Sunday, January 22, 2006

Cranberry Cozy

I got tagged by Raquel from Raquel's Box of Chocolate for a common cold remedy meme. What a great idea, Raquel! This also gave me an excuse to write about a wonderful drink that kept slipping off my blogging plate.

Since most of the cold medicines make me sort of drunk -- I took DayQuil before a final in college once and it was not a pretty picture -- I mostly rely on chicken soup and tea. But lately, I've added another weapon to my arsenal of cold remedies. It's a drink that I had at 1369, a Cambridge coffee house that became our sunday morning ritual when we moved to Boston 6 years ago. It's one of those great places that is everything Starbucks is not -- funky and not overly precious. 1369's coffee can be too strong, their music selection can be "interesting", but I love it as is, and can't imagine Cambridge without it. Oh, and did I mention that they have the world's greatest muffins?

Anyway... In the winter, they serve this drink called "cranberry cozy". It is a mix of cranberry juice and hibiscus tea. No matter how cold it is outside, this stuff seems to thaw me from within, coating me in its aromatic vapors and waking me up with gentle tang. I love it so much that I learned to make it at home for those days when I can't get to 1369.

You can make it either with ocean spray cranberry cocktail or with real cranberry juice. Keep in mind that real cranberry juice is extremely sour, so you'll have to add some sugar to make it palatable.

Cranberry Cozy (the Ocean Spray version)
1/2 cup ocean spray cranberry cocktail
1 cup hot hibiscus tea

Cranberry Cozy (real Cranberry juice version)
1/4 cup cranberry juice
1 1/4 cup hot hibiscus tea
1 Tbsp sugar or to taste
  1. Warm up cranberry juice in a microwave or a small pot on top of the stove.
  2. Combine with hot hibiscus tea and sugar to taste.
  3. Sip and feel cozy.

Now it's my turn to tag other bloggers for this meme. I tag:

Stephen from Stephen Cooks

Valyn from Hope It's Good

Andrea from Rookie Cookery

Mzn from Haverchuk

Walter Jeffries from Sugar Mountain Farm

3 comments:

mzn said...

Whoa! Thanks for the opportunity to share my cold remedies with the world. I recently got over a cold, actually, and it was no fun. My kid goes to day care part-time so he brings home all kinds of lively germs in the winter. I need all the remedies I can get.

Walter Jeffries said...

Helen, Eek! I'm already tagged on another meme. Although I must admit this one about the cold cures is very interesting. Right now I have a cold. I traced it to having gone in town to do our winter food shopping trip. My guess is that touching the handle of the shopping carts was what transmitted it although it could have been airborne. I'm drinking lots of mint tea and eating plenty of our delicious turkey and barley soups which gives me lots of fluids. I'll try and get something on the meme done. Cheers, -Walter

Anonymous said...

Helen-what a wonderful drink! I am so glad that you participated. The 1369 coffee bars sounds really interesting, I will have to check it out, I am always a sucker for a good muffin! I love your mug! Picture perfect for your cranberry cozy!
Take care,
Raquel