Morning rituals: coconut chai tea

Where’s your head at? I feel like mine’s usually like the scene in the Wizard of Oz (it’s a twister!’) where Dorothy bangs her head and then everything starts lifting off the ground and whooshing past the window. If, like me, you feel your thoughts and tasks and mental to do lists all start to become too much, I’d like to recommend a little ritual. Something that I find comforting and grounding, especially when I’m really busy. I’ve started to replace my morning cuppa with a coconut chai tea. I take my time, stirring the ingredients together and really trying to clear my head, then take it back to bed and sip it slowly.

When - and only when - I find my head start to calm down, I then try and grab my notebook and make a few notes, mentally transferring the tasks from my head to the paper, and hopefully freeing up my whizzy brain to become more calm and creative during the day!

The kind of milk you need is not the coconut milk in tins that I generally use for cooking, but the ‘fresh’ coconut milk in cartons sold as an alternative to fresh milk (although I’ve seen some recipes that use a tablespoon of the coconut ‘cream’ from the top of a tin of coconut milk). Of course you might just prefer to use normal milk, or almond milk or whatever. A bit of trial and error and you’ll soon come up with the perfect blend for you. I find all coconut milk a bit overwhelming, so generally do half coconut milk and half water.

Sometimes, if I’ve got fresh ginger, I’ll add a sliver, and other times I might vary the tea bag (Earl Grey is surprisingly nice, especially as it doesn’t get too strong and ‘stewed’ tasting. I prefer using whole spices rather than ground and yes, I totally recycle my cinnamon stick, rinsing it and keeping it in the fridge so it does a couple of mornings!

Coconut Chai Tea

(serves 1)

1 cup coconut milk (try Tesco Free From or Koko)
1 tea bag
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
2 whole cardamoms
1 sliver fresh ginger, if liked

Place everything together in a saucepan and warm over a low heat until hot but not simmering. Strain into your favourite cup and stir in enough honey to taste (I find about a teaspoon is enough).

Sip and relax.

Coconut chai tea