I find the stimulating effects of Guarana lasts longer than coffee—I think the sustained release effect is due to the other ingredients and how they react to the caffeine.
I'm curious, was it smoked or unsmoked mate that you tried? I ask because I get a negative reaction from the smoked stuff. No headaches or anything but it does make me feel, I dunno... just weird (can't really explain). As I tried the unsmoked stuff first without any adverse reaction, and continue to drink it without adverse reaction, my hunch is that something is up with the smoking process and/or the end product of. Not necessarily, I know, could have been a quality issue or whatever, but that's what I'm running with. I've been meaning to look more into it.
I will add too, I do believe mate to be a bit overrated, TBH, but as a stimulant sub for coffee it does work for me. Granted, I don't find it as stimulating as coffee but it's effect does seem to last considerably longer and I don't get "the crash" that I do from coffee. Not tooooo bad a trade off if you ask me. And as for being adaptogenic? No way. Not for me anyway (hence why I feel the need to add ashwagandha to my brew). It's just something that's probably a step above green tea, maybe one under coffee... or something like that. For me anyway.
As it stands in my book, coffee may be king for taste but it's stimulating effect has NOTHING on that of guarana. I'm lucky if a good coffee buzz lasts for longer than a half hour or so....
I will add too, I do believe mate to be a bit overrated, TBH, but as a stimulant sub for coffee it does work for me. Granted, I don't find it as stimulating as coffee but it's effect does seem to last considerably longer and I don't get "the crash" that I do from coffee. Not tooooo bad a trade off if you ask me. And as for being adaptogenic? No way. Not for me anyway (hence why I feel the need to add ashwagandha to my brew). It's just something that's probably a step above green tea, maybe one under coffee... or something like that. For me anyway.
As it stands in my book, coffee may be king for taste but it's stimulating effect has NOTHING on that of guarana. I'm lucky if a good coffee buzz lasts for longer than a half hour or so....
gasificada said:
gasificada said:
The Mate that I had was in the form of tea, from tea bags. I have no idea whether it was smoked or not, but I doubt it. To be clear about the caffeine not bothering me - At the time, I was an espresso nut, consuming 4, 5, or more shots at a time, and never got any headaches or adverse reactions, so there was some other chemical in the tea that didn't agree with me and gave me headaches. I tried several brands, all with the same result.
The best espresso that I ever had was from a Swedish Coffee Shop chain called Fika. The used a brand called Löfbergs Lila. I do agree that Guarana is more long lasting than coffee, but the only stuff that I found to be strong came in pills:
http://www.amazon.co.../dp/B0014H37AI/- The stuff is standardized to 200 MG of caffeine in each pill. I bought some powder once, but couldn't figure out what to do with it and ended up mixing some in water and drinking it. It didn't stimulate me and was hard to take.