Julie Clark
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Friendship Tea Recipe
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This Friendship Tea Recipe is an instant spiced tea with a fruity flavor thanks to Tang and lemonade mix. Cinnamon and cloves add to the warm flavor. It’s the perfect warm drink for the holiday season!
There’s nothing like sitting down to a warm drink with a friend and sharing life together. Maybe it is a Thai coffee, spiced cider or hot chocolate. Possibly even a chai latte. All are popular drinks these days.
If you’re looking for a recipe from years gone by, you may remember on a cold day your mom whipping up a cup of Friendship Tea that she received from a friend. I can remember thinking that instant spiced tea mix was sweet, tangy and deliciously comforting.
Need a homemade gift for a friend, coworker or teacher? Make this homemade hot beverage mix!
About this Friendship Tea Recipe
- Flavor: Think sweet & tangy orange and lemon with a hint of the warm spices of cinnamon and cloves.
- Texture: Smooth and warm. This homemade tea mix is similar to an apple cider and is thicker rather than thin like tea.
- Source: This recipe can be found in just about any of the old church cookbooks and in many places online. I have an old cookbook called Holiday Cookbook and in that book along there are about 6 variations of this recipe. This is the one that was closest to what I remember.
What is friendship tea?
Friendship tea is sometimes called instant spiced tea, Tang tea or Russian Friendship Tea. We do have a Russian Tea recipe as well, but that recipe uses fresh ingredients and juices along with tea bags for a delicious slow cooker drink.
Friendship Tea Ingredients
There are 5 simple ingredients in this recipe:
- Instant Tea: You can find instant tea in the tea and coffee aisle of most grocery stores. Our tea powder was a black tea.
- Tang: Tang is an old fashioned orange-flavored drink mix that you can find by the lemonade powder mixes in the grocery store. It is in an orange container.
- Lemonade Drink Mix: CountryTime Lemonade works well.
- Cinnamon: ground cinnamon
- Cloves: ground cloves
For extra spice
For extra spice and a little color, mix red hots, the cinnamon candy, into the powdered mix. It adds a boost of spicy flavor.
How to Make Friendship Tea
- Mix together in a bowl. If you’d like, you can run the mix through a food processor or blender to make it finer, but with powders we use I don’t find it necessary.
- Then store the powdered mix in containers with tight lids in a dry place. Mason jars work well. Add a cute label with “Friendship Tea” written on it.
- To make a mug of tea, add 1 tablespoon of Russian tea mix to 6 or 8 ounces of hot water. Add more or less to taste.
Storage Instructions
Store this dry mix in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 6 months. Make it in the fall and have it ready any time you need it during the holiday season.
This instant tea mix makes great gifts! It tastes like a Christmas tea so is great for the holidays.
Friendship Tea Recipe
This Friendship Tea Recipe is an instant spiced tea with a fruity flavor thanks to Tang and lemonade mix. Cinnamon and cloves add to the warm flavor.
Servings 80
Prep Time 5 minutes
Total Time 5 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup instant tea
- 2 cups Tang
- 2 cups sweetened lemonade drink mix CountryTime
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
Instructions
- Mix all of the dry ingredients together in a bowl. If you'd like, you can run the mix through a food processor to make the mix finer, but with powders we use I don't find it necessary. 1 cup instant tea, 2 cups Tang, 2 cups sweetened lemonade drink mix, 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground cloves
- Showcase the powder in a mason jar or another airtight container with a tag attached to it labled “Friendship Tea”.
- To make a cup of tea, stir 1 tablespoon into 6-8 ounces of hot water. Decorate with cinnamon sticks, cloves and star anise if desired.
Notes
- You can make this as an iced tea as well. Mix two tablespoons of powder mix into a cup of hot water. Stir to dissolve, then pour over ice.
- Refer to the article above for more tips and tricks.
Nutrition
Calories: 23kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 0.04g | Fat: 0.1g | Saturated Fat: 0.003g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.005g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.003g | Sodium: 3mg | Potassium: 17mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 34IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 4mg | Iron: 0.03mg
This is my favorite recipe for Friendship Tea. Imagine my dismay when I learned that instant unsweetened tea is no longer available where I live.
Question since Lipton is not making the black instant tea could you use the lemon instant tea and omit the lemonade? I have searched for this tea and the only place I have found it is amazon and you have to buy in bulk.
Do you mean instant ice tea mix or instant black tea powder?
Can you make this into a cold iced tea?