For a truly restorative woodland brew we always fall back on chai and the wilder it is the better! Chai in its most basic form is a spiced tea sweetened to your liking, but some of the traditional spices can easily be replaced with foraged ingredients from the woodlands.
4 Assam or Darjeeling tea bags
10 wood aven roots
1 large handful of dried magnolia petals or 2 large knobs fresh ginger root
1 large knob of ginger, sliced
1 tsp common hogweed seeds or 5 green cardamom pods
1 tsp black peppercorns
2 cinnamon sticks
The best local honey you can afford
750ml water
375ml whole milk (or your preferred plant based alternative)
Place the wood aven roots, common hogweed seeds, peppercorns and cinnamon sticks into a large heavy bottomed saucepan and place over a medium heat.
Toast the spices gently until they become aromatic.
Carefully pour over the water, place in the ginger and bring to a gentle simmer. Cover with a lid and simmer for 10 minutes.
Remove the pan from the heat and leave everything to steep for 30 minutes.
Strain the chai through a fine meshed sieve into a clean pan.
Add in the milk and sweeten to taste with honey. Pour the chai into a teapot and pour carefully with height into your chosen cup or glass.
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Starting with the teapot on the lip of the tea cup, slowly start pouring your chai into your chosen glass. As it starts to fill, start moving the teapot away from the cup, gradually moving the teapot higher away. This will create lots of bubbles and a nice light frothy top to your glass of chai.
Kick back, put your feet up on your favourite log and enjoy.
Always be mindful to forage safely, only take what you need and ensure to have the landowner’s permission. Learn more about foraging for hogweed seeds and wood avens.
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