Recipe: Fresh Turmeric And Ginger Tea

Living in NY means being in contact with innumerable of people on a daily basis. In one subway car alone, you're stuffed in surrounded by people who are often coughing and sneezing (and who knows what else). This is the time of year when everyone at the office is sick, and the kids keep coming home with sniffles. I decided it was time to pull out the soothing wintertime teas. I like to drink tisanes with turmeric and ginger when the cold and flu season hits. I find turmeric, honey and ginger incredibly soothing for coughs, sniffles, and sore throats. Add in a bit of lemon, and it's even better. I recently created a recipe for fresh turmeric and ginger tea that is the perfect remedy for the wintertime blues.

A few months ago a neighbor gave me a jar of a Korean tea concentrate that is essentially a thick concentrated paste of yuzu, ginger, and honey all mixed together. To prepare, you simply dissolve a few teaspoons in hot water. I love the ease of having this concentrate in the fridge. But the store-bought tea is a bit too sweet for me and it's not always easy to find in the store, so I thought I'd create my own version of zingy ginger tea and add a healthy dose of turmeric.

Turmeric always seems like a good idea, especially during cold and flu season. Lemon too, for the added vitamin C. I love how the yuzu flavor tastes in the jarred version that I have, but yuzu is quite difficult to find and lemon is a great substitute. Fresh turmeric can also be tricky to find (I had to check a couple of stores before I found it), so you can substitute ground turmeric in the recipe if necessary.

Tips To Consider

- If you're using fresh turmeric, be careful of staining! This stuff is potent. My fingernails were yellow for a couple of hours afterwards, even after vigorous hand washing.

-I grated my ginger and turmeric by hand, which can be a bit of a pain. If you have a food processor or mini-chopper, use it!

-I like to use raw honey in this preparation, it supposedly has more nutrients. But any honey will do.

-You can absolutely use ground ginger and turmeric for this recipe, but you won't need as much. Fresh turmeric is difficult to find, and can be expensive, so please go ahead and use ground. I note the measurements in the recipe below.

-You can thinly slice pieces of lemon and add it to this mixture, but I prefer just using the zest and juice. The white pith of the lemon isn't as pleasant to chew on, but it is edible.

-To zest the lemon, I love using a microplane to get every last bit of zest, but a regular grater with tiny holes also works just fine.

-This recipe makes enough for quite a few teaspoons of concentrated tea paste. I like to keep mine in a sanitized jar in the fridge, as it keeps for a couple of weeks. I hoard small jars after they've been used, exactly for this kind of purpose. My husband gets a bit annoyed with our cabinet overflowing with empty jars, but hey, they come in handy!

Tea Happiness' Fresh Turmeric and Ginger Tea 

2 tbsp fresh grated turmeric, or 3 tsp ground

3 tbsp fresh grated ginger, or 1 tbsp ground 

1/4 C. Honey

Juice and zest of 1 small lemon 

1 cup freshly boiled water

Peel fresh turmeric and ginger before grating. Once grated, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly to create a marmalade-like paste. Add 1-2 teaspoons of the paste to a mug, and pour in hot water. Stir to dissolve. 

Add the remaining paste to a clean, small jar, it keeps in the fridge for about 2 weeks.

Add as many teaspoons of this tasty mixture as you like to hot or cold water for tea. Too much ginger for your liking? You can use more water, and less paste. I also sometimes top up my mug with a bit more lemon juice if I'm feeling really under the weather. This is a versatile drink you can make hot or cold, but I love a steamy cup of this in the winter or any time I'm feeling sick.

Even when I'm not feeling sniffly, I love keeping this tea in the fridge to enjoy on winter evenings. Just plop a few teaspoons in a mug and mix with hot water for a soothing, delicious warm hug. For a more authentic Korean yuzu citron tea, check out Jee's recipe at Oh How Civilized. For something warming with a bit of booze, try my chai spiced hot toddy recipe. How are you staying healthy and warm this winter? Would love to know all of your hot tea remedies!

My Wintertime Tea Concoctions

I know that's a strange title for a blog post, but I was trying to decide if I should share a few of the blends I like to drink once the temperature starts to dip. This weekend we're supposed to get our first proper storm of the year, so I thought it would be a good excuse to post the brews I like to construct for chilly days and sore throats.

The first infusion I call my 'kitchen sink' brew, basically because I put whatever soothing ingredients I have around the house based on how I feel. When I'm chilled or a little run down and need some healing, I'll pick and choose from the following:

Ginger: Grate about a teaspoon or two and pour boiling water over it and add other ingredients, or simmer a knob of ginger for about 15 minutes, take off the boil and add other items. I often do ginger on its own, or with just lemon and honey for a relaxing after dinner drink. But it makes a good base for my 'kitchen sink' brew.

Turmeric: If I have fresh turmeric, I treat it the same way as ginger. If dried, I'll add after the water has been heated. Turmeric is very earthy and can get a bit bitter, so adding at least a bit of lemon or honey will help even out your sips.

Apple Cider Vinegar: I know, this seems weird, but it really is great in a tea infusion! I'll add a tablespoon (give or take) to the warm water after boiling/steeping other ingredients. If you're adding ACV, you should definitely do honey as well. It takes away a bit of the astringent/stinging feeling you can get from it. But trust me, it really helps a sore throat! If you like the taste of kombucha, you won't mind ACV, but it is definitely something that can take getting used to, especially warm. I didn't love it at first, but now I even drink it diluted in a glass of water without any sweetener. I really like the sour fermented taste.

Garlic:When  I really want something healing and if I'm congested enough not to taste very well, I'll add a clove a garlic to the mix. I know, it's definitely not tasty, but it does make me feel a bit better. I'll simmer the garlic with the ginger/turmeric. I'll even make myself eat the clove after, but that's when I'm really in need of help.

Tea (of course): When I need a bit of a caffeine kick, I'll add some black tea to the crazy combination of ingredients. I find it gives everything a nice depth of flavor and roundness. But if I'm brewing this in the evening I usually leave the tea out. I suppose you could add a bit of rooibos for some added flavor without caffeine, but I've just never been a big fan of it.

Spices: If I'm adding ACV, I don't usually play around with spices since that pungent stuff will mask most flavors. But if I'm just doing ginger or turmeric, I'll sometimes add cinnamon, cloves, cardamom or even peppercorns to make things interesting. But I often go without spices altogether, especially if I'm not feeling great.

It's #tea toddy time again for the #officeteaclub! This week it was Japanese whiskey, spices, lemon, honey, and white tea from @teatuliateas! It was so tasty we're going to do another version next week!

A photo posted by sara shacket (@tea_happiness) on Dec 23, 2015 at 1:30pm PST

When I'm not in the mood for a 'kitchen sink' brew, I'll often make:

Hot Toddy- for times that I'm looking for a dash of booze in my brew, I'll make a hot toddy. We recently made a few for our Office Tea Club (if you follow me on instagram you'll know a bit about the club). A hot toddy doesn't really need to have tea added, but why wouldn't you want some warming tea with your booze and spices? I usually choose the alcohol first (I've tried whiskey, rum, and scotch before, all with great results), and then pick some spices (cinnamon or cloves are always good), add some honey and lemon or orange (juice and/or zest) to taste.

Holy Ginger- I love this blend of tulsi and dried ginger from Happy Earth Tea. I often add a squeeze of lemon and dash of honey for a perfectly comforting blend. The Littlest Tea Critic is also a big fan. We'll have it on chilly evenings before bed, or when one of us isn't feeling well.

This weekend as we cozy up at home baking cookies and simmering stews I'll also be sipping on a few of my concoctions. I'm always looking for more ingredients to add to my winter tea brews. If you have any suggestions, definitely let me know! Stay warm and enjoy the snow if you get some!