Soothing Turmeric Honey Tea
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Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
  • 8-10 thin slices ginger root
  • 8-10 dime-sized slices fresh turmeric
  • 3-4 whole black peppercorn
  • 1-2 TBSP honey, to taste
  • about 20 oz. hot water (2½ cups)
  • Optional: splash of milk, or dairy free alternative, to taste (I like almond milk)
Instructions
  1. If your ginger and turmeric are organic, there's no need to peel them. If either is dirty, wash first, then slice into discs as thinly as you can. Place the ginger, turmeric, and peppercorns into a small mesh strainer, and set the strainer over a saucepan. Pour in the water, and bring to a boil. (In the photos, I heated my water in a kettle first, but starting with cold water is fine.) The strainer should hang low enough into the saucepan that the ginger and turmeric are fully submerged in the water. If you don't have a shallow enough pot or a small enough strainer, you can let the spices steep loose in the water, then pour everything through a strainer when it's done steeping. (Just be careful of splashes if you do this, as turmeric will stain.)
  2. Once the water reaches a boil, turn off the heat and cover with a lid. Let steep for anywhere from 15 minutes to half an hour, depending on how strong you like it.
  3. Remove the strainer (or carefully pour the tea through a strainer to remove the spices) and stir in honey, to taste. If the tea has cooled down, rewarm as needed.
Notes
This makes enough for just a couple servings of tea -- I like to make it this way as an evening ritual to wind down before bed.

If you want to make a large pot of tea, increase the ingredients and steep in a large saucepan or tea kettle.

For quick individual mugs of tea, you can finely chop the turmeric and ginger (for quicker steeping) and place a spoonful of each, plus a couple peppercorns, into a small sachet of cheese cloth, or loose leaf tea bags like these. You can make a bunch of these at once, and place them in a plastic baggie in the freezer. Simply remove one from the freezer and plop it directly into a mug of hot water to steep, about 10 minutes or as long as you like. Add honey to taste.

Pro tip: turmeric stains like the dickens. Your mug and your saucepan will be fine, but I actually have a dedicated cutting board I keep around specifically for using with things like turmeric and beets that stain.

Variations: I love making this tea simply, just as it is. When I'm feeling fancy, sometimes I add a few pods of cardamom. To do so: lightly crush the pods under the bottom of a glass, or with the flat side of a knife, to break them open, then add to the pot with the other spices. You can also try using any other spices you like, such as whole cloves, a cinnamon stick, or star anise. Or you can go all-out with chai tea spices, and make a turmeric chai. If you need some inspiration, you can find my recipe for chai tea concentrate, HERE.
Recipe by Will Cook For Friends at https://www.willcookforfriends.com/2017/01/soothing-turmeric-ginger-tea.html