Yogi Tea (from Training Manual)

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The proportions are for 2 gallons of tea. The commentary will hopefully clear up

some questions a few folks have had. Additionally, there is other

very interesting from the Ayurveda viewpoint.

 

YOGI TEA (from Training Manual)

 

This is a staple in the yogi's armamentarium of health producing foods. It

is tasty, energizing and cleansing. It acts as a gentle tonic for

your entire system. It provides a gradual stimulation without the letdown that

stimulants leave you with.

One of the pleasant memories members of 3HO share is their first cup of

well - prepared yogi tea after a vigorous workout in kundalini yoga.

The uses of this precious formula are many. In the yoga tradition, Monday

is a good day to increase the cleansing fluids in your body. Many

people will use Monday as a liquid fast day. Then yogi tea or juices are used

exclusively for a good systemic flush. People interested in a more

powerful cleansing with the tonic use it periodically for a three day fast. Each

day they will consume 8 to 24 cups. Because of its immediate

energizing effect it is often used as a substitute to ease someone off of

caffeine, coffee, cigarettes and even drug habits. It has tremendous

effectiveness in warding off colds, lowering respiratory infections and fighting

off the effects of flu. On the positive side it was often taken

by women before sexual contact and by men afterwards, since it balances the flow

of that creative energy in the body.

In Ayurvedic medicine each food is thought of in terms of the qualities it

blends. Each food is potentially medicinal or harmful depending on

those qualities. If a food is universally health producing and neutral in the

balance of qualities so it can be used by anyone, then it is

tridosha - it combines all three major qualities. This is true of the components

and proportions of them in yogi tea.

Mostly yogi tea is taken because it tastes good and makes you feel good. It

is a ubiquitous part of the yoga lifestyle. It is a medicinal and

gastronomic blessing, which we share often.

 

Ingredients:

16 sticks of cinnamon [the 3" long kind]

1 heaping TBSP of black peppercorns

2 level tsp of whole cloves

3 level TBSP of green cardamom pods, or decorticated cardamom seeds

2 2/3 cups of fresh ginger, chopped small

A small palm-full of black tea like English Breakfast, or jasmine, or 6 tea

bags

 

Recipe:

Bring 2 gallons + 1 quart of water to a boil in a stainless steel pot.

When at boil, put in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns, and ginger. The

mixture will stop boiling. Keep the heat on high until it boils

again and then lower the heat to a very slow rolling boil and cover the pot.

Boil for 1¼ to 1½ hours. Remove from the flame and let the tea sit

for 1½ hours at least, but not more than 3 hours. Strain the spices out. Throw

in the tea leaves, bring up to heat and steep for 10 minutes,

stirring as you like. Strain the tea leaves out.

 

This beautiful yogi tea liquid, called “raw” yogi tea, is them mixed to taste

with whole raw milk. Use a ratio of 50% tea, 50% milk, but some of

you may like it stronger. This recipe, though, creates a more potent raw tea

than other recipes, so you may find diluting it 50/50 is fine

indeed. After adding milk, bring the mixed tea back up to a near boil.

Sweeten with honey. Use 1/3 cup honey per gallon of mixed Yogi tea. For

a special touch, add 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract per gallon of mixed tea.

 

The raw Yogi tea will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but once it is mixed, it

has a life equal to that of milk, so mix only what you'll use in

the next few days. Yogi tea without milk is not really yogi tea. The milk aids

assimilation and digestion. Herb tea may not be substituted for the

black tea. In this combination and with the small amount it is a balanced

chemical action.