- What's up everyone, 
welcome to Yoga with Adriene.

I'm Adriene, and today 
we're taking it off the mat

and into the kitchen,

learning how to make 
a traditional yogi tea.

So this is really special to me,

one of my 
favorite drinks because

it really takes me way 
on back to when I was first

introduced to 
the practice of yoga

and first found love.

Also, way back to my 
yoga teacher training days,

but also, way back to 
traditional Indian medicine

or Ayurveda. Thanks for
joining me, let's get started.

(upbeat music)

Alrighty my friends, so yogi
tea is very similar to chai,

in fact these two teas you know,

are pretty much the same thing.

Although, the yogi tea, 
the traditional concoction

really focuses on the herbs,

so a chai is kind of 
like you fill it with some

extra milk and some extra sugar,

and it's really great. 
Same ingredients.

But, this traditional 
concoction is really

focusing on the herbs, 
it's a six ingredient recipe,

plus your water.

And per, you know, 
the Ayurvedic science,

or tradition, everything 
is there for a reason.

So, the tea is very warming,

it's super awesome for 
digestion, circulation,

and everything there, 
again, is for a purpose.

So, let me introduce 
you to our six ingredients.

Alright so the first 
ingredient is black peppercorn.

Great for the sinuses, 
great for circulation,

awesome for digestion, it's
also really great for the skin,

and respiratory system. 
Black peppercorn is awesome.

Alright next we have 
the clove, whole clove.

Obviously really 
warming, aromatic,

it's really great as 
an anti-inflammatory,

and really, really great, 
high in antioxidants,

just also adds to a 
little bit of the taste.

Alright, next we 
have the cardamom seed,

and this is a little 
seed pod that is actually

a derivative of 
the ginger family.

Ginger Rodgers, she 
popped one of these out,

just kidding.

And it is amazing.
It's so aromatic,

just the smell alone 
reminds me of being like back

in 18 or 19 in my 
teacher training. So awesome.

Great for heartburn, 
great for balancing out acidity

in the stomach, 
super awesome for bloating,

for gas, who doesn't want
to tend to that, am I right?

And yeah, smells 
really good as well.

Alright, next we have cinnamon

and we have a whole cinnamon
stick here, so not the powder,

and cinnamon has so 
many wonderful qualities,

again, really great for 
digestion, it's very warming,

so it's soothing for 
the respiratory system.

If you've ever 
wondered about the benefits

of cinnamon, look it up, 
because there are so many

studies that show 
that cinnamon has helped

just with balancing blood sugar,

has helped reduce 
symptoms of diabetes,

heart disease, like so 
much stuff so check it out.

And we're gonna go 
with a whole cinnamon stick

to also provide a little 
bit of flavor for our tea.

Alright, next up 
we have ginger root.

And ginger root is 
really like the MVP in Ayurveda.

Has so many wonderful benefits,

great for all systems go,

really wonderful 
for digestion as well.

This one in particular, 
great for joints,

arthritic pain, also 
really great for us gals,

so just a slice of ginger 
in a cup of warm water's

super awesome when 
you're suffering from cramps.

And yeah, ginger root 
is like the queen bee here.

Alright, last but not 
least we have our black tea.

This is the ingredient 
that really just brings it all

together, synergizes 
all the other ingredients.

It can be really good 
for focus and concentration,

for some, not all, 
because it is caffeinated,

and of course you can 
gage how much caffeine

you want by the 
amount of time in which

you choose to 
steep it in your pot.

Alright, the next few 
steps are super simple.

You're gonna want 
to boil some water.

So I have some boiling 
water on the stove already.

And while that is happening,

you're gonna wanna do 
three more simple steps

before you throw 
everything in your pot.

Okay, so the first one is, 
you're gonna want to make

your tea with 
love in your heart.

So even if you're 
not really feeling love,

we're just gonna 
take a quiet moment

to take a deep breath in, 
inhale lots of love in.

Feels good, and then 
just exhale lots of love out.

Check, sweet. 
Alright, the next thing is,

for the cardamom pods, 
you're gonna wanna split

your pods. Never 
thought I'd say that.

So you're gonna take a knife,
take the pod, take a knife.

And rather than using the
sharp knife to cut your pod,

you're just gonna take 
the flat edge of the knife,

or the flat side of the 
knife, put it on the pod,

bring the opposite hand on top,

and then just press down,
almost like we do with garlic.

'Til it pops or splits, 
a little or a lot.

And then I prepped 
some cardamom seeds here,

pods open and as you can see

they kind of have fallen apart

and that's great because were
gonna strain them out later.

So those are ready to go.

The last thing you 
wanna do is slice your ginger,

and I just want to 
point out that you do not

have to peel the ginger,

because we're gonna 
strain everything out anyway.

So you just slice 
your fresh ginger,

and then it's ready to go.

Alrighty, so now we're 
ready to make our tea.

We have a boiling pot of water,

I put two quarts water in here,

but you can do 
different things based on

how much tea you want to make.

I like to make a big batch,

it really fills the whole house
up with a wonderful smell,

and then you can save it

because you can 
enjoy this tea hot or cold.

So we have our boiling H2O here,

the first ingredient 
I'm gonna drop in

are my peppercorns, about 
20 of these for this batch,

you don't have to be 
super specific unless

you really want to, 
but around 20.

Just drop them in and 
watch them dance. It's cool.

Next up we have our whole clove.

So for the clove about 
15, again, doesn't have to be

super specific in my opinion.

But just around 15, and you
can watch them dance as well.

Next up we have our cinnamon,

depending on how 
much cinnamon you like,

you can do three to five sticks.

So we're doing three 
today, just one, two, three.

Dropping the whole stick in.

And then finally, our 
glorious cardamom seeds.

They've been split so 
they're nice and loose,

and we're just gonna drop
those in and watch them dance.

And about 20 of those.

Alright, next up we 
have our fresh ginger,

about eight slices here.

Again, you can amp up the
ginger or tone down the ginger,

based on what you like.

I like a lot of 
ginger, personally.

Like to get the healing 
effects that ginger,

in my stomach, so great.

And then we just kind of let
this go for a couple minutes,

it's already starting 
to turn a different color.

And dance, you definitely 
want to keep it rolling.

The boil, rolling. Just 
for a couple of minutes.

And it's already 
starting to smell super awesome

and amazing, really great.

Alright, after you've allowed
these ingredients to come

and dance 
together for a little bit,

you're ready to add your tea.

As I said before, 
I have a tea bag here,

but you can use loose tea.

You're just gonna 
drop that puppy in.

And you can take a 
little spoon, if you want,

and just kind of 
move it around. And stir.

Alright, ah, and it 
already looks so beautiful.

Alright, after 
you've stirred it,

we'll put a lid on it, 
and we'll let it brew

for 30 minutes, at least,

you can you also turn 
the heat down a little bit,

and walk away and 
just enjoy the smell

and really you can let it 
go for two to three hours,

it's really nice.

But you just want to be 
careful about your caffeine

level, if that's something 
you're concerned about.

So we're gonna let 
this brew for 30 minutes,

then come back and strain it.

Alright, so it's 
been about 30 minutes,

I have my strainer here.

You wanna make sure you 
have a strainer that is small

enough to catch everything.

And I'm just 
gonna slowly pour my tea

over the strainer 
into another pot,

or if you have a 
pitcher that works,

you can do that as well.

I'm just gonna 
pour a fair amount in.

Smells so awesome.

And then slowly take this back.

If you have anything 
extra, I like to bottle it up,

or I like to give it away as
presents too, for friends,

just little jars.

And then I just take this out,

and whatever you 
caught in the strainer,

you take over to 
the sink, and yes.

This is amazing, our yogi tea.

Okie doke, so let's try our tea.

I'm gonna ladle it into my mug,

since I have it in a pot here.

But sometimes I'll pour it
into something over the sink,

even a big mason jars is nice.

Has beautiful color, 
oh my gosh, yes.

So we used to drink this in
between my teacher trainings

and I think this came over
into America via Yogi Bhajan

in the late 60's, who 
served it to his students.

His American 
students here.

Smells amazing.

So typically, we drink 
the yogi tea either as is,

or you can sweeten 
it with a little honey.

So I'm gonna put a 
little honey in mine.

And then you would also 
add a little bit of milk.

So you can add regular milk, 
you can add soy milk,

I use almond milk.

But it just really helps

kind of keep it 
nice and smooth.

We're gonna do a 
little bit of honey here.

Stir it around.

And I'm using local honey
because I live in Austin, Texas

and that's just 
the smart thing to do

'cause it's good 
for your allergies.

And then once all the 
honey has come off the spoon,

you'll add your milk.

And I will just 
drink this all day,

and it's a great substitute
for coffee or other things

that you might drink 
to keep your energy up.

So beautiful.

Yeah, really went for the milk.

And then one last little stir

and one last little 
inhale and exhale of love.

Alright, and there we have it.

Made with love, 
a traditional yogi tea.

Let's give it a taste.

It really is so good and it
really does take me way back,

so sweet.

Alright, from my 
heart to yours, namaste.

Enjoy your yogi tea, leave
questions, comments below.

Let me know how it goes

and let's stay connected,
take care my friends, namaste.

(upbeat music)