Drink Tea to Cool Down
One way to cool down in summer is to introduce the spirit of Rasayana in your life. Drinking teas made of seeds or beans and water can help your body to cool down.
Choose your Rasayana tea from a blend of seeds, herbs, even beans!
Your cool down tea could be a blend of Coriander, Cumin and Fennel seeds—known as “CCF” that you cold-brew overnight. In the morning, use a blender to crush the seeds into the water. Strain and drink, sipping occasionally throughout the day. Consider also that Coriander seeds, by themselves make a delicious sipping tea. For more on the spice Coriander (Coriandrum sativum), see
this post.
Cool Down Recipes
Alternatively, your Rasayana tea could be made from Mung Beans. And a third way to cool down is with tea made from herbs of the leaf and flower category! Try Hibiscus and Elderflowers with Pineapple Juice as suggested by author Jennifer McGruther in her book Vibrant Botanicals, reviewed here.
Make CCF Tea:*
First, make a stock blend of seeds–or purchase CCF Tea from an Ayurvedic source.
To make your CCF stock blend, measure out 2 tablespoons of Coriander seeds, 3 tablespoons of Cumin seeds and 3 tablespoons of Fennel seeds. Pour into a small 4 oz jar with tight-fitting lid. Close the lid and shake the dry seeds vigorously. When ready to make an overnight cold-brew, measure out 1 tablespoon of the seed mixture and place in a 1 quart jar. Fill the jar with room temperature, filtered water. Cover with a lid and place in the refrigerator to brew overnight.
In the morning, pour the slurry of water and seeds into a blender and blend the seeds for 2 or 3 seconds. Strain out the seeds and discard. Now your CCF Tea is ready!
*CCF Tea is a tea that helps balance digestion. In cooking, the combination of Coriander seeds, Cumin seeds and Fennel seeds are added to food in place of hot spices which may overload an already over-heated person. The taste of this mix is balanced between the sharp flavor of cumin seeds, anise flavor of fennel seeds and the cooling flavor of coriander seeds.
Coriander Seed Tea:
For the purpose of cooling down in Summer Season, making a tea of just one ingredient may be very beneficial. Rather than a combination of seeds as in CCF Tea, use just one ingredient: Coriander seeds. Used solo, it has the properties and flavors appropriate for a cooling tea.
Add 1 tablespoon of Coriander seeds to 1 quart of room temperature water. Proceed with the cold-brew method and crushing seeds as above for CCF Tea.
The taste of Coriander Tea is light, refreshing, and can help your body manage the stress of a hot day!
Mung Bean Tea
Make Mung Bean Tea! As easily brewed as any seed tea, Mung Beans are a food that might be familiar if you sprout beans or cook with them in Asian recipes. Mung Beans grown in the U.S. easily expand upon being soaked overnight in clear water, and with further soaking yield a lightly-tinted water which tastes refreshing, and is cooling.
Make a Bean Tea Overnight:
Measure out 3 tablespoons of dried mung beans. As usual, you should pick over the beans to make sure your beans are clean of any extraneous leaves, stones, etc. (Just in case!) Pour the beans into a heat-proof quart-sized jar and fill the jar to half-way only with just-boiled water. Allow to rest at least 1-2 hours.
After the 2-hour resting period, pour off and discard the water.
Add fresh, room temperature water to fill the jar. Replace the cover and allow to infuse 8-10 hours or overnight.
In the morning after the overnight infusion, pour your Mung Bean Tea into a large water bottle. Reserve the beans in the original quart jar. Again fill the jar with clear water. Allow to infuse again for 6-8 hours or longer. In early evening, pour out the second Mung Bean Tea into a clean jar. Place in the fridge where it keeps fresh for up to 2 days.
For even more cooling benefits, cook the mung beans and enjoy as part of a meal.
See Divya Alter‘s book What to Eat for How You Feel which focuses on the energetics of food and Ayurvedic principles of eating.
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