Po Chai

Note: It's complicated and serves 6-8

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk

• 1/3 cup lemon juice

• 3 oz Taktser

• 1 cup Rye Whiskey

• 1/3 cup sugar

• 2.25 cups water

• 1 tablespoon black tea

• 1 star anise

• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, diced

• 5 cardamom pods

• 1 tablespoon fennel

• 1 cinnamon stick

• 3-5 cloves

• Optional Spices (coriander, black pepper, go crazy!)

• Garnish with citrus peel

Instructions:

1. Combine spices, black tea, and fresh ginger with the 2.25 cups of water in a sauce pan and bring to boil

2. Once water comes to boil. Take the mixture off of the heat and let it settle

3. Strain the cooled tea mixture into a pitcher, it should be roughly 2 cups

4. In the pitcher with the tea add in the lemon juice, Taktser, Rye Whiskey and sugar then mix until the sugar is dissolved

5. Add milk and mix gently. Curds should form at the top

6. Pour the mixture gently into a strainer with a cheese cloth

7. Pour the strained mixture into a coffee filter (now it's ready to serve)

8. Pour 4 oz chilled into a coupe glass

9. Garnish with a citrus peel

Ever hear of bullet proof coffee? The idea was inspired by the Tibetan drink Po Cha which is a heavily churned mixture of yak butter, salt, and black tea (sometimes brewed for half a day). It’s a common Tibetan morning beverage and probably the most popular drink known outside of Tibet. However, as a tribute to Dharamshala where many Tibetans live today with many Indians, we’ve created a hybrid of the Indian chai and the Tibetan po cha.