Rooibos Cappuccino

I like coffee - like I REALLY like coffee... ALOT!
BUT.... sometimes drinking to much coffee isn't a great idea for me. Especially at night time when I want to be peaceful, chill out and sleep.

If I drink to much coffee Im wired, wide awake and a big pain in the butt to everyone around... like why are you sleeping? Duh!
I also become a bug and talk to my dosing husband over and over - rambling on about a billion ideas I've had (this isn't a good idea as he battles to fall asleep)
but not many drinks are as comforting as that fluffy milk in my coffee.... so now I've found something I can make at home in my espresso machine thats actually kind-of healthy

INTRODUCING ..... 
The red cappucino :)

The red cappuccino gets its name from the leaves of a bush called rooibos meaning red bush in English.

Rooibos tea is grown in South Africa and is caffeine free (so it won't keep you awake. It has many good properties like magnesium (essential for the nervous system), calcium and manganese (needed for bones and teeth), zinc (needed for a healthy metabolism) and iron... and much more take a look here

Anyway back to drinking something yummy and fluffy and best of all - kid friendly because its caffeine free! My kid can drink it and feel like she is also drinking some thing fun along with us when we have our morning coffees

INGREDIENTS:
Rooibos tea leaves (either tear open the tea bags or you can buy loose leaves)



RECIPE:

Step one: you need tea leaves - so either break open your tea bags or just buy plain leaves
Pour the leaves into a double shot porta-filter (the metal handle that you usually put your ground coffee into to make an espresso shot)

Step two: Tamp your tea leaves quite hard - they are much looser than your ground espresso leaves and there fore you may not get the creamyness on top of your shot when you pull it --- (tips below)

Step three: place the handle/ porta filter into your machine and pull the double shot.... I Pull mine three times so I have a mug three quarters full - but you can add as little or as much as you like

Step four: steam your milk

Step five: pour milk into cup (sweeten if you like) and drink


TIPS: I experimented with grinding my tea leaves in a small coffee/spice grinder to get them finer so I could get a nice crema/cream on top of my shot --- makes for nice latte art but this isn't necessary - it will taste just as good if you use the leaves straight

Pulling your tea through your espresso machine makes a nice strong cup - especially if you put the water through a few times - it has great flavour!!!

  

Some days are better than others when trying to perfect steamed milk. Top pic on the post is an instagram of mine on a day I got the foam right... Just above is a day that didn't work so well... But it was still delicious!