Ginger Tea

Ingredients

• 1 cup fresh ginger, sliced (washed well, but no need to peel it)
• 1 tablespoon whole black peppercorn
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whole black cardamom seeds (can be found at indian grocery store inexpensively)
• 1/2 teaspoon clove (don't overdo cloves)
• 4 cinnamon sticks

Recipe

• 1 put into pot wth a gallon of water.
• 2 bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
• 3 turn off heat, add two black teabags (yes, with caffeine, it is needed to provide a catalyst for the other ingredients). steep for ten minutes with the tea, then remove teabags and continue steeping another 20 minutes.
• 4 strain.
• 5 add water to bring volume back to one gallon.
• 6 store in pitchers in refrigerator.
• 7 can freeze portions that won't be used in a week.
• 8 to serve, for each cup of tea, add a few ounces of milk, rice dream or soy milk, heat up to almost boiling.
• 9 note: it is important to add this last ingredient to coat the stomach to protect from possible irritation from the pepper.
• 10 this recipe has the benefits of improving circulation, reducing fever, calming digestion, stimulating the immune system, etc. taken as a preventative, drastically reduces the incidence of colds, in my personal experience