Wild Diversity’s Cozy Drinks | Edited by Chase
It is officially November. If you're familiar with Oregon and the Pacific Northwest, temperatures are dropping. So one way to get ready for the consistent 50 and 40 degree weather is to prepare some nice warm drinks. Luckily, the Wild Diversity team has provided you with recipes for some delicious drinks. We made two versions of Golden Milk, Ginger Spiced Chai, Warm Cider, Peppermint Tea Latte, and three versions of Hot Chocolate. We hope you give it a try! Cheers to a cozy Fall!
Golden Milk by Chase
If this is the first time hearing or reading about “Golden Milk’, don’t worry, you’re not the only one. And if after reading the list of ingredients, that you think that this is some type of bougie drink, you’re sorta right. I mean if you don’t already have some of these ingredients in your pantry, it can be spendy to collect these spices. Lucky for me, my mom had everything besides Cardamom, how ironic. So this could be a great opportunity to ask your neighbor for some sugar and maybe some spices too. Plus, you deserve to treat yourself right for this upcoming cold fall and winter with a delicious alternative warm drink.
Prep Time: 3 min
Cook Time: 10 min
Total Time: 13 min
Prep Ingredients: (1 serving = 12 ounces)
1 cup organic whole milk (preferably unhomogenized) or almond, oat, coconut, hemp milk, etc.
½ cup water
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground turmeric
2 to 3 cardamom pods, cracked, or ⅛ teaspoon ground cardamom
pinch of ground nutmeg
a good grind of black pepper
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger or ½ teaspoon ground ginger
1 tablespoon sugar or honey (my suggestion)
Source: Recipe excerpted from East by West. Copyright © 2017 by Jasmine Hemsley. Published by Bluebird Books, an imprint of Pan Macmillan.
Steps:
Mix spices, water, and milk of choice together in a pot
Bring to boil for 10 minutes
Let cool and serve
My suggestion is to add some sugar or honey because you just do :)
Golden Milk (premade) by Mercy
This is the better option, to be honest. You get to save money and support a woman/BIPOC owned company - Adun Spice Company. For only $15, you get all of the spices. Plus, read the reviews. They speak for themselves.
Included Ingredients:
Organic Turmeric
Organic Vietnamese Cinnamon
Organic Ginger
Organic Black Pepper
Organic Cardamom
Ginger-Spiced Chai (premade) by Chase
This pre-made drink from the Portland-based company Tanglewood was a gift from my boss here at Wild Diversity and I finally was able to take on the challenge to drink it. Long story short, I drank some spoiled milk earlier in the summer, and I have been traumatized by that experience ever since until now. I gotta say, this was a very tasty drink. After taking my first sip, I wanted more. So go give it a try, and go support a local queer, BIPOC, and woman-owned business if you can. Cheers!
Prep Time: Less than 1 min
Cook Time: 5 min
Total Time: 6 min
Ingredients: (1 serving = 8 ounces)
1/2 cup organic whole milk (preferably unhomogenized) or almond, oat, coconut, hemp milk, etc.
½ cup Tanglewood Mix
Steps:
Combine Chai mix and milk of choice together in a pot
Bring to boil
Let cool and serve
Peppermint Tea Latte by Charelle
One of my favorite cozy drinks is a peppermint tea, honey, and rice milk hot drink. A friend of mine whipped it up last winter and it's been a staple in my house since! It’s simple and inexpensive. The best thing is peppermint is easy to find and is almost never out of season and honey and rice milk are always available in the stores. It’s a nice tea latte that isn’t high in caffeine and is great for rainy days and something nice to cozy up with before bed.
Ingredients
1 peppermint tea bag
1 tsp honey
Splash of rice milk (or oat milk)
Boozy Hot Chocolate: Have It Your Way by Kristen
I have never been a Kitchen Top. Namely, I’m not the person in my romantic relationships who gets excited about preparing a meal and feeding people. That’s not the direction in which my creative energy tends to flow. I am most content as a Kitchen Bottom; setting the table, grabbing my partner a glass of water. Or, more accurately on most days, scribbling away in my journal in the other room till breakfast is ready. I promise I contribute to the household in other ways!
All this to say, when I was charged with coming up with a creative, cozy, drink for the cold season, I had nothing. Not a thing. So I asked my partner. Cause being creative with food and food-adjacent things is their jam. They found and tweaked and delighted in the search for recipes. They gathered the ingredients. And then we hung out in our backyard and I took pictures of the ingredients all fancy-like (my creative energy flowing in that direction) and captured the cute outdoor drink making session as the sun set. With that, we present to you, Boozy Hot Chocolate, three ways.
Our tasting notes read something like this: If you’re looking for something incredibly indulgent, think Black Forest Cake, the Red Wine Hot Chocolate is your guy. If you’re looking for something smooth, simple, predictable, we give you Bourbon Hot Chocolate. Think of this as the drink for Earth Signs who just want to feel settled and taken care of (e.g. me). And if you’re looking for something spicy, something to make your eyes go wide, please, make you and yours a cup of this Mezcal Hot Chocolate.
Prep Time: 2 min
Cook Time: 6 min
Total Time: 8 min
Serving Size = 12 ounces
Red Wine Hot Chocolate
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chocolate chunks
3/4 cup red wine
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Bourbon Hot Chocolate
1 cup milk
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1 tbsp maple syrup
1.5 ounces bourbon
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
Mezcal Hot Chocolate
1 cup milk
2 tbsp cocoa powder
1.5 ounces mezcal
1 pinch ground chipotle chile
Steps:
Bring stovetop to medium heat
Mix milk and chocolate (i.e. chunks or powder) together in a pot, till incorporated. For the Bourbon beverage, add the maple syrup as well.
Remove from heat. Add the liquor and final ingredient (i.e. vanilla extract or chipotle chile, depending on your drink of choice).
