This is a staple in the yogi's armamentarium of health producing foods. It is tasty, energizing and cleansing. It acts as a gentle tonic for your entire system. It provides a gradual stimulation without the letdown that stimulants leave you with.
     One of the pleasant memories members of 3HO (Healthy, Happy and Holy organization) share is their first cup of well - prepared yogi tea after a vigorous workout in kundalini yoga.
     The uses of this precious formula are many. In the yoga tradition, Monday is a good day to increase the cleansing fluids in your body. Many people will use Monday as a liquid fast day. Then yogi tea or juices are used exclusively for a good systemic flush. People interested in a more powerful cleansing with the tonic use it periodically for a three day fast. Each day they will consume 8 to 24 cups. Because of its immediate energizing effect it is often used as a substitute to ease someone off of caffeine, coffee, cigarettes and even drug habits. It has tremendous effectiveness in warding off colds, lowering respiratory infections and fighting off the effects of flu. On the positive side it was often taken by women before sexual contact and by men afterwards, since it balances the flow of that creative energy in the body.
     In Ayurvedic medicine each food is thought of in terms of the qualities it blends. Each food is potentially medicinal or harmful depending on those qualities. If a food is universally health producing and neutral in the balance of qualities so it can be used by anyone, then it is tridosha - it combines all three major qualities. This is true of the components and proportions of them in yogi tea.
     Mostly yogi tea is taken because it tastes good and makes you feel good. It is a ubiquitous part of the yoga lifestyle. It is a medicinal and gastronomic blessing, which we share often. Yogi Bhajan has said the key to happiness is to sweat, laugh and drink Yogi Tea everyday. 

  Ingredients:
  16 sticks of cinnamon [the 3" long kind]
  1 heaping TBSP of black peppercorns
  2 level tsp of whole cloves
  3 level TBSP of green cardamom pods, or decorticated cardamom seeds
  2 2/3 cups of fresh ginger, chopped small
  A small palm-full of black tea like English Breakfast, or jasmine, or 6 tea bags

Recipe:
Bring 2 gallons + 1 quart of water to a boil in a stainless steel pot.
When at boil, put in the cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns, and ginger.  The mixture will stop boiling.  Keep the heat on high until it boils again and then lower the heat to a very slow rolling boil and cover the pot. Boil for 1¼ to 1½ hours.  Remove from the flame and let the tea sit for 1½ hours at least, but not more than 3 hours. Strain the spices out. Bring back to boil and throw in the tea leaves. Let steep for 2 minutes. Strain the tea leaves out.

This beautiful yogi tea liquid, called “raw” yogi tea, is them mixed to taste with whole raw milk. Use a ratio of 50% tea, 50% milk, but some of you may like it stronger. This recipe, though, creates a more potent raw tea than other recipes, so you may find diluting it 50/50 is fine indeed.   After adding milk, bring the mixed tea back up to a near boil.  Sweeten with honey.  Use 1/3 cup honey per gallon of mixed Yogi tea. For a special touch, add 1-2 tsp of vanilla extract per gallon of mixed tea.

The raw Yogi tea will last 2 weeks in the refrigerator, but once it is mixed, it has a life equal to that of milk, so mix only what you'll use in the next few days. Yogi tea without milk is not really yogi tea. The milk aids assimilation and digestion. Herb tea may not be substituted for the black tea. In this combination and with the small amount it is a balanced chemical action. Below is more information on the ingredients if you want to understand more fully why Yogi Tea is so good for your health.

THE INGREDIENTS