Winter Tea

    I’d like to share a wonderful winter tea recipe with you. It has become a 30 year wintertime tradition for me to brew this tea during these cold winter months. I was interning during college at a historic home (one of the oldest in the country!), photographing & cataloguing antiques. Every day my fellow intern & I would be brought this tea & homemade cookies by the caretaker. (rough internship, I know!) It is their recipe as follows:

1 teaspoon cinnamon bark (about 1 whole cinnamon stick)

1 teaspoon whole cloves

6 teabags or 5 heaping teaspoons loose tea (your choice)

Place above in cheesecloth & tie with teabag string. Boil in 1 quart water for 5-10 minutes. (smells WONDERFUL!)

Add:

1/3 of 12-oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate

3 tablespoons lemon juice or 6T. Real Lemon

1-1/2 cups sugar (optional)

1 quart boiling water

Store above syrup in refrigerator. ADD: equal parts water to serve.

There are healthful benefits to this tea. The cinnamon is now considered a superfood; It helps regulate blood sugar. The cloves have one of the highest antioxidant ratings of any spice – great for anti-aging. If you have stomach/digestion problems, then throw some star anise into the mix.

Enjoy!!

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