Plum Dragon Chai Training Tea
This Chai tea is perfect for accelerating and enhancing training during the late fall and winter months. Its warming herbs warm the body and the joints, open the channels and raise the Yang. This tea tastes wonderful and has an almost numbing property.
(Many Chai Tea recipes call for the bark of Cinnamon, or Rou Gui. In this recipe, we use Gui Zhi, which is not as warming, but has a slight moving capability to it and definitely tastes better in the tea.)
These herbs should be crushed or ground and placed in a small amount of water (the herbs in the PlumDragon Chai Training Tea Kit are already crushed/ground for you). This water should make up half of the volume of total tea. Bring to a near-boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes. Add an equal amount of milk and allow to re-simmer. Add tea leaves and allow to steam for another 5 minutes. Strain off the herbs and add a small amount of vanilla and honey to taste.
Adding Hong Hua to this recipe is a good addition for many reasons, but it will disrupt the flavor of the tea. Try it both ways and decide which you like best. A pinch of pepper is common in commercial mixtures of Chai Tea, as are small amounts of Star Anise, citrus, and other spicy items. Lastly, a couple of pods of Bai Dou Kou have been helpful for some students who have been bogged down in the heat by heavy tonics such as Spring Wine.
