Goji Berry Chai Tea: My Morning Brew. (And Routine)

Even variety-hungry foodies have a few standby favorite recipes that get used almost everyday. Here is one of mine.

Morning Brew. Coffee-free. On a groggy morning (actually, any morning) I have a few favorite wake-up recipes. My favorite hot beverage is my Goji Berry Chai Tea. It's a delicious combination of soy milk, chai tea, goji berries, agave syrup and spices. It wakes me up and keeps me feeling energized through the morning. Pair it with a ginger green tea muffin and I am set!

Click ahead as I share my morning brew recipe (and morning routine) with you...

My Morning Routine

After rising I always head straight to the kitchen (just a few steps away - this is a NYC apartment remember) and I pour myself a sip of what I like to refer to as morning energy juice. Or just energy juice. If I have a lot of energy already, I will juice something myself in my Super Angel juicer. But usually, I grab a swig of fresh Acai juice. Or similar juice. Pomegranate, apple-ginger, grapefruit, lemon-green-apple, green-ginger, orange, kumquat-mandarin or pear lemonade juices are a few other favorites I drink in the morning. I love strong flavors like lemon, ginger, cayenne and citrus in the morning when I am feeling a bit groggy.

If I am super dehydrated I will chug some coconut water first. But I usually only drink straight-from-the-coconut coconut water first thing in the morning. The boxed stuff I drink later in the day.

*I always like to fill my body with fresh live enzymes first thing in the morning. It wakes up my digestive system up, and makes me feel alive all day.*

Then a bit later in my routine I will make a warm mug of my Goji Berry Chai tea. I pair it with something yummy. A muffin, vegan-morning-muffin, nuts, more fruit or cereal.

Here is the simple recipe for my tea:

Goji Berry Chai Tea
vegan, serves one

1 large mug
½ mug chai concentrate, pre-sweetened
½ mug soy milk
3 tablespoon water
cayenne
cinnamon
1 tablespoon dried Goji berries
optional 1 chai tea bag (black or green tea)
optional agave syrup

Procedure:
takes about 5 minutes total
Fill mug with about 3 tablespoon water.
Fill mug (almost to the top) with equal parts soy milk and chai concentrate.
Stick in microwave for 2 minutes.
Add 1 sprinkle cayenne.
Add 1-3 sprinkles cinnamon.
Add goji berries.
Stick back in the microwave for thirty seconds.
Add additional tea bag (for more chai kick) and additional sweeteners if needed.
Allow berries and bag to soak for a few minutes. Berries will be soft and inflated when fully soaked.

Drink and enjoy! Add more berries if you'd like, I always add a few more half way through my beverage.

Goji Berry Facts: Super Berry!

My review of Oregon Chai Beverage Concentrate