Special Chai

Hi everybody,
I am not yet very creative in the kitchen to come up with my own recipes, so I like to share some of my favorite ones that I am using from cookbooks or from recipes online.
This time of the year, the fall, brings here in Canada already some colder weather. We had our first-night frost a few weeks ago. For me, it is the time of year to make some tasty warm beverages. I do drink a lot of rooibos tea already, but the next recipe is a treat that I make at the weekends. It is a non-caffeinated version of Chai, and it is a recipe from the book “Flavors of Health” by Dr. Ed Bauman and Chef Lizette Marx. I met them at a natural nutrition conference a few years ago in Tucson and bought their cookbook. It has a wealth of healthy and nutritious recipes.
The ingredients are:

1 cup of water
8 green cardamom pods
6 whole black peppercorns
2 ¼ inch or 5-6 cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and diced
1 cinnamon stick
2 whole cloves
1-star anise pod (I actually like the flavor of star anise and add a few more)
2 cups of almond milk or coconut milk
1 tablespoon of maple syrup
2 tablespoons of rooibos tea or 2 rooibos tea bags

Directions:
Put the water and the spices in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduced the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes.
Add the milk and maple syrup and heat to a strong simmer. Do not allow to boil.
Add the tea and turn off the heat. Allow to steep for about 5 minutes or longer if you like to have a stronger rooibos taste.
Pour the chai through a strainer.
You can keep the spices and have them in the refrigerator for a few days and re-use them again for another special Chai.

Serves: 2

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/20811145-flavors-of-health-cookbook