Five Favorite Beverages

Yea! An easy one!!! Or at least one I don't need to think too much about it. Unfortunately, it is perhaps not as interesting to the readers...oh well. Blame the challenge! *laughs*

Chai
Literally meaning "mixed-spiced tea", there are TONS of ways that chai can be made. I don't like a heavy cardamom flavor, like Panera Bread's version. My favorite chai drink when I was pregnant was a blended frozen chai made at Borders Books. Sadly, that isn't available anymore. Mystic Chai is a close match, but also hard to get without special-ordering. So...I have broken down and started experimenting with my own concoctions. My current recipe is:

Pixie's Chai Mix
* 1 cup nonfat dry milk powder
* 1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
* 1 cup French vanilla flavored powdered non-dairy creamer
* 2 1/2 cups white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups unsweetened instant tea
* 2 teaspoons ground ginger
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* 1 teaspoon ground cloves
* 1 teaspoon ground cardamom

In a large bowl, combine milk powder, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavored creamer, sugar and instant tea. Stir in ginger, cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. In a blender or food processor, blend 1 cup at a time, until mixture is the consistency of fine powder.
To serve: Stir 2 heaping tablespoons Chai tea mixture into a mug of hot water or warm milk.

In December, I needed a 5-gallon bucket to mix the batch I was making! Beloved pointed out that Thai Iced Tea should be on my list, but I'm going to argue that it is a form of spiced tea...


Mint shakes
Shamrock Shake, Arctic Rush Freeze, Frozen Grasshopper...I like them all! Basically it is a slushy ice cream drink with mint flavoring, and it makes me happy.

Classic Coca-Cola
Yes, the stuff that was originally made with cocaine and supposedly can dissolve steel nails (so can water). Can't beat the real thing.

Meade
It isn't often that I drink alcohol, but meade is made from honey, and I have a sweet spot for honey. :-P

Cranberry juice
I don't *always* go for the super-sweet stuff! Sometimes I crave the tart cranberry juice. Straight and on the rocks, please!