Comfort in a Cup
Most mornings my
coffee machine gets put to good use. I’ve squirreled away far too many bags of
a coffee called Sweetie Pie, a pumpkin pie flavored grind, to not let my
machine gurgle happily every day. But late weekend mornings, when I find myself
cuddled up in blankets and pillows reading a book, or obsessively Pinteresting,
I want a beverage that is a little tamer. Maybe a little less get-up-and-go.
For those days I make a healthier version of something that I tried during my
study abroad in England, and loved ever since. Vanilla tea with milk and sugar
(except I make it with vanilla almond milk and stevia). Those Brits LOVE milk and
sugar in their tea, and the Chinese do too coincidently. I remember my Chinese
grandfather making me what he called cha
chow, meaning “milk tea” when I was small, for those days when it was too
cold outside to play. I later found out that my grandfather’s tea is a Hong
Kong-style milk tea, which actually originates from the influence of British
colonial rule over Hong Kong in the early 1840s. I refer to my vanilla tea
with vanilla almond milk and stevia as my “liquid sugar cookie tea,” but C
thinks it should be called “cupcake tea,” as it smells like a sugary vanilla
confection, but isn’t! The aroma is instant comfort, and almost certainly
guarantees that if you make it, anyone within nose-shot is going to either want
you to make them a cup, or cuddle with you.
Here’s what I
use:
Tea kettle of
boiling water
Bigelow French
Vanilla Tea (caffeinated or decaf, it’s the best vanilla tea I’ve come across,
and I’ve tried a lot)
Silk vanilla almond
milk (this doubles the vanilla flavor, but you could use milk and a splash of
vanilla extract if you want)
Truvia (or
sugar, but hey, I’m trying to be healthy here!)
Optional:
Low fat (or even
non-dairy) whipped cream
Cinnamon
Performance:
I begin by
sleepily wandering into the kitchen, filling the kettle with water to my
desired amount, then plopping myself back in bed with a book. Once summoned by
the kettle’s siren song, I grab my favorite mug (you know you have one too) and
fill it mostly with hot water, leaving some space at the top for the vanilla almond
milk. Pop in your vanilla tea bag, and let it steep for as long as you can
stand it (I tend to be extremely impatient though). Then, I add my preferred
amount of Truvia, and some vanilla almond milk. At this point I usually stir
and enjoy, but if I’m feeling fancy that morning I’ll add a swirl of low fat
whipped cream and a dusting of cinnamon.
P.S. I just
found this amazing tea by a company called the Republic of Tea. It’s a Red
Velvet Cupcake tea, and oh my stars, is it amazing. I prepare this tea the same
way I make Bigelow’s French Vanilla, and it tastes just like red velvet
cupcakes. It’s also super healthy and is blended with rooibos, chocolate, and
beet root bits. As the company says, you can now, “Have your cake and sip it
too!”
Cheers!
