Orange Spiced Tea

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This orange spiced tea combines the brightness of fresh citrus with warming aromatics like cinnamon and ginger. Steeped to perfection and sweetened with homemade spiced simple syrup, it's a sophisticated take on your afternoon tea ritual that works beautifully hot or iced.

Yield: 6 cups

Prep Time5

Cook Time5

Steep Time for Syrup30

Total Time40

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Servings:

Author: Maryanne Cabrera

Ingredients

5 bags black tea or 5 teaspoons loose leaf tea
peel from 1 medium orange white pith removed
3 cinnamon sticks
2-inch piece fresh ginger peeled and sliced into disks
6 cups just-boiled water

Spiced Simple Syrup:

½ cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
3-inch orange peel
1-inch fresh ginger peeled and sliced into disks

Instructions

Steep the tea: In a large heat-proof bowl or pitcher, combine black tea bags, orange peel, cinnamon sticks, and sliced ginger. Pour just-boiled water over the ingredients and steep for 6 minutes.
Strain: Remove and discard tea bags and aromatics using a fine-mesh strainer.
Serve: Enjoy hot or cool to room temperature and refrigerate for iced tea. Sweeten with spiced simple syrup to taste.

Spiced Simple Syrup:

In a medium saucepan, combine water, sugar, cinnamon sticks, orange peel, and ginger. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar dissolves completely (2-3 minutes). Remove from heat and steep for 30 minutes for moderate flavor, or up to 1 hour for intense spice. Strain out solids and cool completely. Store refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks.
All images and text ©The Little Epicurean

Notes

For iced tea, brew the tea strong since ice will dilute it. Consider using 6-7 tea bags for 6 cups of water.
The simple syrup is versatile—use it to sweeten coffee, oatmeal, cocktails, or brush onto cakes.
*Nutrition information is automatically calculated and should be used as an approximation (info is for unsweetened tea)

Tea: Store brewed tea in an airtight pitcher in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The flavor will mellow slightly over time.

Simple Syrup: Keeps refrigerated for up to 2 weeks in a clean glass jar or bottle. The aromatics will continue to infuse, so strain them out if you plan to store longer than a few days.

Make-Ahead: This tea is perfect for meal prep. Brew a large batch on Sunday and enjoy throughout the week, hot or cold. The spiced syrup can be made weeks in advance.

Nutrition