Citrus-Sage Tea
“Bruising” the sage in your hands helps release the oils in the leaves, making more flavor and aroma come out in the syrup. Steeping the syrup helps all the flavors and scents meld. Ah, happiness.
Ingredients
Orange-Sage Simple Syrup:
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup white granulated sugar
- 4 fresh sage leaves (not dried)
- zest of 2 naval oranges, peeled with a vegetable peeler into long strips
Tea:
- 10 ounces water
- 2 teabags Teavana Citrus Sage Lavender tea
- 1/3 cup half and half
- Orange-Sage Simple syrup, as much as preferred
Instructions
For the syrup:
- Place the water and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.
- Bring to a gentle boil and allow it to boil until the sugar dissolves, stirring occasionally.
- Rub the fresh sage leaves back and forth in the palms of your hands to release their oils. They’ll become very fragrant. Place them in the sugar mixture.
- Allow to steep for at least 20 minutes, longer than 20 minutes is perfectly fine. Strain.
- The syrup is ready to use or allow to cool completely and place in an air-tight container in your refrigerator for up to a month.
For the tea:
- Bring the water up to a boil. You can do this in a 2-cup glass measuring cup in the microwave or in a small saucepan on the stovetop. You can also bring water to a boil in a tea kettle and pour into a mug. If you microwave your mug with the water, please, be careful. Some mugs get very hot in a microwave. See Notes for a handy gadget for tea-making.
- Place 2 teabags in the hot water and steep for 5 minutes.
- Remove the teabags and discard.
- Place the steeped tea into your mug that is big enough to hold the 10 ounces of tea, plus the dairy and syrup.
- Place the half and half in a 2-cup glass measuring cup and heat for 1 minute in the microwave. You can put the half and half in a small saucepan if you don’t have a microwave and gently heat on the stovetop.
- Using a frother, froth the dairy.
- Add the simple syrup to the tea, adding as much as desired. Add the frothed half and half. Very gently stir.
- Taste and add more syrup as necessary. Enjoy!
Notes
I use Adagio Tea’s Ingenuitea pot. It’s great for the microwave; it makes tea convenient and super-fast. There are lots of tea gadgets like this available that make 1 serving of tea very easy. My London Fog recipe features this tea pot, also.
Feel free to use as much dairy as you’d like. I like the ratio of tea to dairy here, but if you can certainly change it up. Froth or not, it’s up to you. I purchased an affordable frother from Amazon. It’s simple and battery-operated and does its job well.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!