Everyone’s cup of tea!
I have always been a huge tea addict. And, before turning vegan, I’d invariably had tea made of animal milk. So, when I took up the vegan lifestyle, tea was one of the challenging aspects. Today, I am aware of a few amazing options for vegan tea (including one that totally resembles the taste of animal milk tea). But, 2.5 years ago, I didn’t know as much. One thing I knew for sure was that, no matter what, I should not – and will not – contribute to the rape and torture of cows. So, I experimented with lemon tea, herbal tea, masala tea, tea made from soy mylk, etc. I warmed up to these vegan tea options so well and so quickly that within a month of turning vegan, tea became a non-issue. I’ve never had any craving of animal milk tea since then (even when someone drinks it right in front of me).
Today, a tea loving new (or aspiring) vegan’s life is actually even easier! For those of you who want the taste of animal milk tea, but not the cruelty involved in it, here’s a magical solution! It’s been tried and (successfully) tested on a number of non-vegan guests in my house. In fact, after drinking this vegan tea twice a day for three days, an aunt of mine hesitantly asked me if we had to buy cow’s milk just for their tea! 🙂
The secret mylk of this tea is cashew+almond mylk – mixed in equal quantities. Very simple, very effective!
Recipe for making the cashew-almond tea:
- To make cashew-almond mylk, soak equal quantity of cashews and almonds overnight (in different bowls). Blend them in the morning with water, sieve with a fine cloth. (Sieving is only necessary to make tea, for any other recipes with cashew or almond mylk, it’s optional.) This mylk can stay for 3-4 days in the refrigerator.
- Warm cashew-almond mylk if taken out of refrigerator.
- Boil water with sugar, tea leaves, masaala (optional), ginger(optional) and anything more that you usually like to add in your tea.
- Add the cashew-almond mylk to it and keep stirring with spoon continuously for half a minute. Stirring is very crucial else the mylk might separate.
- Sieve, pour it in a cup and serve hot!
In case you want to make tea for some unannounced guests, here’s a way. Soak cashews and almonds saperately. Drain water completely and freeze them in two different airtight containers. So when the guests arive, all you need to do is blend them in equal quantity, sieve and prepare tea!
Other vegan tea options
Some people use just cashew mylk (Here’s a recipe video) or soy mylk for their tea, and that too works fine. There are many options without them too: lemon tea, herbal tea, lemon-grass tea, green tea, tulsi tea, amla tea. You could add different herbs like ginger, mint, tulsi, cinnamon, cardamom and mint.
Cost: NOT a concern
Home-made cashew-almond mylk roughly costs around Rs. 70 per liter for me. The cost obviously varies according to the prices of cashews and almonds purchased. Considering one cup tea consists of half a cup of mylk (around 100ml), a cup of this tea costs Rs. 7. Given the prevalent rates of animal milk tea, and the fact that the cashew-almond tea is a much healthier option containing no cholesterol or contaminants that animal milk has, I believe it is perfectly reasonable and totally worthwhile. Plus, don’t forget the amazing mylk-free vegan tea options mentioned above. They are extremely cost-effective and equally stimulating!
Posted on September 5, 2013, in Recipes, Recipes, Vegans speak and tagged almond milk, cashew milk, vegan tea. Bookmark the permalink. 5 Comments.
Hyderabad Vegans 
I completely forgot about the use of ‘mylk’ to describe the wonderful creamy substance produced by almonds and water! Great post.
I think in market they also have almond milk available now-a-days which I think is actually good ( I don’t drink tea or coffee in general, so can’t say much about taste ) for tea.
your site is excellent. I have just started being vegan since two months. but cant find replacement for coffee milk. Im vegetarian , hence only need to do away with dairy. but since i have cholesterol and pre diabetic, is consuming cashew ok.
Hi Kausaliya,
Have you tried soy milk or cashew milk for coffee? It’s excellent.
Cashews have no cholesterol whatsoever. The fact is that cholesterol is made by the liver, and since plants don’t have liver, no plant food (including cashews) contains cholesterol. Cholesterol is solely found in animal foods. Of course, human liver too produces cholesterol upon the consumption of junk foods and saturated-fat-rich unhealthy foods. However, the majority of fat in cashews in unsaturated. So unless you eat cashews in exceedingly large quantities, you are perfectly safe! Plus, animal milk (like eggs and meat) deals a double cholesterol blow: Not only does it contain a lot of cholesterol; animal milk also make our body generate a huge amount of it, because all animal products are very high in saturated fat too (containing zero fibre).
Thanks for your views Sejal. ill try cashew milk. I have been asked to avoid soy due to high protein content and was interfering with my menopause
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