This authentic Yogi Tea is a spiced tea, and so delicious made with only six ingredients you probably already have at home. PLUS it's an amazing digestive tea that boosts the immune system. Forget detox tea!
Make authentic yogi chai tea at home.
This yogi spiced tea recipe is so delicious and an easy way to get your healthy beverages. It's the perfect drink for a between-meal snack.
What is Yogi Tea?
Yogi tea is a spiced tea, a traditional tea from India made with warming spices. It's designed based on Ayurvedic medicine to enhance digestion, increase circulation, and boost your immune system.
Ayurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India and part of the Indian Philosophy dating back to 700 BCE. It includes the use of herbal blends in beverages and cooking with the addition of spice combinations.
With this easy and delicious traditional yogi tea recipe, you can make the real thing right in your kitchen! Yogi tea uses warming spices you probably already have. Just six simple ingredients.
- cardamom
- cinnamon
- cloves
- black peppercorn
- ginger
- black tea
What is Yogi Detox Tea?
Many detox teas contain ingredients that increase gastrointestinal movement. The Yogi Detox Tea contains intestinal cleansing herbs such as Dandelion and Burdock. The Dandelion in Yogi Detox Tea stimulates bile production in the liver while acting as a diuretic. The combination of increased water and bile in the intestines softens stools, while Burdock facilitates bowel movements.
The yogi tea recipe in this post is a spiced tea recipe designed to support your immune system and does not contain these cleansing herbs.
Yogi Tea Recipe
Pro Tip:
I recommend a robust black tea for the black tea, such as an English Breakfast, an Indian Assam, or a nice Chinese Keemun. You want to select the type of black tea that holds up well to milk and sugar to balance out the intense spice flavors.
All spiced tea blends use cardamom. It's the most important and also the most expensive spice in the mix. In fact, cardamom is one of the most expensive spices in the world. The good news is you don't need a lot of it to flavor your yogi spiced tea.
How Do You Make Yogi Tea?
It's similar to an Indian Chai but with more emphasis on the medicinal aspects of the ingredients and in higher quantities.
This recipe makes 4 cups of yogi tea spiced tea. You can easily create a single serving by quartering the ingredients.
Authentic Yogi Tea Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 16 cardamom pods
- 2 cinnamon stick
- 12 cloves
- 24 black peppercorns
- 4 slices fresh ginger
- 2 teaspoon black loose tea
- 5 cup water
- 2 cup milk
- 2 teaspoon honey
Instructions
- In a saucepan, add all the spice ingredients to the water. Do not add the tea and the milk yet.
- Bring water to a boil.
- Turn down the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
- At the end of the simmering, add the black tea and steep for 5 minutes.
- Add milk.
- Reheat until JUST before the boil. Remove from heat.
- Stir in honey.
- Pour through a strainer into a large glass pyrex measuring cup.
- Pour into individual serving cups.
Notes
Nutrition
This spiced tea recipe is based on the original Yogi tea recipe from the book: The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs.
What Are The Benefits of Yogi Tea?
Spiced teas contain a high amount of antioxidants that help strengthen your body's immune system.
Cardamom: One of the world's most expensive spices, right next to vanilla and saffron. It's a seed from India. The seed pod is a member of the ginger family and is useful for enhancing digestion and reducing gas. It increases mental clarity and, when added to milk, neutralizes mucous forming properties.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon is a warming digestive enhancer. Cinnamon also has antiseptic and antibacterial qualities. Cinnamon contains large amounts of highly potent polyphenol antioxidants. Some studies show that the antioxidants in cinnamon have anti-inflammatory activity.
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Cloves: A tropical spice and another warming spice good for digestion. It reduces gas and is suitable for stiff joints due to its anti-inflammatory properties.
Cloves are used frequently to relieve gum pain and sore throats and often used for an upset stomach. It is also a good source of Vitamin E (Alpha Tocopherol), Calcium, and Iron, and an excellent source of Dietary Fiber, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Magnesium, and Manganese.
Black peppercorns: The most well-regarded blood purifying medicine in Asia. Black pepper helps to relieve sinus congestion. Black pepper is also a digestive aid and immune enhancer as well and a mild circulatory enhancer.
Ginger: Ayurveda calls ginger universal medicine. There's nothing in Ayurveda that doesn't benefit from ginger. Ginger is a mild digestion enhancer. Ginger enhances all the systems in your body, including immune function. Ginger is used for menstrual cramps and joint pain. It's very well known as an arthritis remedy for osteoarthritis.
Ginger tea may help relieve nausea and gastric distress.
Black tea: In this recipe, tea is used to synergize the other ingredients and tastes. The tea used in this recipe is minimal, but you can add more to your liking. Tea is a good source of antioxidants that may boost your immune system.
Which Spiced Tea is The Best?
I've written about several different spiced tea recipes on this blog in the past. I love them all. But the best spiced tea is the one you make at home. Making spiced tea at home offers the benefits of great tea with fresh herbs and spices.
Each recipe has its variation of spices blended with tea. Sometimes fruits are added. Traditional ayurvedic spiced teas are mixed with spices specifically designed to promote health and enhance a sense of calm.
It's a much healthier digestive tea than all those crazy detox teas. I could drink this tea every single day!
Further Reading:
- The Way of Ayurvedic Herbs
- RSC Chemistry World: The Spice of Life
- Guide to Medicinal Herbs
- The New Complete Book of Herbs, Spices, and Condiments
- Illustrated Encyclopedia of Healing Remedies
New To Tea? START HERE >>
A quick question. On the recipe says equipment needed grinder. Do I need to grind any of the spices or just throw them in the pan? Thanks.
Freshly grinding the spices with a spice grinder gives you the full benefit of the aromatic compounds in the spices. Aromatic compounds are the flavors that make these spices so delicious.
My sis tried this, and gave it 5 stars! Bravo!
That being said, spices are pricey, and my budget is tight. My collection is slowly but steadily increasing. I have a few (cloves, ginger, peppercorns) but not all.
What I do have is a bag of Vahdam Double Spice Masala Chai - a blend of CTC Assam, Cinnamon Chips, Cardamom, Whole Cloves, Peppercorns. The Assam tea is top notch, but spice-wise, the blend is extremely low on cardamom. (I'm assuming that's to do with the cost.) The original recipe/preparation is nearly identical to this.
Quick Questions:
1: Would you recommend adding extra spice? *(particularly additional cardamom?)
2: Adding more cardamom to the brew?
3: Do the best results come from using dairy? *(I prefer using almond milk in my drinks and bakes.)
Thanks!
Thanks for sharing, Jess. You can certainly add more cardamom to the blend if you like. Try grinding the spice for more flavor. Any milk will be delicious, but if you use almond milk, that's fine. Some studies have shown the casein in cow's milk interferes with the antioxidant activity of tea compounds — the polyphenols in tea bind with the casein in cow's milk.
You could use the Vahdam blend and add more cardamom to your taste preference. Any dairy or non-dairy milk will work in this recipe. Whole milk will give it a fuller mouthfeel, but nut milk also works well.
Can you used ground cinnamon in this recipe. I have all the other ingredients so would love to try this then get cinnamon sticks in my next online home grocery delivery
Jacqui - yes, you can use ground cinnamon for the infusion. This will still give you all the cinnamon flavors and benefits. You will strain the ground cinnamon before drinking.
Can this tea be stored for later. If so, for how long? Thankyou x
Great yogi tea recipe. I tried it today. Can’t explain how life changing it is to drink tea and spiced teas after quitting coffee. Thank you!
Hi, I had some great tea at Starbucks the other day and they use steam milk. Can you recommend a steamer for milk just 40 without the other options? Thanks so much
I haven't seen a steam wand separate from an espresso maker yet. I've only seen the milk frother as a separate item, which is much different than injecting steam into the milk. I did find this Bella personal espresso maker with a steam wand that may work.
I love this! I'm going to try it because I really am not a fan of the detox tea. Thank you.