GET IN THE MOOD: LOVE POTION RECIPE

Love potion

 

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner, so we’re offering up a herbal “love potion” to get you in the mood! 

With our busy and stressful lives, our libido can often take a back seat. Stress, fatigue, depression and anxiety are part of the makeup of our day-to-day lives, and can pretty much “kill the mood”, romantically speaking. Sometimes an extra boost to help kick-start our libidinous spark is needed - so let’s explore how herbal aphrodisiacs can be helpful in rekindling the fire.

A strict definition of an aphrodisiac is “a food, drink or herbal that increases or enhances sexual desire”.

While most of us are already familiar with aphrodisiac foods like chocolate or oysters, there’s also a long history of herbs that act to support our sex drive. When considering herbal aphrodisiacs, I like to take a broader, holistic perspective and consider the nervous system, fertility, hormones, functionality of the reproductive organs, and the cardiovascular system. Hence, in herbalism, aphrodisiac herbs nourish the nervous system, heart, and reproductive systems on both physical and energetic levels. They physically tone the body and support body function, specifically increasing blood flow to enhance physical desire (libido), and improve performance. Energetically, they balance the heart and sacral chakras, and increase pleasure. 

Quick Guide to Herbal Aphrodisiacs:

Adaptogens - Nourish & Tonify: 
Ginseng, maca, ashwagandha, astragalus, licorice

Stimulants - Excite & Strengthen:
Damiana, yohimbe, ginger, gingko, sarsaparilla

Nervines - Relaxing & Setting the Mood:
Milky oats, kava, cannabis

Cardiovascular - Supports the Heart:
Hawthorn berry, rose petals

Senses - Excites the Senses
Vanilla bean, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg

Lover’s Drink:

The ritual of making this drink is as much a part of the aphrodisiac remedy as the potion itself.

This recipe has two parts, the first is creating the herbal aphrodisiac tea. The herbs that I’ve chosen are mainly roots and bark, and these can be boiled into a strong brew known as a “decoction”. The longer you boil the tea, the stronger the effects will be.

The second phase is adapted from Local Milk’s Cardamom Rose Creamer. Nothing says love like roses! 

Note: I’ve used a drinkable chocolate, from ChocoSol’s,  but you can also simply use ground cacao. Ashwagandha and kava-kava may be found in most natural supplement stores, I usually get herbs from my local apothecary Helen & Hidegard.

Ingredients:

Ingredients

Herbal Decoction:

  • 2 cups water
  • 2 Tbs kava-kava
  • 1 tsp ginger root
  • 1 tsp ashwagandha
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 2 cardamom pods

 

Rose Petal Milk:

  • 1 cup almond milk ( or your favourite type of milk)
  • 1 tsp rose petals
  • 2 pucks of ChocoSol or 4 Tbs of ground cacao
  • honey to taste
  • cinnamon or nutmeg to taste

Instructions:

To make the herbal decoction, boil ingredients on stove top for 10-15 minutes. Strain tea into a high-powered blender. 

Straining boiled ingredients

For the rose petal milk, over medium heat, warm the almond milk and rose petals until just before boiling; strain milk into high-powered blender with tea.

Rosepetal milk

Add 2 pucks of ChocoSol Vanilla to blender. Blend until frothy.

Chopping chocolate

Pour into mugs and add honey to taste along with a sprinkle of nutmeg or cinnamon.

Finished latte

xo, Denise