Totally Tea
I’m an old soul, which is probably why I love generational remedies and recipes. I remember being quite ill when I was in my early 20s. I was too sick to take care of my children alone, so I was staying with my mother. She turned her living room in a makeshift bedroom and that’s where the four of us existed for about a week. Tea has always been a staple drink in my family, so it was no surprise when she handed me a Hot Toddy to ease my aching body and quell my cough. Despite feeling miserable, drinking that steaming hot cup of tea felt like love in a cup. It nourished my body and my soul and helped me get the sleep I desperately needed to get better and regain some strength. Tea comes in so many different varieties that it’s a shame so many consider tea an old lady drink. I beg to differ, so I will share some tasty alternatives to spicing up an already good thing and making it even better especially if you like booze!
Most of us drink coffee. Some like it hot, some like it cold. Some of us like it with Kahlua or Baileys. You can enjoy the same versatility with tea too. There are literally over 3,000 varieties of teas found around the world. Tea generally falls into categories such as black, green, white, oolong, or herbal. As with most of my blogs and recipes, you can easily find a plethora of them online and tweak to your heart’s content. When it comes to personal taste and preference, there is nothing wrong with making it your own by adding or eliminating ingredients.
Brew It Up
Unless you are an avid tea drinker, you may only have black or green tea in your house and perhaps some herbal tea like peppermint or chamomile. Brewing loose tea is bit less convenient but yields a better cup of tea with a more options. I use both. Sometimes I even brew two types of tea bags together to give me that extra depth of flavor I am craving. The recipes I am sharing today will use tea bags because they are easily accessible. Before my mint is ready to harvest in the summer, I will substitute mint tea bags with my black tea when I am making iced tea. It doesn’t taste as good as it does when the mint is fresh, but it gets the job done. Along those same lines, you can add a fruit-flavored tea bag to your iced tea and change up the flavor that way as well.
Party Sangria with Green Tea
1 bottle of white wine
4 cups of water
6-8 bags of green tea
About ¼ cup honey or agave…amount depends on what wine you choose. Suit to taste.
3 sliced lemons
About 15 fresh mint leaves
Bring water to boil in a large pot. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Cover and steep for 5 minutes. Let cool for about 30 minutes. You do not want to add wine to hot water as it will evaporate a portion of the alcohol content.
When the tea has cooled, add to a glass pitcher or punch bowl. Add the bottle of wine, lemon slices, and mint leaves. Refrigerate to cool. To reduce sangria from being watered down too much on a hot day, freeze ice cubes made from green tea or mint water. See my recipe for mint water on a previous blog.
https://thewillowconnection.com/all-things-minty/
Twisted Teas
I prefer to make my own iced tea. My taste has evolved over the years to expand upon the powered mixture you buy at the grocery store. I don’t have specific measurements when I brew my tea, but I will share the ingredients I use. Adding some vodka or whiskey will add that extra punch.
Boozy Iced Tea
Brew 5-7 black tea bags in 1 cup of water and let steep until cooled; then strain
Add 3 scoops of powdered iced tea mix to a 64-ounce pitcher partially filled with water
Add strained tea to pitcher
Add about ¼ cup lemon juice or per your taste. I never measure it!
Add about 1 ½ cups of mint water. See my recipe above to make your own.
Add alcohol to taste
Add water to fill pitcher, stir, and refrigerate
Pour into glasses with floating lemon slices and a sprig of fresh mint. Serve over ice.
A variation to this recipe would be to use flavored tea bags such as peach or raspberry and use a flavored vodka as well to enhance the flavor.
Easy Hot Toddy
Brew a cup of black tea
Add 1 shot of whiskey or brandy. (I like brandy…I keep it by my bed and use it as cough syrup!)
A splash of lemon and 1 slice of lemon
Honey to taste
1 cinnamon stick if desired.
This is a good drink any time of year but especially satisfying if you are feeling under the weather and just need to rest.
No matter the reason, tea is good for all seasons. Enjoy!
