I first made this ginger milk tea 5 years ago, shortly after starting my blog, during what seemed like a long and endless winter. I had been feeling a bit under the weather and had a half pound of ginger just sitting on the kitchen counter, waiting for the cooking that I was too weary to do.

Then I remembered ginger's medicinal uses that my mom had always touted. Since ginger supposedly rids your body of "heat" and wards off colds, the Chinese make liberal use of ginger in soups, especially in the winter. And a quick Google search brought me to this Gourmet recipe for a frothy ginger milk tea. Which I eagerly made in my trusty blender and thoroughly enjoyed as the winds howled outside.

In an ideal world, I would have made this ginger milk tea on a regular basis over the last five years. I mean, who wouldn't want ginger milk tea from fall through early spring? But in truth, it became a once-a-season thing. Since making the milk tea involved blending hot liquids in a blender, many days it was easier to just make plain ol' cup of steeped tea.

But lately I've been feeling like a hot milk tea with the bracing flavor of ginger. Spring weather is taking its sweet time to come, and yesterday it even snowed again. So I made an easier version of ginger milk tea that involves no frothing in the blender, and adding some honey as a sweetener instead of sugar. And it tasted equally as delicious and comforting, without the extra clean-up afterwards.

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Ginger Milk Tea

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 cups water

2 tablespoons freshly grated ginger

2 bags strong black tea (I like Assam or English Breakfast blends)

2 tablespoons honey, or adjusted to taste

1/2 cup milk

Instructions

In a small pot, bring the water and grated ginger to a boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the tea bags to steep. Let stand for another 3 minutes. Strain the ginger tea through a fine mesh strainer. Divide the ginger tea into two mugs (12 ounces or larger) and stir in 1 tablespoon of honey in each, or adjusted to suit your taste. Top off with milk and serve.

Recipe first posted Jan 23, 2008. Updated March 25, 2013. Adapted quite a bit from Gourmet.