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While tea in Ghana is best served with some heavy bread, the kind you can use as floaters in a swimming pool, and an omelette with all the vegetable fixings, there are other ways to enjoy tea.
I am sure the funeral Jollof Gestapo would be wringing their fingers at me and shouting, “Blasphemy!”
Okay-okay, we can all agree that funeral jollof is absolute bae. For some of us if we had to choose between funeral jollof and liberty we would help the blacksmith smelt the shackles and the cell block. But I digress.
Some folks like their breakfast heavy; some red-red or some hot tuo-zafi before hustling in the hot Ghana sun. Yes, that heavy something to give you a kick. Variety as they say is the spice of life. As for us, we love all the variety we can get. That is why we play musical chairs with our breakfast. Especially when we are brewing tea.
Simmering hot and heavy with the smell of the morning, this is how we like our tea leaves. *Pauses to breathe in the aroma of goodness*. While tea in Ghana is best served with some heavy bread, the kind you can use as floaters in a swimming pool, and an omelette with all the vegetable fixings, there are other ways to enjoy tea.
Here are 8 easy to get add-ons that’ll spice up your next cup of tea.
Ginger
Look, apart from the fact that ginger is absolutely divine in tea it is also greatly medicinal. Morning sickness? Weight loss? Looking to lower blood sugar? Just wash some ginger and drop it in your cup of tea and feel the spice.
Basil Leaf (Akuko Besa)
Our mothers and their mothers absolutely loved this green herb. Its flavourful properties were best used by adding a few leaves to some Sunday-after-Church chicken ground nut soup. This sweet-smelling herb definitely shows you the power and the glory with some omotuo. However, basil leaf in tea is a less known killer combination that will have you heating all the water Ghana Water decided to flow through your taps. In the night. While you were sleeping.
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Cloves
Easily found in any local market, cloves are like anti-oxidants on some energy drinks. They add a clean flavour to tea while also removing free radicals, which damage cells and can lead to disease. If you want to reduce your risk of developing heart disease or diabetes then cloves are just the right then for you.
Spearmint
This pleasant sweet-tasting herb goes perfectly with your tea. Just two leaves and the aroma will have you swooning. It is known for not only aiding in digestive upsets but also increasing female hormones necessary for ovulation.
Cinnamon
Dropping half a teaspoon of cinnamon in your tea is enough to do the trick. Another spice rich in antioxidants, cinnamon helps in treating fungal infections and lowering the effects of high-fat meals. For a self-pronounced ruminant like me, cinnamon tea is one of my favourites.
Aidan Fruit (Prekese)
This is the King Kong plant in fighting heart diseases. Its hard bark when put in tea may give you an acquired taste but its health benefits are awesome for your heart and blood vessels.
Negro Pepper (Hwentia)
Popularly used in porridges, this spice is heavily medicinal. When used sparsely it gives a nutmeg-like taste. If you have asthma, bronchitis or rheumatism, a cup of tea with Negro Pepper will have you well on your way towards good health.
Lemon
The OG citrus fruit just entered the building. A slice of this fruit in your tea lowers your risk of cancer, diabetes as well as osteoarthritis. Substituting sugar with honey makes your tea a body cleanser. Your kidneys and your liver will prostrate themselves and thank you. Mo! You’ve done well.
