Wild Root Herbs

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This is another tea from the box from Nicole – many thanks!

This has been a favorite! I really don’t drink much chai and when I do it is the cinnamon and cardamom type rather than the black pepper and turmeric type. This is of the first sort and has no caffeine as it is herbal! This made it a perfect candidate for making syrup to use for tea sodas.

Now and then I crave a Coke in summer, but I have found that a good tea soda will satisfy that craving perfectly and is far healthier. It doesn’t have to lean toward cola flavors. Ashman and I split a twelve ounce bottle of Perrier, although with the new PFAS information I will probably be switching to San Pellegrino or just getting a home carbonation appliance. Then I add a couple of ounces of syrup and stir well, because it will sink to the bottom of the glass like lead even though I add I last.

This has been so refreshing and is definitely a candidate for a repurchase someday just for this application, although I also like to make a syrup of Harney’s Vanilla Comoro (so I can drink it any time of day) and spices like cinnamon, star anise, cardamom, and maybe a bit of orange zest. I usually do equal parts sugar to water ratio, sometimes a bit less sugar.

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This was in my box from Nicole. Many thanks!

We are not coffee drinkers, but we have begun to enjoy some of these coffee substitute beverages.

This is supposed to be just reminiscent of coffee and doesn’t have all the flavoring of the Teeccino (Hazelnut, Vanilla Nut, etc.) we bought. I am keeping that in mind as I can’t help but compare it to Teeccino. Now I am tempted to try a blend like their French Roast one day.

This calls for 2-3 tablespoons of mix per 8-10 ounces of boiling water in a French press. I no longer have a French press as I have given away both of mine to my kids and I haven’t bothered to buy another since I only had it for making coffee for them. So I put it in an infuser basket and poured the water over as if I were steeping tea.

The water wouldn’t go through! I had to stir the mix in the infuser basket to keep adding water. Some of the ingredients dissolve because when you are done there is far less in the infuser than when you started.

We added milk and sugar just as we do with Teeccino. It was very good. I wish I knew whether the ashwaganda was doing anything. Do I feel calmer? I don’t know.

I think Teeccino may have more coffee aroma and flavor than this, but we still enjoyed it with our lunch, which was chicken pot pie soup and fresh biscuits. We usually have chocolate milk with chicken soup but we have come to enjoy the coffee substitute drinks just as much with it.

This is supposed to be good for you, and certainly doesn’t set off our reflux the way I suspect coffee would, plus with no caffeine we can enjoy it any time of day or night.