While you can make this tea with just chicory root, if you have chaga it is a nice combination. Chaga is a mushroom that grows on birch trees in northern latitudes. You may not find it locally–I order online (from Optimally Organic). It was used traditionally as a medicinal tea for general well-being/immune system support and longevity and is very high in anti-oxidants as measured by ORAC. It does not contain caffeine. Be sure to get wild-crafted Chaga that was harvested from birch trees growing in northern Canada. The best part is that Chaga tea tastes good and you could just have it alone!
Roasted chicory root has a long history of being used as a coffee substitute; it makes this tea stronger and blacker with a bitter component that is similar to coffee. Another bitter root to combine with chicory is burdock root which is one of my favorites as a coffee substitute–I use about 3/4 tsp. organic, dried and cut burdock root to 1 tsp. chicory root.
There are lots of options for what you may want to add for flavor and medicinal value–cinnamon, cardamom, licorice root, burdock root, anise seed, fennel seed, dried and ground organic orange rind, vanilla, cocoa powder. I usually also add a tablespoon of collagen powder (Great Lakes) and I like to add raw cocoa powder sometimes for ” hot chocolate”. But these are optional ingredients. The coconut milk makes it rich and gives it body. This drink will remain “low carb” if you avoid adding any form of concentrated sugar to it and use stevia or monk fruit instead.
One other note, if you prefer to use coconut oil instead of milk, you can get this to emulsify in your tea by adding lecithin also and then blending with an immersion blender (it doesn’t froth up unless you blend it). Lecithin powder made from organic sunflower seeds is now available online and may be in your health food store; this is the best type of lecithin to use as I don’t like the ones made from soy. If you don’t use the lecithin, the oil will pool on the top of your tea.
1 tsp. dried Chaga granules
1/2 tsp. organic orange peel granules (optional)
1/2 tsp. dried burdock root or dandelion root (optional)
1 tsp. roasted chicory root granules
2 cups boiling water
stevia extract or monk fruit powder to sweeten to taste if desired
1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 cup classic coconut milk (from dry coconut milk powder or Native forest organic in a can) OR 1 Tbsp of coconut oil and 1 tsp. of lecithin
Optional: 2 Tbsp. Great Lakes Collagen powder and 1 tsp. cocoa powder
Place chaga (or other herb tea) and chicory in a quart-sized glass mason jar. Add the boiling water (be sure a spoon is in the jar so it doesn’t crack). Cap the jar and let sit for at least 15 minutes to extract. Now if you want your tea very warm strain it into a pan and add the coconut milk and warm it until it just simmer before pouring into a mug and adding the rest of the ingredients. Otherwise, strain the tea into a mug and add the rest of the ingredients.
If you use coconut oil and lecithin instead of coconut milk, add these two ingredients when the strained tea is in the pan. Add your other ingredients and use an immersion blender to froth this mixture up. Warm it up if desired by bringing just to a simmer. Drink warm.
