To The Rescue Tea

I like to make this tea and set the teapot on my desk while I work. I drink a little at a time throughout my work day. It’s great because it gets more lemony and cinnamon-y the longer it sits which means the flavor evolves over time so I’m not drinking the same exact tea all tea. This works best if you have a teapot that has a warmer underneath. Mine goes into a holder that suspends it above a tea light. Here’s a quick rundown of what the ingredients do: - Green tea - antibacterial and full of antioxidants and polyphenols to protect your health - Manuka honey - antibiotic, antibacterial and full of antioxidants to help you stay well and get better - Ginger extract - anti-inflammatory, fever reducer, cough suppressant, nausea reducer and pain reliever - Vanilla extract - provides trace minerals: calcium, magnesium, potassium, manganese, iron and zinc, plus it reduces anxiety through nervous system support - Cinnamon - anti-fungal, antibacterial, anti-parasitic, anti-inflammatory and fever reducer - Lemon - antibacterial, antiviral, good source of vitamin C - Clove - anesthetic, anti-bacterial, antiseptic, anti-fungal, germicide, helps reduce gas, indigestion, nausea and hiccups

About the ingredients: - Green tea - you can use any green tea, even flavored ones. If you use a flavored one, try to pick one that would compliment the other ingredients in this recipe. I recommend using high quality, loose leaf, organic green tea. - Manuka Honey comes from the manuka tree in New Zealand. It can be found in the honey aisle at health food groceries like Whole Foods Market and Sprouts as well as on Amazon. However it is pricy, so if you don't want to spend the money then you can use regular honey but I'd recommend a raw honey as it has a higher quantity of antioxidants than regular honey. - Ginger extract is very spicy. The amount used in this recipe does not make a very spicy tea but if you would like it with a little more kick feel free to add more. You can find ginger extract in the vitamin section of health food groceries.

Makes: 5 cup of tea

Preparation time: 5m
Cooking time: 5m
Total time: 15m

Ingredients:

  • 5 cups green tea
  • 2 teaspoons Manuka honey (make sure to get 100% raw, organic honey)
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger extract
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 lemon
  • 16 whole cloves

Equipment: Teapot with a warmer or saucepan

Instructions:

  1. Brew the tea. Keep it warm. Remember that when brewing green tea you must use 180ºF/80ºC water and only steep a short time then remove the tea bags/strainer and discard. If the tea tastes bitter you have over-steeped it or the water was too hot. You cannot salvage over-steeped tea, just throw it out and start over.
  2. Stir in the honey, ginger and vanilla until the honey dissolves.
  3. Drop in the cinnamon stick.
  4. Chop the top and bottom ends off the lemon and squeeze the juice from them into the tea. Then cut the remaining body into 4 thick slices.
  5. Put 4 whole cloves into each of the lemon pieces. Then place the lemons into the teapot with the clove heads facing up so they don’t fall out of the lemons into your tea. Putting the cloves into the lemons keeps them from coming out of the spout when you pour it into your cup.
  6. Keep the tea warm and let it sit for 10 minutes to let all of the flavors infuse. This works best if you have a teapot warmer. If you don’t you could use a teapot cosy, or pour the concoction into a saucepan and heat until it is ready to drink. Enjoy it hot!

References: INLINE-LINK-START title="Dr. Weil: Can Green Tea Kill Superbugs?" href="http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400402/Can-Green-Tea-Kill-Superbugs.html" target="blank">Dr. Weil: Can Green Tea Kill Superbugs? INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="Dr. Weil:Getting The Most Out Of Green Tea" href="http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA401218/Getting-the-Most-out-of-Green-Tea.html" target="blank">Dr. Weil:Getting The Most Out Of Green Tea INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="WebMd: Manuka Honey " href="http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/manuka-honey-medicinal-uses" target="blank">WebMd: Manuka Honey INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="University of Maryland Medical Center: Ginger" href="http://www.umm.edu/altmed/articles/ginger-000246.htm" target="blank">University of Maryland Medical Center: Ginger INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="Ezine Articles: Ginger Extract - What Are the Benefits?" href="http://ezinearticles.com/?Ginger-Extract---What-Are-the-Benefits?&id=2089847" target="blank">Ezine Articles: Ginger Extract - What Are the Benefits? INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="Live Strong: Benefits Of Vanilla Bean Extract" href="http://www.livestrong.com/article/180749-benefits-of-vanilla-bean-extract/" target="blank">Live Strong: Benefits Of Vanilla Bean Extract INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="The Heatlhy Snacks Blog: The Top 5 Health Benefits of Cinnamon" href="http://www.thehealthysnacksblog.com/2007/11/12/the-top-5-health-benefits-of-cinnamon/" target="blank">The Heatlhy Snacks Blog: The Top 5 Health Benefits of Cinnamon INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="Self Nutrition Data: Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Lemon Juice, raw" href="http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/fruits-and-fruit-juices/1938/2" target="blank">Self Nutrition Data: Nutrition Facts and Analysis for Lemon Juice, raw INLINE-LINK-END INLINE-LINK-START title="Global Healing Center: Benefits of Clove" href="http://www.globalhealingcenter.com/benefits-of/clove" target="_blank">Global Healing Center: Benefits of Clove INLINE-LINK-END