Vegan Monday: Sudanese Cinnamon Tea
Sudanese Cinnamon Tea
There are so many teas and coffees on the market today its hard to choose which one is good for you. Some tea plantations are grown within habitats that have pushed various species of animal to the brink of extinction. While there are some coffee plantations that state they’re all for the environment, just to later find out they are not. Meanwhile lets be honest, tea is pretty much tea. Some may like it while others hate it, so why not jazz that cuppa up a little with some rather tasty African Sudanese Cinnamon Tea? Its nice, trust me!
My travels all over Africa have always been accompanied with cinnamon sticks and some real Sudan tea leaves, however in this recipe the leaves are English (the best of course - so they say), don’t forget you’ll need tea leaves and NOT tea bags!. I’ve received quite a number of requests on where to locate such herbs, spices, and foods themselves.
Most of the tropical vegan and veggie ingredients can actually be located in your local hypermarket, European, Asian or African wholefood markets. Just Google. These small stalls or markets host a massive range of peculiar ingredients, delicacies and flavors - all of which are mostly meat free. Don’t forget you can also follow us on our main vegan and vegetarian healthy eating Facebook page hereto: VEGAN & VEGETARIAN HEALTHY LIVING.
Ingredients & Recipe
4 cups boiling water
4 teaspoon of loose English tea
4 cinnamon sticks (approx 1/2-inch)
4 lumps of sugar, plus extra (reduce or leave out if required)
sugar
- Place 4 cups of boiling water in a tea pot with the tea & allow to brew for a few minutes then stir.
- Place 1 cinnamon stick & 1 sugar lump in a tea cup & pour the tea slowly over them.
Serve with an additional bowl of sugar lumps for guests to add if they like. (You may also add a cinnamon stick to the tea pot whilst the tea is brewing for a stronger cinnamon flavor).
That’s about as simple as it gets - Sudanese Cinnamon Tea (enjoy), oh, children that hate tea will absolutely enjoy this. Please don’t add milk, traditional Sudanese Tea does not require milk. You may be asking why not add milk?
Over twenty years ago my Grandmother who was a regular visitor to the continent of Africa once gave me [pure black tea] from from tea leaves grown on the continent of Central Africa. The reason for giving me black tea was due to recurring tonsillitis. My Grandmother always stated that drinking black tea would help cure tonsillitis. As a Doctor I now know why this is.
The tannins found in black tea have antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties which will help to cure tonsillitis very quickly. Wonderful.
Plants containing tannins have astringent, hemostatic, antiseptic and toning properties. The tannins have the property of coagulate proteins and mucosal tissues, by creating an insulating and protective layer that soothes irritation and pain on the skin. I.e the throat! Herbal preparations containing tannins are used for stop local small hemorrhages, sore mouth, bronchitis, burns, scars of the skin, wounds and many others. They are also used to contain diarrhea.
Some people with digestive difficulties may have some intolerance to tannins, so they should be administered with caution in these cases and tannin-containing plants should not be consumed for long periods since they inhibit the absorption of some vitamins and minerals. These properties of precipitating the complex compounds are used in industry for the production of wines, beers, for tanning leather, making dyes and as a mordant in the textile industry. Tannins are considered antioxidants and ‘are alleged’ to prevent the onset of degenerative diseases such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. Please note there is no real hard hitting medical evidence to back tannins and cancer claims up.
Have a nice week.
Dr Jose C. Depre. PhD. MEnvSc. BSc(Hons) Botany, PhD(NeuroSci) D.V.M.
Environmental, Botanical & Human Science
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