Homemade Chai - a soul soother

I've spent the last few days with the worst flu-y cold I've had for years. This rivals the swine flu. Chills, aches, the whole nine yards. So today, now that I am at least able to get out of bed, I decided that some yummy Chai was the way to go.

Now, because caffeine doesn't do good things to me, I used Rooibos (actually Vanilla Rooibos), but you can substitute any black tea. The vanilla in the rooibos lends itself really well to being chai-ed.

• 2 tea bags (I used Vanilla Rooibos)
• 3+ cups water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1cm ginger, sliced, or more if you like
• 4 cardomom pods, crushed
• 4 cloves
• milk (cow, soy, rice, whatever)
• honey to taste

Put everything except the milk and honey into a small saucepan and bring it to the boil. Simmer for about 3-4 mins. Add the milk and heat to desired level of hotness (I like it warm, not scalding). Strain into cups and add honey to taste. You can also leave it to steep for as long as you like - the longer is steeps, the stronger the spiciness is!