Is it tea with milk or milk with tea? It’s milk made with tea! Simple and smooth this beverage is a favorite among raw foodists. The mild taste and calcium it provides also make it a staple of the diet. Whether you’re looking for a healthy beverage or want to bring an unusual treat to your next potluck, try this sesame milk, made with a tea base, and surprise everyone with the flavorful bouquet.
Special equipment:
- Blender
- Nut milk bag or fine mesh strainer
Ingredients:
- 4 cups brewed black tea, chilled (or use pu-erh for a stronger taste)
- 1 cup unhulled sesame seeds
- Honey to taste
Directions:
- Put sesame seeds into a blender or grinder.
- Pulse the seeds, scraping the sides as needed, until they are ground evenly. (If you grind them too long you’ll be making tahini instead. Don’t do that.)
- If using a grinder, transfer seeds to blender.
- Add the chilled black tea to the ground sesame seeds in the blender.
- Put the lid on the blender and blend on high for 30 seconds.
- Strain the mixture in a fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag.
- Taste the mixture. If it needs sweetening, rinse the blender to get the sesame seeds out, put the strained sesame milk back into the blender, add honey and blend until well mixed.
- Transfer your tea sesame milk tea into a glass container and refrigerate.
- Serve chilled.
Tip for straining the milk:
I like to employ the help of gravity so I create an elaborate straining system to do some of the work for me. Okay, I don’t think it’s elaborate but you might. I have a deep bowl and a pasta strainer that fits perfectly around its rim. I set the strainer in the bowl, put the nut milk bag in the strainer and pour the liquid mixture into the bag, pulling the drawstring closed. Make sure the bag fits in the strainer with extra room because the bag will expand when you add the liquid and you don’t want it to hang over the side.
Let the milk drain out of the bag into the bowl below. When the drops aren’t flowing quite as much, squeeze the rest of the sesame milk out of the bag. Twist the top so the mixture doesn’t ooze out of the opening and gently squeeze the bag until you get most of it out.
Using the pulp:
The leftover sesame pulp can be mixed with honey, spread on a solid dehydrator tray and dried into raw crackers. No waste!
