Why wait until Christmas to brew a spiced cup of tea when you can do it now? And you should, because hot and spiced teas are excellent for you. Teas are packed with antioxidants, and antioxidants are known to help keep diseases at bay and strengthen the immune system. Also, the various spices that are usually used in tea add extra benefits to that.
Let’s see what spices you can use that will provide a healthy dose of nutrients and minerals to your body. And let’s not forget they make tea delicious.
Black peppercorns make a delicious tea, and that’s the reason to make you addicted. But aside from that, black pepper tea is the perfect remedy to treat a sore throat. Tea can also be infused with different peppercorns such as red, pink, green or white.
Black pepper is used in Ayurvedic medicine to treat various conditions, mainly related to the respiratory system. It’s not only used to spice up teas but as well in cooking. It has a healthy dose of vitamin K, magnesium and iron.
The good thing about pepper in relation to tea is that it can be combined with most of the other commonly used spices and it will blend smoothly with any of them.
Ground Cloves Tea
Another flavorful one, ground cloves tea is excellent for drinking a good part of your daily dose of vitamin C, magnesium and fiber. Cloves are anti-inflammatory agents as well, so drinking a cup or two of ground cloves tea every day will help you relieve any swelling or inflammation naturally.
Widely used in Chinese medicine, cloves help prevent allergic conditions and relieve muscle spasms too. In addition, and this is probably a hit for many, cloves infused in tea treat insomnia.
You can get the most of the ground cloves tea if you buy fresh cloves, and how to tell if they’re fresh is to press onto a clove using your fingernail, and if it releases oil, then it’s fresh.
Cardamom Tea
Cardamom is very common in India where it represents a household spice, and it is used widely in Indian cuisine. Its distinctive aroma makes it a nice addition to teas, not to mention it brings along some health benefits.
Like cloves, cardamom also contains oil, which is what gives seeds the strong scent. In regards to the good it does to the body, cardamom can be used as a digestive aid to relieve stomach aches, cramps, and indigestion. Cardamom seeds can be added to black, green or white tea, but they also make standalone tea. Cardamom tea is also an excellent detoxification agent.
Any of these spices make what is almost considered medicinal teas, but if you want a more exotic hot beverage, then definitely explore recipes and experiment to your taste.
You can add fresh juices, pineapple syrup from canned pineapple, almond milk, cranberry jelly, whiskey, grated chocolate and almost anything you can think of to your tea.