Tea Recipes & Ideas

At taco trucks, my drink of choice is always jamaica, that bright red brew that is a little tart, a little sweet and totally refreshing on a hot day. Made with dried hibiscus flowers, jamaica is easy enough to make at home, but it wasn’t until recently that I discovered how much tastier — and even simpler! — it can be when you cold-brew it overnight in the refrigerator.

Are you looking for a little boost this time of year? If you’re looking for a tea that calms your nerves and lifts your mood, have this lemon balm tea. It’s made with a blend of herbs including oatstraw, rose hips, lavender, orange peel, and lemon balm, a cheery plant with a long history of raising our spirits. Sipping this tea will surely brighten those dreary days.

Oolong tea is often described as being between green tea and black tea, so it makes sense that steeping techniques usually fall somewhere in the middle, too. Oolong tea comes in different oxidation levels and leaf shapes, so there is no one-size-fits-all method for steeping. This is also a wonderful tea for re-steeping, and you can discover new aromas and flavors with each new infusion. Oolong tea is often steeped in an Asian-style gaiwan or a clay Yixing teapot.

It has the perfect amount of tutti-frutti sweetness.

A spicy, soothing beverage that's best enjoyed with a squeeze of lemon juice and a drizzle of honey — and your feet up on the couch.

Is there anything more Southern than sweet tea and bourbon? Well, what if you were to mix these two together to make the ultimate Southern sipper?

As a kid, orange Popsicles were always my go-to from those big boxes of fruit-flavored icy treats that would make appearances at end-of-year school parties and friends’ summer birthdays. Forget cherry or grape — the citrusy pops were the only kind that mattered in my 9-year-old mind. Now, to be completely honest, if I were faced with that box again, my choice would be the same.

It's our favorite way to warm up this season.

It's tasty and celebratory, and you can drink it all day long without the impact of slogging bourbon for hours on end.

Most punch recipes cater to a single crowd: drinkers or non-drinkers. This one is delicious either way. Whether you fizz it up with champagne or mineral water, hibiscus ginger punch will put a colorful sparkle in your celebrations. When I started dreaming of a festive punch, I initially considered cranberry or pomegranate but, frankly, I was a bit tired of these ingredients, which appear in every other beverage this time of year.

My idea for this iced tea-slash-mocktail has been brewing ever since one of our readers suggested pu-erh as a possible non-alcoholic alternative to bourbon. (Thanks, missjulia!) Bourbon is my favorite liquor, but my partner is allergic to alcohol, so it seemed a fun challenge to create something we’d both enjoy. And pu-erh turned out to be the perfect ingredient. Traditional to Yunnan province, China, pu-erh is an aged and fermented tea with a smooth, earthy flavor.

Persimmon season has mostly waned, but if you thought to dry some of the fruits to keep in your pantry, here’s a most delicious way to use them. You can also use the dried persimmons found at many Asian markets. Sujeonggwa is a Korean punch or tea, made by simmering ginger and cinnamon sticks and then adding sugar and dried persimmons. Although it’s served chilled, the warmth imparted by the ginger and cinnamon make it wholly appropriate for winter days.