Russian Tea (All Natural)

Submitted by Chef Kate

"Remember Lara's little kitchen in the country town in Dr. Zhivago? I believe that this is how that kitchen must have smelled --spiced tea brewing in the warmth while the cold winds rage outside. Recipe from Whole Foods."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 8
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 6 cups cold water
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 6 whole cloves
• 4 black tea bags (0r a generous tablespoon of loose tea)
• 1 cup orange juice
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1⁄4 cup sugar, more to taste
• 1⁄2 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated

directions

1. Bring water, cinnamon stick and cloves to a boil in a medium saucepan; remove from heat and add tea.
2. Steep, covered, for 5 minutes. Strain and discard the tea leaves and whole spices.
3. In a small saucepan, heat orange juice, lemon juice, sugar and nutmeg. Warm until the sugar dissolves.
4. Add the juice mixture to the tea. Taste and add more sugar if desired.
5. Reheat (don't boil!) and serve.

Reviews

[Rivkah L.]

I have been drinking what we called “Spiced Tea” every winter for as long as I can remember. My grandmother would prepare the mix (Tang, instant tea, instant lemonade, sugar, and spices) and liberally dole it out as a holiday gift. Looking for a natural, fresher, healthier alternative, I found this recipe. I doubled the amount of sugar, but there is still something lacking in this recipe to really have the bold, satisfying, full flavor of my grandmother’s mix. Next time, I may try adding in ground cinnamon and cloves to the orange juice mixture and skip steeping the whole spices. I think I will also follow another reviewer’s suggestion and cut the amount of water and replace it with orange juice. Will report back on my tweeks.

 

[Annacia]

I reccomend that you make this drink in advance and reheat it. I made it, took the pix and sampled. To be blunt the taste was a let down, even with the juices and spice I found it very flat ( I used Tetleys tea). After tasteing I left the cup on the counter and went off to do some things. I came back into the kitchen about an hour later and thought...well, I'm not going to toss it out. I rewarmed it in the micro and the drink had come alive while I was gone. The flavor had developed and the spice imparted it's goodness. I truly enjoyed the cup that was lackluster when first made.I well may have rushed it and not allowed the full steeping time.

 

[Cat Berner]

I've never had Russian Tea before, and now that I'm sipping on a cup of it, I think it's a very lovely tea. The only change I made was to use Lemon Zinger herbal tea bags and omitted the lemon juice. The kitchen still smells like spices.

 

[Cook4_6]

This brings back childhood memories of a similar recipe my Mom used to make during the winter. (Don't tell, but I think she used Tang instead of OJ). I used decaf tea because it is what I had on hand, and Splenda to cut back on calories, but other than that I followed the recipe to a "tea" :) What a great way to relive a time when life was simpler. Thanks for posting!

 

[DEEP336]

Thanks for posting this! Some 20 or so years ago, I had this recipe...at least it seems to be the same. Tried it tonight, and it's excellent. During the day, I'll be done with black tea, but at night, sorry, but decaf rules. Looking forward to this during some cold winter days that ain't far away!