Celebration Kava Chai
Kava: an ancient, social plant.
Makes your tongue tingle! Looks like creamy chocolate milk. Simmering for hours allows all the spices to bring out such rich flavor. Used in ceremony, or when needing to talk about things that may be touchy: Family debates, times of tension, for giving speeches, and also just in those partying situations to break the initial tension! Clinically used for anxiety and stress. Classic chai is warming and energizing, circulating, helps fights flu and cold. Makes mind fresh, anxiety relaxes and dispels, makes mind clear. Both uplifting and calming, so can use before a big lecture, or before going to bed to calm that monkey mind.
Ingredients
1/4 c kava root. light, loving , pleasurable and relaxing in itself. Adding other things to make it even more delicious.
1+ Tbs Cinnamon chips, C/S, cut and sifted, great for tea. Long sticks pretty but not as good for tea, warming and circulatory
1/2 Tbs dried Ginger: has hot bite, freshly grated has better flavor. Some say you shouldn’t boil it be rich in aromatic oils, and better to steam them. I’ve always simmered mine and seems to work just fine.
1 tsp Cardamom, grind it a little bit. sensuous, aphrodisiac. I use whole pods. Can also really overpower and become bitter quickly, so careful not to use too much
1 tsp Cloves, similar thing, Lessen pain. Historically used as a toothache medicine, but limits its benefits. Quite underused, but also can be overpowering. Look it up to discover more!
1/2 tsp Black pepper
1 Vanilla bean, chopped
1 can full fat coconut milk
Directions:
Blend roots and spices in coffee grinder reserved just for spices. Don’t mix w coffee or everything will take like coffee. And vice verse.
Simmer in 4 c water, 3-4 hours on low simmer, lid slightly ajar allowing steam to escape and liquid starts to concentrate
Add 1 can full fat coconut milk. Let sit overnight to infuse.
Then strain it, re-heat individually serve!
Also sweetened w honey after cooked, or a little stevia sweet leaf from the garden.
Reserve the strained goodies in the freezer to reuse!
Notes:
Can find an old grinder in old or used stores, ones sitting on a shelf forever. New ones are just cheap, that whole disposable idea that keeps you buying more, and putting more things in a landfill every year.
Use FULL FAT coconut milk, not that light stuff (why break apart the whole?) that defeats purpose and takes out the good stuff.
Some like to cook the coconut, but it’s an art, and this works for me. I like the milk constituents raw.
Even after cooked, esp when starting with any fresh herb, it is still so incredibly potent. I hate to throw away. I know I’ve cooked most of properties, but there is still a lot of vitality in those roots. I’ll save it and freeze it, and serve again, maybe add more fresh to the already cooked blend to help really utilize all those herbs. Seems cheap, but really out of great respect of plants like kava that have been growing for years
When public speaking, bring a tincture. Take a couple little drops under tongue. Instantly tongue tingles, can feel it go up to brain, and your tongue gets loose! You can feel the heart opening, gets everyone to start dancing. We love to bring wine to family get togethers, but can make this kava chai and see how it helps ppl relax
I noticed once in a rough Chicago winter, all the flights delayed for days, and the attendants were pouring a tincture into their mouths every few customers. I looked to see what it was, and it was Kava! They all seemed relaxed compared to the hassled customers around them.
Rosemary Gladstar remembers seeing kava in full page ads in those airport magazines, but now it’s kind of hidden and elusive again. Once popular, it started, like anything in large amounts, to share some downsides when over used. Same thing as strawberries, milk and alcohol share the same abusive tendencies, but it’s not meant for that. In large amounts, like 4-5 c in a row, can make muscles SO relaxed that become loss of coordination but that’s abuse of the plant.
Used in kava ceremonies of tropical islands where it grows naturally: Hawaii, Philippines… always best fresh if you can get it. Native people always offer a prayer: boola boola.
Some people use it for sleep, but its not sedative. Herbs for that are like passion flower or valerian, for insomnia to knock you out fast. Instead, kava makes your mind feel relaxed, alert, and relieves muscle tension.
Constituents, aptly named kavalactones, need a fat to break them down, which is why we add the coconut milk to make it more active. Traditional cultures used digestive enzymes. Lore and tradition tell of young virgins (including the chief’s daughter) who would chew the kava leaves, and the enzymes in her saliva helped break it down before cooking in water. We don’t have a lot of virgins anymore doing that.
