midnight tea

This recipe was inspired by the mint patch in my Oma's old backyard on Shaw street in downtown Toronto. I kind of made it up a few weeks ago during a rare and lovely hot spell in Vancouver and have been making it every few days since. I like this recipe because you can modify it to taste, and experiment with different teas/herbs/ types of honey and thus it nerdily makes me feel like a witch when I "brew" it.

Midnight tea is best made before bed (and easily fits into a nighttime regime!) so that the ginger can soak in the tea overnight for an added zing for days to come. This is my first time writing a recipe so here goes:

Ingredients

Roughly 1 litre of tap water

4-6 "thumbs" worth of fresh ginger, peeled and chopped into 2 cm chunks

1 tea ball/ bag dried chamomile flowers (easily found at progressive grocers)

1 tea ball/bag jasmine or jasmine green tea

2 c. loosely packed fresh mint leaves (including tips)

4 wooden spoonfulls honey (4-6 tbsp.)

Instructions for tea (and bed)

Put tap water and ginger into a pot, cover and boil on high for 2-3 minutes (brush teeth). Add tea bags/ balls (insert joke while doing so), turn down heat to a simmer, uncover, and let jasmine steep for 5 minutes and chamomile steep for 10 minutes (floss, get into jammies). Add mint leaves and make sure all are sumbmerged. Let them soak for about 10-12 minutes. Leaves will turn a dark greenish grey (wash face, brush hair 100 strokes, arrange teddy bears on bed, etc). Remove all leaves (but not the ginger!) and add honey with wooden spoon for more witchy effect. Turn off the heat. Leave the pot on the stove covered and let ginger soak overnight (get someone to read you a bedtime story). In the morning, remove all ginger chunks from the pot and transfer tea to a 2 litre glass bottle or jar (apple cider bottles work well). Add an additional liter of tap water. Chill. Drink up, its hot out.

*Oma's tips for this recipe*

Don't let mint soak for too long or it will turn bitter. Nice girls never go to bed with dirty feet.