With Holy Basil, Rose, and friends for glowing skin
The traditional components of a Margarita— lime, water, sugar and salt, are the ingredients found in rehydration formulas, and are essential for balancing electrolytes making it an ideal summer beverage.
Additionally, these rehydrating ingredients also assist the detoxification pathways of the liver, skin and kidneys and support glowing, healthy looking skin.
To enhance the margarita’s ability to aid in detoxification and rehydration I added one of my absolute favorite herbs to support skin health— Holy Basil.
Holy Basil, also known as Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum), is in the mint family. Like culinary basil it is aromatic, sweet and flavorful. However unlike its culinary counterpart, Tulsi has been cultivated for thousands of years for its medicinal virtues. It has been used traditionally for everything from digestive aid to balancing the chakras.
Some of my favorite properties of Tulsi are its ability to support the liver, its clearing and calming qualities, and its ability to help with a glowing complexion.
I even include Tulsi when I make rehydration formula for herbal first aid, along with Hibiscus powder (which I get from Banyan Botanicals).
In addition to the Tulsi, the Milky Oat tea base of this formula supports the nervous system and adds a beautiful pale green color to the recipe. Milky Oat, or Avena Sativa is nutritious and classically used for nervous system support, and is considered an aphrodisiac by way of calming the nerves.
The addition of our Good to Glow tincture formula for glowing skin enhances the medicinal benefits of this delicious beverage and adds another dimension of taste as well.
Good to Glow was formulated with skin health in mind and features herbs that are classically used to clear heat from the blood or aid in detoxification such as Red Clover (Trifolium pretense), Tumeric (Curcuma longa), and of course, Tulsi. The synergistic blend of herbs also aids in lowering inflammation and includes the classic connective tissue tonic, Gotu Kola (Centella asiatica).
I have found the Milky Oat Margarita to be uplifting and calming. It increases my sociability and includes some of my absolute favorite medicinal herbs.
Prepare the tea, syrup, and the herbal salt ahead of time. The syrup and the tea will need to be chilled so as to not melt the ice.
Recipe:
Milky Oat Tea:
This is the simplest method of tea brewing.
- About one handful of milky oat tops, fresh or dried
- 2 cups of hot water
Place the milky oat tops in a blender. Bring water to a boil. Let stand for about 12 seconds then pour over the oat tops. Blend on high for at least 30 seconds, until the tea becomes a pale, creamy green indicating the oat tops have been pulverized. This can take up to several minutes.
Strain the tea. You will have less than 2 cups after straining, likely. That’s fine, you will need only 1.5 cups for the recipe
Pour into a jar and let cool at room temperature before placing in the fridge to chill thoroughly.
Tulsi-Rose Simple Syrup:
- Organic India Tulsi Rose Tea bags
- ½ cup of water
- ½ – 1 cup granulated sugar (or liquid such as honey).
Bring a half cup of water to a boil. Let cool for several seconds before adding 3 bags of Tulsi Rose tea. Infuse for about 15 minutes. Squeeze the tea bags before removing them from the infusion. While the water is still warm, add ½-1 cup of granulated sugar. Here you can use a granulated sugar of your choosing, or you may use honey or another liquid sweetener. Coconut sugar or a brown colored sugar will change the appearance and the taste of the Margarita, giving it a more peachy brown hue and caramel-y taste. I found I preferred an organic whole sugar. A half-cup of sugar will preserve the simple syrup in the fridge for up to several months at a 1:1 ratio of tea to sugar. Adding twice the amount of sugar in a 1:2 ratio of tea to sugar will significantly increase the shelf life or make it more suitable to storing outside of a refrigerator. This recipe makes enough syrup for several rounds of the margaritas depending on how sweet you want them.
Finish by completely dissolving the sugar in the warm tea and refrigerate.
Tulsi Rose Salt:
- Tulsi Rose Tea
- Pink Himalayan Salt, medium to course (or sea salt)
Cut open 2 bags of Tulsi Rose tea and mix with about an equal amount of salt. Pink Himalayan salt is visually stunning with the tiny bits of green and pink flecks from the tea. Add the salt and tea to a jar with a lid and shake until it is evenly distributed.
Milky Oat Margarita:
Now that you’ve got your Tulsi Rose salt, Milky Oat tea and Tulsi Rose simple syrup ready to go, making the Margaritas is a summer breeze.
Prepare your glasses by moistening the rim with a wedge of lime and rolling the edge in the herbal salt.
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice
- lime wedges for garnish
- 1 ½ cups Milky Oat tea
- 6 Tablespoons Tulsi Rose simple syrup
- Cubed or crushed ice
- Good to Glow tincture (optional)
In your blender, add about 2 ½ cups of cubed or crushed ice. Pour the cold milky oat tea over the ice, about 1.5 cups.
Add ¼ cup of lime juice from fresh squeezed limes (even all natural lime juice often contains preservatives or essential oil which is not appropriate for consumption).
Add 6 Tablespoons of the simple syrup and about 6 squirts of Good to Glow. Blend on high until the ice is crushed and all the ingredients have been incorporated.
Pour or ladle your frozen Milky Oat Margarita into your glasses. Garnish with a lime wedge (this will also come in handy for scooping the beverage into your mouth if it is thick).
Enjoy!