I talk a lot about how much coffee I drink (and yes, I do drink a lot of coffee) but honestly, I drink just as much if not more tea. Almost always herbal, sometimes a bag, sometimes loose leaf. In the cold months I probably drink 5 cups a day (well actually I drink it out of big ball jars and drink 2-3 of those big jars a day) So yeah, I drink a lot of tea too.
This tea blend is one of my favorites. Licorice is delicious. Sweet and spicy, not to mention fantastic for any respiratory ailments you might be having (licorice root is one of my go to’s for medicinal purposes) Adding all the other spices just brings even more amazing spicy goodness that will make your house smell amazing and make you face smile a smile. A perfect tea to place on the stove to sip on all day, warm your insides and hands (best cure for cold hands is a hot mug) and most likely put you in a cheery festive mood because we are in the thick of all the holidays and sweet and spicy mulled hot drinks will do that to a person.
Take a few minutes, make some tea, and take care of yourself. It will be good. Trust.
To the tea!!
The stuff. Cut and sifted licorice root, whole or hulled cardamon pods (use one or the other), whole cloves, a couple cinnamon stick, some fresh ginger, and and orange.
Not much needs to be done, just slice the ginger into a few thin pieces (you don’t even need to peel it) and peel the good parts of the orange off (avoid the white pith) then add it to a pot with the spices and that’s pretty much it.
Pot full of spices. It’s gonna be good.
And we can’t forget to add in the water cause tea needs water. Bring the pot to a nice boil on the stove for a few minutes then pull it off the heat.
Set hot tea to steep for like 10 or so minutes.
Strain steeped tea into mugs.
Pssss.. You can re-steep all the tea bits if you want. I have resteeped mine like 3 times!
Add a festive common stick and slice of orange to (squeeze the juice into the tea.
Now take in all the cozy sweet feels, sip, and enjoy.
-C
Mulled Licorice Spice Tea
Makes 3 large cups (plus more if you want to re-steep spices)
2 teaspoons cut and sifted Licorice root
1/2 teaspoon whole cloves
4-5 whole cardamon pods or 1 teaspoon hulled cardamon
about an inch and a half of fresh ginger
An orange
1-2 whole cinnamon sticks
36-40 oz of water
Peel or zest the orange (not the white part,) and slice the ginger into a few thin pieces. Place into a big pot along with all the spices and the water. Place pot on stove and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes then turn heat off and let tea steep for 10 minutes.
After steeping, strain into cups. Slice orange into segments and serve tea with a squeeze of fresh orange juice. IF you feel fancy, a cinnamon stick too. Feel free to sweeten tea to taste, but I think you will find that it is sweet enough.
Drin kind enjoy.
Note. After you strain the tea, place the spices back into the pot. Add more water. boil and steep again. These spices can be used for a few rounds of tea