Warm Up Winter Party w/Spicy Lemon Drink

This is a subtle flavor, that isn’t sweet like restaurant lemonade. There is little sweetness but it is amazingly refreshing and it feels so healing. Instead of warming up your winter party with traditional cold weather beverages such as hot chocolate or coffee, try this nutritious lemon infusion.  Infusions are also a pleasant change from sodas, juices, and bottled waters. This is not only a great recipe for warming up the body but it has Tumeric with its vast healing properties.

Spicy Lemon Infusio

3 cups boiling water

Juice of 1 fresh squeezed lemon

1/2 teaspoon Tumeric powder

1/8 of teaspoon of sea salt

1/8 of teaspoon of red chili powder

1/8 of teaspoon of raw cane sugar or preferred sweetener

Serves 2

For a flavorful twist use a lime in place of the lemon; it is wonderful, too. It is so easy to make. Just as in cooking, this is an easy recipe to find other inspirations in the spice cupboard, perhaps add a little red cayenne pepper, if you prefer a bit hotter.

Note: Infusions are made by pouring boiling water over dried tea leaves or herbs, allowing the tea leaves or herbs to steep for 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

The decoction method is prepared by adding dried tea leaves or herbs to cold water and then bringing it to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Decoction is used to extract specific nutrients from bark stems and roots particularly but in some cases some herbs are better when they are simmered rather than steeped. Dandelion Root for example, when simmered creates a beverage similar to the pleasant taste of coffee. To extract the copper and iron found in Red Clover or to release the silica in Oatstraw, the water needs to be kept just below the boiling point.