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Easy Vegan EggNog Recipe Infused with Cinnamon Oolong Chai

by Ashley Haywood
A woman sitting with a cup of egg nog in a moose-shaped mug.

I'm so giddy writing this article! I JUST finished making this infused nog and thought a mid-day brew and photo shoot would result in some cold egg nog getting dumped down the drain. But nope! I couldn't let something this delicious go to waste. Well, I threw away one of the two versions I created; more on that below. 

A few weeks ago, I had an epiphany that even though I despise the thought of drinking raw eggs and have never liked true egg nog, there had to be a way to make a version without eggs and infuse with our Cinnamon Oolong Chai tea. 

I did a little research and found a lot of easy vegan eggnog recipe options, but as usual, I thought I would take a step or two out of the process of making this thing from scratch and grabbed the vegan nog from Califia Farms in my local organic grocery store. Once I was home with it, I poured a cold glass, just to see how it tasted. Honestly, it was a strong "meh". I expected more, but didn't care too much for the flavor and it seemed overly processed. I'm not sure how to really define that, but, just seemed industrial. I was hoping it would get better when I warmed it and infused it with chai.

I'm not usually okay with just 'meh' (unless it's me trying to manage my time and I surrender to being just 'okay' and forgiving myself for it), so I decided to create a friendly face-off with a homemade, fully-from-scratch version and the Califia Nog -- both infused with the Cinnamon Oolong Chai. 

Here's how each easy eggnog recipe was prepared:

Califia Nog Infused with Cinnamon Oolong Chai

A measuring cup full of Califia Almondmilk Nog, a carton of eggnog, two tea bags, and a pouch of Embrew tea sit on a counter.
Ingredients:
  • 2 Cups of Califia Farms Nog
  • 2 Cinnamon Oolong Chai sweetened artisan tea bags
Instructions:
  1. Pour 2 cups of Califia Farms Nog into a medium saucepan on medium-low heat
  2. Bring to a simmer
    A pot sits on the stove and bring milk, dates, cinnamon sticks, and a tea bag to a boil.
  3. Drop in 2 Cinnamon Oolong Chai tea bags into the sauce pan of nog and submerge the tea bags with a long spoon.
  4. Turn off heat and leave saucepan on the burner for 5-7 minutes, stirring and pressing any air out of the tea bags to ensure full flavor release.
  5. Remove tea bags carefully with a spoon.
  6. Pour nog into your favorite large mug and enjoy when it reaches drinkable temperature (I waited about 5 minutes to cool in the mug).

Silk Cashew Milk Nog Recipe Infused with Cinnamon Oolong Chai

A measuring cup full of Silk Cashew milk, a carton of milk, two tea bags, and a pouch of Embrew tea sit on a counter by the stove.
Ingredients:
  • 2 Cups Silk cashew milk
  • 3 pitted medjool dates
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 Cinnamon Oolong Chai 
Instructions:
  1. Pour 2 cups of Silk cashew milk into a medium saucepan on medium-low heat.
  2. Bring to a simmer.
  3. Drop in 2 Cinnamon Oolong Chai tea bags into the sauce pan of cashew milk and submerge the tea bags with a long spoon. Add dates and cinnamon stick.
  4. Turn off heat and leave saucepan on the burner for 5-7 minutes, stirring and pressing any air out of the tea bags to ensure full flavor release.
  5. Remove tea bags carefully with a spoon.
  6. Pour hot liquid into a high-powered blender that is safe with very hot liquids. We use a Vitamix. Blend on low at first and gradually increasing speed to high. Blend on high for 30 seconds until very well mixed and slightly frothy.
    A blender mixes up an eggnog drink on a countertop.
  7. Pour nog into your favorite large mug and enjoy when it reaches drinkable temperature (I waited about 5 minutes to cool in the mug).

Here's when it got interesting. I tried the two vegan egg nogs side-by-side. Silk Cashew Nog on the left and Califia Farms Almond Nog on the right below.

Two tea mugs sit on top of a tray that says "Eat, Drink, & Be Merry."

The homemade cashew milk version sweetened with dates and the coconut palm sugar already inside the Cinnamon Oolong Chai sweetened tea bags was BY FAR the winner of the taste test. Seriously, I couldn't wait to suck it all down after I took a few photos of the finished cup.

A moose-shaped glass mug containing eggnog sitting beside Embrew's Cinnamon Oolong Chai Sweetened Tea and cinnamon sticks.

If you're wondering what to convince the kids to leave out for Santa this year. This is it! You'll be glad for Christmas Eve and for all the craziness leading up to the moment when you get to indulge in an easy vegan eggnog recipe infused with Cinnamon Oolong Chai. Looking for other delicious food and drink concoctions? You can also make this infused maple syrup caramel sauce using our Cinnamon Oolong Chai—run, don’t walk, to get this recipe!

Cinnamon Oolong Chai Tea.
Creamy Honey Oolong sweetened tea bags with product reviews.
Cocoa Berry Black sweetened tea bags with product reviews.

 

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