Culture clash
Can’t face another mulled wine? Try these traditional warming beverages from Mexico, Tibet and Turkey.
Hot and spicy
Hot chocolate is a classic, obviously, but only Mexicans drink it thickened with cornflour, and flavored with orange peel, spices and ground nuts. A favorite long ago with Aztecs and Maya, it’s called champurrado.
Hot and greasy
Black tea, salt and yak-milk butter … To the Western palate, Tibetan butter tea tastes like greasy broth, but fans rave about its warming effect and drink up to 40 cups a day.
Root drink
Traditionally, the main ingredient in sahlep, a hot, milky beverage from Turkey, is the ground root of the wild orchid. But because this particular orchid is a protected species today, sugar, cinnamon, coriander, coconut, pistachio and cornflour are used instead.
