People usually fall into one of two camps. Are you a dog person or a cat person? Toilet paper under the roll or over the roll? Coffee or tea? For most of the year, I am firmly in the coffee camp. Hot tea is nice when I have a sore throat, but otherwise, I don’t drink it all that often. Until Fall, that is. Something about the chillier temperatures makes me want to snuggle in under a cable knit blanket with a good book in one hand and a warm cup of tea in the other.
This year, I decided to combine a comforting cup of hot tea with my absolute favorite fall beverage, apple cider. I get excited when my kids’ schools have field trips to the apple farm because that means I can grab a gallon of fresh pressed apple cider and a few cake donuts before we leave. Refrigerated cider from the grocery store is good, but cider fresh from the press cannot be beaten.
To the already exciting combination of tea and cider, I decided to add another fall favorite. There’s nothing that says autumn better than apple cider and pumpkin, right? The tea recipe that I created combines delicious flavors of fall to make a tasty, warm drink.
While you can make this tea using whatever tea you have in your pantry, it is especially good with a pumpkin tea blend. Several tea manufacturers sell pumpkin teas. Here are just a few:
You will also need apple cider (NOT apple juice) and pumpkin puree. You can either try making your own fresh pumpkin puree or you can use the canned version, just don’t accidentally use pumpkin pie filling. The pie filling has extra ingredients that would taste strange in a tea.
To make one large serving of Pumpkin Cider Tea: First, measure 1/4 cup of pure pumpkin into a small sauce pan. Stir in eight ounces of pumpkin tea that has already been brewed. Add in six ounces (3/4 cup) of apple cider and 1/2 teaspoon of honey. Heat the mixture over medium heat until the pumpkin is dissolved and the liquids are heated through, stirring occasionally.
Serve your pumpkin cider tea in a large mug or split it between two smaller mugs and share with a friend! Complete festive fall tea time with some Mini Caramel Apple Crisp Donuts! Enjoy, and happy fall!
For more tasty fall treat ideas, visit the Apartment Living Blog at ForRent.com!