3 Hot Spiced Tea Mix Recipes

Hot, spiced and delicious, it's how all winter drinks should taste like. When cold weather keeps you indoors, there isn’t a greater joy than making a cup of hot drink for yourself to enjoy in front of a book or your favorite TV show. One of the great things about teas is that they are so versatile they can be used in dozens of ways – from lattes to hot toddys. Here are the three hot spiced tea mix recipes that will warm you up and keep busy during snowy evenings.

Why to add spices into winter drinks?

Spices and winter well together for a reason. Not only do they add incredible flavors to drinks and winter dishes, they can help warm up the body faster in cooler conditions. Cardamon, cinnamon, pepper, chili, cloves and star anise are some of the most commonly used spices. Winter without ginger is almost unimaginable, while turmeric and galangal are becoming indispensable in wellness food trends in the last couple of years. Learn how to make three different hot spiced drinks with the best warming spice and real loose leaf tea: Spiced Russian Tea, Spiced Grapefruit Black Tea and the almost traditional Ginger Green Tea.

Spiced Russian Tea

Strong black tea, usually sweetened and served with lemon, has been a Russian cultural drink for centuries. Although a spiced Russian Tea is not originally from Russia, it borrows a distinctively Russian tea brewing technique. This tea is prepared by making a strong tea base first, then adding juices after. If possible, use freshly squeezed juices that you can dilute with a bit of water. Fresh juices reduce the amount of artificial ingredients, have less sugar and contain more vitamins, transforming this drink into a multi-vitamin hot winter delight.

 

Ingredients

• 2-3 teaspoons of black tea
• 1 cup of water
• 1-2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 cup of pineapple juice
• 5-7 cloves
• 1 spoon of lemon juice– from freshly squeezed lemon
• 1 cup of orange juice
• A pinch of ground nutmeg
• 1-2 spoons of brown sugar, optional, depending on the sweetness of juices

Instructions Bring water to a boil and steep 2-3 teaspoons of black tea in one cup of water for 5-10 minutes. Strain the leaves and pour the tea into cups. Add pineapple juice, orange juice and lemon juice to a saucepan. Add sugar, nutmeg, cloves and a cinnamon stick, then boil over medium fire for about 10 minutes. Remove the cloves and cinnamon and pour over black tea. Add honey if needed.

Tip: Use linen tea bags for easy brewing.

Spiced Grapefruit Black Tea

If you love grapefruits, you will love this alcohol free, refreshing and slightly spicy drink. Earl Grey goes well with a slightly tangy flavor of juniper berries and sweet and tart notes of pink grapefruit. You can replace Earl Grey with other black tea for a less intense citrus flavor. Grapefruit can be lightly bitter, so this recipe does needs a sweetener.

Spiced Grapefruit Black tea 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 - 1 large pink grapefruit
• 2 teaspoons of Earl Grey black tea
• A cup of water
• A few juniper berries
• 2-4 black peppercorns
• 1-2 teaspoons of honey

Instructions Squeeze the juice of one grapefruit. Add water, grapefruit juice, black tea, peppercorns and juniper berries into a saucepan. Bring to a boil over a medium fire, reduce and simmer for 5 more minutes. Strain and let it cool down before adding honey.

Ginger Green Tea

Ginger tea tastes best when prepared from a freshly boiled raw ginger root. With the addition of strong green tea capable of holding spicy flavors, turn this drinks turns into a warming, antioxidants boosting winter delight. Lemon is optional.

Ingredients

• 1 inch of ginger root, peeled and sliced
• 2 teaspoons of Pinhead Gunpowder tea
• 2 cups of water
• Honey
• 2-3 cardamon pods

Instructions Peel the ginger root and slice it into thin slices. Add ginger, spices and water to a saucepan and cook under low to medium fire for 20 minutes. Let it cool for a couple of minutes. Add tea leaves and steep for another 5-10 minutes. Strain and add honey. Serve.