Beverages & Cocktails | A Taste of Morning

It is cool and dreary here today in Manhattan, Kansas – the kind of day that makes a person want to stay inside and curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. So, I made some Masala Spice Tea. Hmm, wonderful!

Masala (Chai) Spice Blend

7 T. granulated sugar

2 1/2 t. ground cinnamon

2 t. ground ginger

2 t. ground cardamom

2 t. ground cloves

1/2 t. ground allspice

1/2 t. ground nutmeg

1/2 t. ground black pepper, optional*

Combine sugar and spices in a 3/4-cup glass jar. Close the lid and shake the jar until ingredients are well blended. Store at cool room temperature.

Suggested Uses: sprinkle on top of buttered toast, or on top of muffins or coffee cakes before baking; use instead of sugar in Chantilly Cream, coffee, tea, hot cocoa, or hot cider.

* The black pepper yields a hot flavor that works well in coffee, tea and hot cocoa; but I omit it for use in baked goods, hot cider and Chantilly Cream. If you are not used to hot flavor in your beverages, the pepper might become an acquired taste.

To make Masala (Chai) Spice Tea

2 c. water

2 T. + 2 t. Masala (Chai) Spice Blend

2 T. + 2 t. Assam or Darjeeling black tea, Jasmine green tea, or Honeybush herbal tea

2 c. milk, almond milk, or soy milk

Bring water to a boil in a medium pot. Add spice blend and tea leaves. (It your tea is bagged, leave it in the bags because the crushed tea is more difficult to strain.) Stir in milk, almond milk, or soy milk. Simmer gently for 5 minutes. Strain tea into a warmed pot and then strain again into warmed tea cups. Enjoy!

More on this week’s photo challenge …

In addition to this blog, I write a monthly e-newsletter for the bed & breakfast called The Morning Star Update. For the November issue, on which I am currently working, I am planning on featuring a cocktail that people could serve before Thanksgiving dinner – that is, if they eat their holiday supper late in the day. At this time, I am leaning toward using Blood and Sand, a cocktail named after the Rudolph Valentino silent film from 1922. ( In the film, Valentino played a Spanish matador undone by fame, a woman – Rita Hayworth – and booze.) A classic cocktail from the 1930’s and 40’s, Blood and Sand is nevertheless one of the rare cocktails made with Scotch. It is heavy and fruity, but not overly sweet, and is typically a medium caramel brown color, though it can lean toward orange or red. If you have a favorite cocktail that you would like to recommend for celebrating the holidays, I’d love to hear about it. In the meantime, if you try a Blood and Sand, enjoy, let me know what you think of it … and of course, unlike Valentino’s matador, drink responsibly.

Blood and Sand

3/4 oz. Scotch

3/4 oz. Heering Cherry Liqueur or Grand Marnier Cherry Liqueur

3/4 oz. Sweet Vermouth, preferably Vya

3/4 oz. Fresh-squeezed orange juice

Fill a cocktail shaker with crushed ice. Add ingredients. Shake well. Strain into a cocktail glass.

Notes: Cheap cherry brandies and vermouth can make this drink taste like cough syrup. Use good quality alcohol. Fresh-squeezed orange juice tends to have more of a tart taste than does bottled orange juice and so helps cut the sweetness of the vermouth and cherry liqueur. Fresh-squeezed blood orange juice can be substituted.