Christmas Tea
December 18, 2019 by Nicole Collins
Pinkies up, everyone; because it’s Day 6 in our 12 Days of Beverages challenge!
So, cute story. My little 6 year old nephew has become a tea drinker with his mama and me. He’ll sit right down with us. He’ll snack and chat with us. He puts his own honey in his tea. But, he doesn’t want some dumb kiddie plastic cup. He wants the good tea cups. The china. The bestie says that’s become their Saturday routine together.
Word on the street is that Santa is bringing this new little tea drinker his very own tea set for Christmas. How cool is that! And, can we talk about how incredible it is to live in a time where kids still think their parents (and aunties) are cool?
So, today’s drink is for my main man. Today, we’re making Christmas Tea!
First of all, let me just say this tea is like Christmas in a cup. It’s loaded up with warm cinnamon and rich cloves that just completely soothe the soul. And we certainly need that this time of year!
Brr…
So, this tea is very simple to make. We start by brewing cinnamon stick, whole cloves, and a chunk of lemon peel in a couple cups of water. We bring those spices up to a slow simmer to really infuse the water. Then, we remove from the heat and steep a some black tea bags in our spiced water. Discard the spices, add a little sugar, and voila…Christmas Tea!
Now, Christmas Tea is traditionally made with orange instead of lemon. But, we all know that’s not happening on The Yummy Muffin’s watch. Orange = GROSS! If you are not completely offended and disgusted by the idea of orange, feel free to swap out the lemon. I might judge you for it, but you do you.
Regardless, this tea is sweet, and rich, and warm, and all the good things you could want out of tea. And, bonus! It tastes just as delicious cold!
Let’s take a look at the other delicious drinks we’ve made so far:
Day 1: Pretzel Hot Chocolate
Day 2: Apple Pear Sangria
Day 3: Ninjabread Hot Chocolate
Day 4: Bad Santa Hot Chocolate
Day 5: Fizzy Grinch
Alright, everyone. We’ve reached the halfway point of our challenge! 6 down, 6 to go!
And that means only 6 more sleeps til the big guy gets here.
Until then…let’s drink!
Christmas Tea
Serves: 4 Print
Ingredients:
5 cups water
1x2 inch slice of lemon peel
2 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
4 black tea bags
¼ cup sugar
Directions:
Place water, lemon peel, and spices in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Slowly let it come to a light simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
Place teabags in the pot with the brewed spices. Steep for 5 mins. Remove tea bags. Add sugar, and stir well until sugar has dissolved. Using a small mesh strainer, strain tea into a teapot or pitcher, and discard spices. Serve!
Recipe notes:
*Christmas tea is traditionally brewed with orange peel, but I HATE oranges. If you don't, feel free to swap out the lemon peel for orange peel.
*I made this using decaf tea. It doesn't matter if you make it caffeinated or not as long as you get black tea. We want that rich tea flavor for this drink.
*If you can snap your cinnamon stick in half, you'll get even more spicy flavor in your tea.
