While honey and lemon may seem to go hand in hand for some, some may find the acidity of lemon too strong or bitter, or a trigger for heartburn. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to get all of the benefits of honey in tea without adding the acid levels of citrus.
These recipes will allow you to get all of the delicious nutrition from honey in your tea.
1 – Sore Throat Aid
This sore throat aid tea with honey, mint, and ginger is perfect for a lost voice or a bad cold. Plus, it is not hard to make so whatever state you are in, you should be able to pull it off with ease.
Ginger is a root that is both anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory. Meanwhile, honey helps to fight off infections while soothing your sore throat.
Finally, mint cools, and therefore numbs, your throat. It also has more antioxidants than any other food along with menthol, a natural decongestant to clear up your throat.
This ginger honey tea will help you fill up on fluids and fight through your sore throat. To make this tea, slice up your ginger and add it to between one and two cups of water. Heat the water; once it is boiling, reduce the heat and add in the mint.
Steep your tea for five minutes before straining it. Pour it into your mug of choice and add honey. Voila, sore throat be gone!
2 – Healthy Sweet Tea
This iced sweet tea replaces sugar with honey to create a delicious, healthier alternative to fast food and store-bought iced teas chock full of sugar.
Raw honey is a great alternative for the traditional sweet tea that uses absurd levels of sugar to get the “sweet” part of its name. In order to create the best sweet tea replacement, add honey while the water for your tea is at the perfect temperature.
The water has to be warm enough to allow for the honey to mix into it well, but not so hot that it kills any beneficial aspects of the honey.
Alternatively, you can make a simple honey syrup. The syrup can be used in sweet tea as well as in cocktails, mocktails, and lemonade. Honey syrup works as a healthy sugar substitute in tons of recipes.
All that honey simple syrup takes is one part honey and two parts water. Cook the mixture on low while the honey dissolves. That’s it!
3 – Apple Tea
This hot tea is one of the best fall drinks! Ranking among ciders, coffees, and eggnog, this apple tea is twice as easy to make! Plus, it incorporates the honey simple syrup from before.
All it takes is combining two cups of water, apple juice, and the simple honey syrup. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add your choice of a tea bag and allow it to steep for around ten minutes. Serve the drink warm.
If you want a drink that is even more fun, you can make it alcoholic with ease! Just replace some or all of the water with apple-flavored bourbon.
4 – Spiced Tea
This honey-based tea incorporates herbs such as cinnamon and cloves. Plus, the elegant taste does not require any extra hard work on your part.
First, choose a tea bag to base the blend of flavors on. Great flavors for this recipe include chamomile and echinacea. Find your favorite mug and add the tea bag, one whole cinnamon stick, and four cloves.
Then, add in a cup of boiling water and allow the mixture to steep for around five minutes — ten minutes for a stronger brew.
Once it is sufficiently steeped for your liking, strain out the cinnamon and the cloves. Add two tablespoons of honey and stir. Done!
5 – Soothing Honey Tea
This is another drink that is perfect for fall, not just because of its flavor but also because of the way that it can mend your scratchy, cold-weather throat.
As mentioned in the other throat-targeting tea, ginger is anti-inflammatory with a load of natural antihistamines. This recipe also has cinnamon, which helps with coughs by dilating blood vessels.
This helps your immune system fight off infections while adding to the anti-inflammatory properties of the tea to soothe your throat.
Turmeric is another strong antioxidant that will aid with a swollen throat and fighting infection. Salt shrinks swelling in your throat by drawing out extra fluids. That’s why people gargle salt water to decrease mouth and throat pain!
The first step of this recipe is to add half a teaspoon of turmeric, one teaspoon of cinnamon, one teaspoon of ginger, and half a teaspoon of salt into a mug. Then, pour one cup of hot water (just under boiling) into the mug.
Non-dairy milks, such as almond milk, cashew milk, coconut milk, and soy milk, work for this tea as well.
Stir your drink to dissolve all of the powders and ingredients before adding between one and two tablespoons into the drink and stirring again.
6 – Honey Green Tea
Green tea has a huge variety of health benefits only amplified by the healing benefits of honey! Green tea is widely considered to be one of the healthiest drinks that you can choose.
Green teas are full of antioxidants as well as bioactive compounds that can improve both your cholesterol and blood sugar levels when combined.
Green tea can even help fight cancer while encouraging weight loss through increased calorie burning and reduced stomach fat. Both green tea and honey work together to decrease inflammation!
Honey green tea is super easy to make! All you have to do is find your favorite brand of green tea. Place a bag or two, depending on your desired strength, into your favorite mug. Add a cup of water that has just come off the boil.
After between five and ten minutes of steeping, again depending on your desired strength, add the honey! Between one and two tablespoons should then be stirred into the tea until they are fully dissolved.
Sarah is the founder of Baking Kneads, LLC, a blog sharing guides, tips, and recipes for those learning how to bake. Growing up as the daughter of a baker, she spent much of her childhood learning the basics in a local bakery.