Soothing Chai Latte (dairy-free, no caffeine)

I've been waking up at 5am (for no particular reason) and making this soothing latte. It is like a big, warm hug on a winter's day. I also crave it after dinner but am too tired and lazy to make it by then.

I don't like black tea (white, red or green), so the peppermint teabag is perfect. A big thanks to Elana's Pantry for the inspiration.

Serves 2, in two-cup mugs.

 

Ingredients

• 3 cups water
• 1 cup almond milk 
• 1 TB grated ginger (I keep mine in the freezer. Use less than 1/2 ts if using ginger powder) 
• 3/4 ts cinnamon (or 2 cinnamon sticks)
• 2-3 cloves
• 1/2 ts cardamom (or 4 cardamom pods)
• 3 whole peppercorns
• 1 peppermint tea bag
• pinch of nutmeg
• 2 TB of pumpkin puree* (optional)
• 1 ts honey
• 1/2 ts alcohol-free vanilla
• 4-6 TB **almond-coconut milk

* We roasted, pureed and froze our uncarved Halloween pumpkins this year. There's a lot of pumpkin to use up which is how it ended up in this recipe!

** The creamy and sweet coconut milk smooths out the "bite" of the spices so keep that in mind if substituting for other milk. You might want to use extra sweetener, go lighter on the spices or use 2 cups of water and 2 cups almond milk instead of a 3:1 ratio.

 

Instructions

1. In a saucepan over medium heat, combine water, almond milk, ginger, cinnamon, cloves, cardamom, peppercorns, peppermint tea bag, pumpkin puree and nutmeg. Bring to a boil.
2. Simmer for 15 minutes (uncovered), stirring occasionally.
3. Remove from heat and strain the latte into TWO mugs
4. Add 1/2 ts honey, 1/4 ts vanilla and 2-3 TB almond coconut-milk to EACH mug. Adjust individual portions to taste.