Chill The Heck Out With A Chamomile Tea Cocktail

It’s already been a rough week — especially for East Coasters.

Source: Reprinted with permission from Dr. Cocktail © 2012 by Alex Ott, Running Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group

2. Tranquili-Tea

INGREDIENTS
To make chamomile tea:
8 ounces water
1 chamomile bag
3 teaspoons sugar

To make the cocktail:
3 1/2 ounces chamomile tea
2 ounces armagnac or cognac (Hennessy or any VS or VSOP)
2 ounces apple cider (or apple juice)
Splash of fresh lemon juice

PREPARATION
To make chamomile tea:
Boil the water in a small saucepan. Once the water boils, add the chamomile tea bag and sugar. Reduce heat and stir. Simmer for 10 minutes. Cool before continuing the recipe.

To make the cocktail:
To serve cold: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously and strain into an ice-filled rocks glass.

To serve hot: Instead of shaking, combine all ingredients in a small sauce pan with a lid and heat slowly. Serve in a tea glass. Garnish with apple slice.

Source: media.tumblr.com

4. How It Helps You Chill Out

The recipe’s author, Alex Ott, is a bartender who developed cocktail programs for glam spots like Buddha Bar in Paris. He’s focused his career on the healing power of natural ingredients and what he calls “prescriptive” drinks. In his new cookbook, Dr. Cocktail, Ott says this drink’s chamomile and armagnac are the main working ingredients. Here’s what they can do for your impending nervy-b:

1. Relax muscles spasms caused by stress.

2. Say “shhhhh” to an overworked mind thanks to apigenin, a chemical in the chamomile that’s kind of like natural valium.

3. Help you fall asleep.

4. Make you stop writhing in misery over a breakup — or at least ancient Romans thought so thanks to chamomile’s compound azulene.

6. Stimulate secretion of digestive juices, which sounds gross, but actually just means “help your tum tum” when you get anxious.

Source: Reprinted with permission from Dr. Cocktail © 2012 by Alex Ott, Running Press, a member of the Perseus Books Group