Sweet Like Honey Groove

I had no intention to send an offering today and yet here I am. I've learned that when my spirit and creativity decide to move and flow, listen to it. I'm realizing that I was inspired by the power of music today, so shout out to all of the musicians and artists that create beautiful love songs and stories that capture our experiences.

Let me back up.

Today is Friday, February 14th, 2025, known to everyone around the world as Valentine's Day. There are all types of hearts and love and roses and chocolates and conversations about love and all the forms of love. So there's that. This is the context where we are today right now at this moment. And earlier in the day, I was sitting on the couch chatting with my friend via texting and voice memo. She asked about a particular song that she was searching for to set as her soundtrack for today, and I gave it to her, and then she followed up with a question asking if I had a playlist for Valentine's Day this year. She knows I like to make playlists and if you are here as a reader or a listener of A Cup of Tea and Jams, that's very clear. I like the jams.

My answer to her question was, not necessarily. No, I have not created a Valentine's Day playlist specifically for this year. It wasn't even on my mind. Today, I honestly woke up feeling so glad that it was Friday and not so much about it being Valentine's Day. But I've created Valentine's Day playlists over the years. I've also created playlists about different forms of love throughout the years as well. As the day went on, I thought about a particular playlist that I created nearly eight years ago. Now, it is one of my favorite playlists and it's timeless, at least to me. I can consistently go back and listen. And when I made it, I actually didn't make it on Valentine's Day. It was a whole different time in the year. But I was inspired by a couple songs that really captured the sweetness of love, the joy of love ,and the romance of a budding relationship. And so that inspired me to create Sweet Like Honey Groove because your girl loves a good groove. I love soul music that I can just vibe with. Take a drive and just groove out. And so I created a playlist called Sweet Like Honey Groove and it's about 90 minutes. I just listened to the whole 90 minutes –had my headphones on and was jamming out in my kitchen. It brought so much joy.

Since the new year started, it's been a heavy time for everyone, collectively and personally for myself. I've been quiet in this deep winter season and it's been a tender time. My heart has been tender for various reasons and I am tuning in to my heart— what my heart desires, what my heart may be grieving. I’m paying special attention to taking care of myself and loving myself—giving myself the love that I desire. Music is one of the things that have been grounding me during those moments when I am feeling very, very tender. I always find myself going back to music. When I can put on my headphones or put on my speakers really loud and just play a good song, most of the time, it instantly lifts my mood. And so it's been a practice of mine, particularly making playlists or returning back to playlists that I made years prior. Listening to Sweet Like Honey Groove today is medicine that I didn't know I needed. I've been in a pretty good mood today. And this playlist lifted that mood up even higher. I was going to share it with my friend but then I thought, let me share it with everyone else too, you know? So this is my offering for today on February 14th aka Valentine's Day, a playlist that I made that really captures the sensuality and the joy and the feel good vibes of love. I hope you enjoy.

This playlist is a soulful mix of about 21 songs. It features well-known artists, such as Lenny Kravitz. There is a great song of his from back in the day called “Sugar” that I love. Also, Esperanza Spalding, as well as Lauryn Hill and Michael Jackson. I have his song, “I Can’t Help It.” That’s a bop. As well as PJ Morton's cover of “How Deep Is Your Love.” I also have songs like D'Angelo’s “When We Get By.” I have a song that I love from Kelis, “Sugar Honey Iced Tea," that kind of inspired the title of this playlist. As well as a couple songs that people may not know from artists, such as “Sweet Thing” that closes out the playlist. It also inspired the title. And this song is by an artist that honestly I don't know much about–TwinSet. He's a saxophone player, but it features a singer that I am a fan of —Joe Dukie, who is from the band Fat Freddy's Drop. Maybe one day I'll talk about them a little bit more, but they're based out of New Zealand and they have wonderful albums. He's also the singer that is singing on the very opening song of the playlist, “Deeper Waters.” It's a well-rounded playlist and every time I play it among people, they're like, “ooh, what's this?” So once again, I think you will enjoy it.

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In addition to that, I also am all about my herbs. And so as I was thinking about this feel good groove and upbeat sense that came along listening to this soundtrack. I thought about my journey with Damiana from last year.

How Damiana Rekindled My Fire

One of the ways that I partnered with Damiana was creating dark chocolate truffles because I wanted a treat for myself. I was inspired by a recipe that I saw on Herbal Academy and I bought myself some real good dark chocolate to create the dessert. I called them Damiana Delights. A lot of people know Damiana as an aphrodisiac. It is also a nervine and just really good for grounding you, calling back your desires & your creativity and really rekindling your fire. That was the theme for me with Damiana. I put rose petals in there for the sweetness, love, and all of the goodness that rose brings. I added a tidbit of Rosemary. I also have an extensive podcast episode about Rosemary. So if you want to listen to learn all the reasons why Rosemary is good for you, both physically and spiritually, I encourage you to go back to the archives and listen. And I threw some cinnamon in there. It was so delicious. It was also a joy making the dessert and honestly, I'd probably do that for myself again this season. I also wanted to share that recipe for folks below.

Damiana Dark Chocolate Delight

• 1 cup of dark chocolate morsels

• ½ cup of coconut milk

• 3 tablespoons of damiana

• 1 full sprig of fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon of powdered rosemary

• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon powder

• Optional – add a few edible rose petals to chocolate mix

• Optional – coconut shreds, cocoa powder, powdered sugar or any other topping to your liking to roll the chocolate ball in

Melt chocolate on the stove with low to medium heat. Be careful not to burn the chocolate. Once it is melted add coconut milk and stir. Turn off heat. Take herbs and mix together in a small bowl. Ideally a powdered form of the herbs will be best for the mixture. However you can also ground up the herbal blend as much as you can in a mortar & pestle or food processor. Mix in herbal blend into the melted chocolate. Once mixed, pour in a bowl and let cool in the fridge for about 25 minutes or enough time that will allow the mixture to harden to a consistency of cookie dough. After cooling, scoop out the chocolate mixture with a spoon or clean hands and mold into small balls. Chill again in the fridge for another 30 minutes. Enjoy!

I encourage you to treat yourself well today and all the days to come, find some sweetness for yourself and your loved ones.

Until next time!

~Khayla

PS. A special video demonstration of making my Damiana Delights for my paid subscribers as a Vday gift of gratitude.

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