Christmas Tea
When the weather gets cold, we are all about the warm drinks around here and Christmas Tea is one of my favorites! Spizzie and I have also been known to enjoy a cup of hot chocolate (extra marshmallows please) or a steaming mug of peppermint tea. The Super Trooper is pretty much a coffee drinker, but he does dabble occasionally in wassail and mulled cider. The boys only like tea if it’s cold and sweet, but they do enjoy the ciders and chocolates and all manner of concoctions that come from the coffee shops.
Christmas Tea is another one of those I-learned-it-from-my-grandma recipes. There are dozens of similar recipes floating around, but however you make it, it is a nice treat to have on those cold winter days. A lot of people know it as Friendship Tea or Russian Tea, but I call it Christmas Tea because that was the only time we ever drank it!
My Nanny used to make it as a gift to friends, but she always kept some to share with us. Christmas Tea is not only a thoughtful gift full of yummy goodness, it’s also fairly inexpensive. Give it alone or add it to a basket with a new mug and some baked goodies!
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Christmas Tea
1 Cup powdered orange drink mix (Tang or something similar)
2/3 Cup dry instant tea*
1/2 Cup sugar
2 Tablespoons powdered lemonade mix
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered cloves
Add all of the ingredients together in a bowl, large container, or gallon-size plastic zipper bag. Mix well.
To serve: Add 1 heaping tablespoon per mug of hot water. Stir and enjoy!
*The only instant tea I could find had added lemon. I couldn’t tell that it changed the flavor all that much, but you could always use less lemonade or add more cinnamon and cloves.
That’s it for this recipe. It’s really that simple. There is generally enough mix to completely fill a pint jar and you may have a little leftover. The jars I used are small jelly jars like these (6 oz. Jelly Jars)and it should fill three. In the past, I have also put the mix in small snack size plastic bags and put those inside of a decorated paper bag–just something inexpensive that you can make look cute!
I love to do food and drink gifts for holidays, birthdays, weddings, and “just because” and Christmas Tea goes fabulously in a gift basket! And because I love to give gifts, here’s a gift to all of my wonderful subscribers…you can find the Christmas Tea art print and printable gift tags in the Subscriber Library. If you haven’t already joined, sign up below to get them for free!
This looks so good! What a great gift to make for others or to enjoy yourself!
I love to put it in small jelly jars with a cute tag and ribbon and gift it with a mug! You can do several gifts with one batch!
What size of jar? Approximately how many jars can you fill with one recipe?
Hi Kelly! I used 6 oz. jelly jars and it filled three of them.
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Thanks for reading! I’ve never kept it longer than three months, but that’s because I use it all up! I’m guessing as long as you pay attention to expiration dates on all of the ingredients and store it in a dry place, it should keep for quite a long time.
I try to have my recipe for this Spiced Tea available all year. Any time I have a sore throat, cough or congestion I will make a large cup to sip on. My recipe calls for instant tea that has the lemonade in it. I will give yours a try tho and compare. Glad I came across your pin so I can make sure I have all the ingredients on hand.
I hope you love it and it gives you great results next time you’re congested!
Beth- Thank you so much for sharing this Christmas tea recipe! I have been searching for it for years!! My Grandma always made this, and unfortunately I never could remember all of the ingredients in it….until now! I ran to the store & bought all of my stuff & went home to prepare a taste of my childhood! Thank you for this sweet taste of my good childhood memories ❤️❤️
Oh goodness Shanndee, I’m so glad this is what you were looking for! I hope it brings back wonderful memories every time you drink it!
Hi Beth and happy holidays
I am excited to make the Christmas tea but I cant find the download for printable labels you mention
Am I not looking in the right place ?
Thank you so much for such great ideas
Wendy
Hi Wendy! Are you a member of my mailing list? If so, the tags are in the Subscriber Freebie Library. If not, just scroll to the bottom of the page and sign up. You should get an email with a link to the Subscriber Library and the password and the tags are there, along with some other free printables!! Please let me know if you have any issues!
Try it with the raspberry tea mix and leave out the lemonade.
That sounds yummy too!
I have been making this tea for years!!! I add cinnamon candies to mine to give it some color and spice…
Ooo…that’s a great idea!!! I think I’ll try that too!
Beth, love this drink mix. I add mine to either apple juice or cranberry juice for extra vitamin C.
I’ll bet that is a great flavor…almost like mulled cider!