Secret Garden Relaxation Tea

“If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.” ― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

It started with a french press. Then, my roommate and I purchased a tiny little espresso machine at Target. It was just barely small enough for our micro-kitchen, but we made it work. We'd whisk up some milk for a bit of froth, and add some flavored syrup to our joe. 

When summer came, and we no longer wanted steamy drinks, we made our own cold brew. I'd stir cocoa powder and cinnamon into my grounds, and we'd sit by the pool sipping away. That cold brew was so smooth, we could easily drink a whole liter in one sitting. It took about 3 months to take me from coffee hater to coffee lover, and then I was hooked.

At some point I realized just how much caffeine I was drinking, and I decided I probably needed to stop--I was running more, and needed more sleep as well as more water. I gave up coffee entirely, went "cold turkey". 

Talk about a struggle! I'll never live down the one day that my dad scored tickets to see Ira Glass. In the car, I told him how I was giving up coffee and felt great about it. An hour later, listening to Ira Glass (whom I adore, and am constantly inspired by,) I fell asleep. Right there, in my chair. I missed most of the show, but man did I sleep well that night. 

Since I've recovered from my caffeine withdrawal -- I drink mostly tea (spicy chai lattes!), but I do enjoy a good cup of coffee once or twice a week. Instead of drink bottomless mugs of cold brew, I drink teas like this one: Secret Garden Relaxation Tea. With chamomile, lavender, lemon balm, and spearmint it's beckons visions of a garden. A secret garden, where you can let it all go and just breath. 

Secret Garden Relaxation Tea

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Yield: 1 cup dried tea    |    Total Time: 15 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons chamomile
• 4 tablespoons lavender
• 2 tablespoons licorice
• 4 tablespoons lemon balm
• 2 tablespoons spearmint

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients in a jar and toss to combine.
2. To make tea/tisane, put 1 teaspoon of herb blend into a tea strainer for every 1 cup of water. Fit tea strainer into tea pot and pour boiling water over herbs. Allow to seep for 5 minutes. Serve with honey if desired.

Chocolate Mint Tea Blend

I've never figured out the whole meditation thing. I know, I know, it would probably do me a lot of good. But my patience is fleeting, my focus is like a pin ball and my energy boils over like an unattended pot on the stove. Which, some of you may take as further evidence of my need for meditation, but trust me on this: all of those things make it very had to get started. 

Everywhere I've ever looked, meditation was described as simply not thinking or clearing your mind, or for beginners like me, focusing on something simple, like your breaths. It's a beautiful thought, it really is, but do you know how long I last simply not thinking? 

If your guess was you don't, then you nailed it. 

But then I was out at dinner, and someone described meditation in a totally new way: it's focusing your energy on visualizing the best expression of your compassion.

I'm just going to let that sink in for a minute there. 

Ok, did that resonate with you at all? Guys, this makes me want to meditate! I also now have this voice following me around, one that just pipes in every once and a while. Was that the best expressions of compassion you've got? 

Anyways, I've always found I can more successfully focus my energy into one thing if I have a cup of tea in hand. Trying not to think about anything is also easier with a cup of tea in hand, especially one that is soothing. You know how crazy I am about chocolate, so you can imagine that this tea is right up my alley. ❤︎

Chocolate Mint Tea

Paleo, Gluten-Free, Grain-Free    |   Caitlin Sherwood    

Yields: 1 cup finished tea blend; 48 cups brewed tea   |    Total Active Time: 30 minutes

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Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup cacao nibs
• 2 tablespoons desiccated coconut
• 1 teaspoon whole cloves
• 1/4 cup spearmint
• 1/4 cup peppermint

Directions:

1. Using a clean coffee grinder (make sure there’s no leftover coffee grounds in it) or a mortar and pestle, grind the cacao nibs just slightly— until they’re broken up. Don’t not grind them all the way into a powder. Then, place ground cacao nibs, coconut and cloves in a small sauce pan. Place sauce pan on the stove top over medium-low heat. Gently toast the spices/coconut, stirring occasionally until ingredients become fragrant. Remove from heat.
2. Once cooled, combine the cacao nibs, coconut, and cloves with the spearmint and peppermint leaves in a 1-cup jar. Place lid on jar, and shake until everything is combines and well distributed.
3. To make a cup of tea: Heat 1 cup of water to a boil. Put 1 teaspoon of tea blend into a tea strainer, and place over mug. Pour water through tea, and allow to seep for 5 minutes. Remove tea strainer, sweet tea to taste, and enjoy. (Scale this to make a whole pot of tea using the ratio 1 teaspoon tea blend to 1 cup hot water)

Homemade Loose Leaf Masala Chai Tea

Update! This recipe is one of my faves. I shot new photos in December of 2018, and updated the recipe a little bit. Watch the video below!

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My first introduction to this spicy drink was in middle school, when my mom brought home a carton of Oregon Chai concentrate. Little did I know that single discovery would take me on quite the Chai-adventure!

I quickly learned to love plenty of other types of chai — and began to prefer spicier flavors over sweeter ones (if you’ve tried Oregon Chai, you know it’s pretty dang syrupy!). Bhakti Chai was a small start up in my home town at the time, and I fell in love with the pungent ginger in each sip. A mug of Bhakti Chai became a very special treat when I went to college — something I’d buy myself when I went to the school library during finals week.

I visited India with my dad when I was about 15. There, chai was served out of little carts on every street corner. It was called “Masala Chai,” because the word “chai” in Hindi simply means “tea.” Each cart served up their own recipe, a proprietary blend of spices and served with raw sugar. I scribbled down one recipe from a woman in Udiapur, and have been using that as my baseline ever since. But that’s the thing with Masala Chai: everyone’s version is slightly different. Some people want it sweet and cinnamon-y. Others want the ginger to be bright and bold and in your face. Me? I’m a cardamom lover, though I don’t object to the ginger, either. I also prefer honey over sugar. Lately I’ve been digging this Lazy Bee Ranch Whipped Honey, made locally in Colorado.

Once you’ve made Masala Chai three or four times, you’ll start to realize which camp you sit in, and you can adapt your own recipe to match exactly that.

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Making chai at home is far superior in terms of flavor than buying tea bags. It’s also far cheaper than buying pre-made concentrates. If I’m going to make a big batch of chai at home, I’ll use fresh ginger root and simmer it with spices in a soup pot. It usually doesn’t last more than a day — we drink it non-stop until it’s gone.

This recipe, however, calls for ginger tea (not crystallized ginger, buy dried ginger — like this or this) instead of fresh ginger. Why? Well, sometimes a girl wants her chai and she doesn’t want to bowl a whole soup pot just to get a mug of it! 🙃Using dried ginger means you can keep this tea in your cupboard with the rest of your teas, and brew a mug at a time on demand whenever you please. It’s the best for when I need a pick me up on a work day.

I also almost always make a hot mug of chai in my thermos when we go climbing or hiking in the spring, fall, or winter. It keeps me warm when it starts to get chilly, and I enjoy the caffeine lift in the afternoon. (P.S., this is my favorite Thermos to take climbing — keeps my tea cozy and super easy to drink from! (Affiliate link))

Chai is my reset, my comfort zone... a happy moment in a mug. Nothing feels more like hitting the reset button than sitting down with a steamy mug and slowly sipping.

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Homemade Loose Leaf Masala Chai Tea

Published June 10, 2015 by Caitlin Sherwood

Yield: 15   |    Active Time: 40 minutes

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Ingredients:

12 cardamom pods

4-5 whole cloves

8 black peppercorns

3 whole allspice berries

Pinch whole anise seeds

1 cinnamon stick (about 2-3 inches long)

3 tablespoons black Assam tea (English breakfast works too, if it’s all you can find!)

2 tablespoons dried ginger tea

For serving: water for brewing tea, and honey and milk to taste

Directions:

1. Place cardamom pods, cloves, peppercorns, allspice berries, anise seeds and cinnamon stick in a small skillet. Toast over low heat, stirring, until spices are fragrant.
2. Scrape spices into a mortar and pestle, and roughly grind the spices.
3. Combine Assam tea, ginger, and ground spices in a bowl or jar. Stir to combine.
4. Tea can be stored at room temperature in an air tight jar for quick some time — it may start to loose some of it’s flavor after a few months.
5. To brew: Heat 8 ounces of hot water. Place tea in a fine mesh tea stainer in a mug, and pour water into mug. Allow to steep for 5 minutes, then remove tea and strainer from mug. Sweeten with honey and milk to taste.
6. You may find that the bottom of your mug had spices in it — that’s where all the flavor comes from! I avoid drinking that very last sip, just like I might avoid taking the very last sip of sludgy French press coffee. Personal preference!