Hot infusions have really interested me lately, so when one of my coworkers mentioned that her family used to heat up warm milk with a banana and drink it I was intrigued. Less than 24 hours later, I made it for myself.

I asked her, “Did you slice the banana or put it in whole? Did you blend it or mash it? Did you add anything else?”

I love bananas and I love milk, so I’m surprised I had never thought of combining them hot before. I’ve mixed them together cold before and made a good super simple banana smoothie. But never hot, until now.

Her family uses sliced bananas, or sometimes plantains. I tried it out myself today with a sliced banana and a dash or cinnamon. It was so good. Flecks of banana flesh blended into the milk. After I drank the liquid, I was left with the mushy banana slices that I ate with a spoon.

I’m sure there are so many other things you can do with this. You could blend it in a blender or beat with a mixer but that would make a much thicker drink. I just wanted a warm milk with the flavor of banana. Later I’ll try some other flavors of hot dairy infusions and try cooking or baking with them.