In general, tea and tisanes are great beverages for people who happen to have food allergies, especially gluten. Unlike a lot of sodas, which can have gluten lurking in the tiniest little ingredients (as my good friend Michelle, who will appear in a future episode of nerdiTEA, described to me at a recent party), most teas/tisanes are completely free of anything that could have gluten in them, such as caramel coloring or wheat-based fillers.
Rachel of A Gaggle of Girls knows quite well what kind of foods can have hidden allergens lurking in them — she herself has Celiac disease and chronic lyme, while her three daughters have some fairly rare, but practically life-threatening, food allergies. As she described in their story on Rachel’s Recipe Blog, even something as small as a strawberry Starburst can cause an anaphylactic episode.
So Rachel’s family steers clear of gluten, dairy and several sorts of berries (the exceptions being cranberries and blueberries, which are a little different in makeup), as well as coffee and caffeinated tea — which can make finding a sweet dessert-type beverage kind of difficult.
Enter Rooibos, the magical mystical wonder “tea” from Africa. Free from the allergens Rachel’s family and hundreds of thousands of others need to avoid, and naturally caffeine free — something that tea from Camellia sinesis can’t really claim without some sort of caffeine extraction process — rooibos is naturally slightly sweet and piny, and combines very well with a variety of flavors, like vanilla, jasmine and various fruits. And, as many people are starting to find out, it makes a pretty mean latte.
Rachel herself was at Starbucks one day, pondering what could possibly be on the menu that would satisfy all of her dietary needs and still give a delicious, warm treat, and spotted the Vanilla Rooibos Latte, which Starbucks can easily make with soymilk. Bingo!
My 3 daughters had a little sip of the little I had leftover, and loved it. Thankfully I had some Adagio rooibos vanilla in the tea cupboard at home! I brewed a pot of the rooibos vanilla, using the awesome ingenuiTEA teapot I received from the lovely Nanny Ogg, then warmed up some vanilla soy milk, and combined. Big smiles on my girls’ faces, and for a fraction of the cost of the one I bought! Additionally, making it at home means that you are not limited to soy or cow milk, as you are when out. We’ve had this several times now, and I just restocked our tea supply to make sure we’ll have plenty.
I’m not personally a rooibos fan, but this has even me drooling, and it’s super simple!
Dairy-Free and Gaggle of Girls Approved Vanilla Rooibos Latte
Ingredients
- 1 pot vanilla rooibos “tea” – Rachel recommends Adagio’s Rooibos Vanilla
- 1/2 cup vanilla flavored milk substitute (soy, rice, almond, hemp, etc)
Method
- Brew one pot of the vanilla rooibos tea.
- Warm the milk substitute in a pot or microwave.
- Combine the tea and the milk substitute in a mug, with a bit more tea than milk substitute. Enjoy!
Delicious! Thanks for sharing your recipe, Rachel!