My first childhood memory of spiced tea was my mother's Bigelow Constant Comment (still available today). This one brings back memories of my mother's flowered mugs and afternoon snacks. I love that this one brews up strong and robust, even in the decaf version. For cinnamon purists, try their Cinnamon Stick blend.
Not long after, my mother (Brownie leader, Craft Faire organizer and all-around extraordinaire) was given a handmade Christmas present of spiced tea in a jar. The giver included a recipe on it and while I remember it was labelled "Wassail", I've since heard it called Russian Friendship Tea as well as other names. During my years studying singing I always made sure I kept a batch on hand. Here is the recipe from that first jar. There are many alternate versions on the web - some using lemonade powder instead of sugar.
1 1/2 cup Tang or similar powdered orange drink
1/3 cup unsweetened instant tea (lemon flavored is ok)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Mix together, store in a tightly lidded container. Add 1-2 tsp per cup of boiling water and stir. (Can add more or less of any ingredient to taste. Can add more or less mix to boiling water as preferred. This is a fairly sweet drink, almost more of a hot punch.
As winters passed I found more lovely teas to warm me up on the way to the chemistry building on the absolute other side of campus.
From Celestial Seasonings I found both caffeinated and herbal varieties. Nutcracker Sweet (available in winter) has lovely vanilla-cinnamon flavors blended with black tea, soothing without being too sweet.
Bengal Spice herbal tea is a fantastic wake-up cup for folks who avoid caffeine. True flavors of India - ginger, cardamom and cloves - are balanced with deep rich roasted chicory and hints of black pepper.
This tea reminds me of Organic Chemistry II.
It sucked. Seriously. I had to take it twice and still only came out with a D+.
But the tea didn't. I found Republic of Tea's Cinnamon Plum and held on tight. I loved the sweet tang of the plum (made fuller by the addition of elderberries and sloeberries) with the full black tea.
My Sri Lankan roommate introduced me to loose leaf tea that year and I was happy to find that RoT sells this blend in both bags and loose leaf versions.
(Disclaimer: I also heartily adore Ginger Peach tea made by RoT, which comes in Decaf and loose leaf versions but that's not spicy so it gets no love in this post.)
Just realized I'm out of this tea. Hm...
As I settled into married life, my husband and I began exploring herbal medicine as a way to deal with the myriad of bugs we caught at our health care jobs. Herbal medicine is so firmly based in tea that I spent a fwe years focusing on that, forgetting the value of warming spices.
Fast forward many years. Chai is introduced to mainstream America and suddenly, wham, I was overwhelmed with Chai choices. The biggest downer? In the initial years of Chai being sold in US markets, many companies prepackaged the tea bags with powdered milk as traditional Chai is prepared with milk and sugar. Ick. No no no. The prevalence of milk turned me off of the Chai market for years ... until...
It took many years but after trying many brands and flavors I've happily added three new favorites to my pantry (what me, picky?).
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Before you read futher, be aware that these are limited edition seasonal blends. Get em quick before I buy up the rest...
This is their Holiday Spice tea. Nom nom nom. If it wouldn't turn me into a shakey, sleepless maniac I would brew this in mass quantities. Me + too much caffeine = a hot mess. Literally. Hot sweats, nuff said.
Rich, full bodied black tea is blended with clove oil, cinnamon, orange peels and what they mysteriously call "aromatic holiday spices) . I love how smooth this blend in while still being enormously flavorful.
And so what DO I drink in mass quantities? The sleeper hit of my tea shopping adventures ... also by The Tea Spot, Red Hot Chai.
I'm going to go on record as saying: I do not typically like roobios tea. I've tried to like it. Ooooh health benefits, new flavor combinations. Blah ... never happened. I had a brief fling with honey bush but it still just falls flat for me.
Until now. This tea flipping rocks. I'm not kidding ... it's spices are bold and flavorful with out being bitter or one-dimensional. Deep vanilla notes and the honey-hints from the red rooibos make this a well rounded full tea that I seriously make by the pot. My children absolutely adore it and I love the healing nature of the Indian herbs and spices used in it.
The newest addition to my crew is my most precious however...
This fantastic Gunpowder Chai tea found at Simpler is a hand blended mix of Gunpowder green tea, fennel seed, nutmeg clove and cinnamon. I love the light clean taste of this tea and really appreciate the way the mellow green tea doesn't overpower the spices. I tend not to be a huge fan of green tea but this is flavorful without being grassy.
This one tea (sipping it as I type) is set apart by the the fact that it is made by hand by Sam Tower, a hard working cop, loving husband and dad and an herbalist who follows my own herbalist path - simpling. Having known their family virtually for years, I feel comfort and company in every cup.
As you might think, using loose leaf tea has many options for producing a good cup. I'll be blogging about tea brewing resources and steepware in my next post but right now, I need to get another pot on. Enjoy!
ETA ... and here it is Loose tea. Tame that bad Girl.
**I am in no way connected or receive reimbursement/product/kickbacks/magic powers from any of the companies mentioned here. All products mentioned were purchased by me, generally using standard shipping which I immediately regretted as it takes too flipping long.**
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