Ginger honey tea is nothing new to many of us as this soothing drink is a go-to warming tea and the perfect drink to relieve a sore throat when we have a cold or a flu.  This ginger honey tea recipe on the other hand is for a ginger honey tea made with black tea and milk. Honey sweet, gingery spicy; with the pick me up of black tea that is made all creamy with whole milk, you might as well call this a ginger honey dessert tea!

This is a wonderful recipe I learnt from my Aunty Shashi who visited me here in Northern California recently.  She asked me to make her a good cup of tea one afternoon she was here, the type of black tea that is made like chai where tealeaves are boiled together with milk.  For her variation she asked that I brew the tea with lots of fresh ginger.  I then added milk and brought the tea to a boil until steaming hot.  The honey goes in last in individual mugs before the tea is strained into each cup. In this drink its okay to go heavy on the honey, the sweeter the better!

As for the ginger, you want to be generous with your fresh ginger. For this tea to taste stupendous it has to be made with fresh ginger, powdered ginger just wont do this time.  Its that warming sensation in the throat that ginger partakes of that you want, and of course the unmistakable fresh ginger fragrance that can only come from a generous amount of fresh grated ginger.   On the topic of fresh ginger, Shashi commented that my ginger tea had a much stronger ginger flavor than what she makes back home, and observed that I grated/crushed my ginger while she always added sliced ginger in her tea.  Crushing or grating the ginger gives off so much more ginger flavor than slicing, so go ahead and use a mortar and pistil to get a nice juicy ginger meal or grate it for that extra strong boost of ginger flavor.   Oh, and no need to remove the skin either, grate or crush the fresh ginger skin and all.

No cardamom, nutmeg, or cinnamon as is usually added in a traditional chai, just the pure simple flavors of fresh ginger and honey.  Give it a try!

Fresh Ginger Honey Black Tea
makes 2 mugs of tea

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp black tea preferably loose leaf tea
• 2 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• A generous piece of ginger – about 2-3 inches.  Grate or crush the ginger with the skin on.
• Honey to taste

Directions:

• Boil the water in a pot with the fresh ginger.  Onc the water comes to a boil you should start to smell the fragrance of fresh ginger, add the tealeaves and ontinue to boil the brew for 1-2 minutes until you the black tea releases its color and flavor.

• Next add the milk and bring to a boil.  You want a lovely pale brown color to the brew.

•  Note:  If gets too dark add more milk and it’s too light add 1 more tsp of tealeaves.  Once the tea starts boiling with milk turn the stove off.  Get ready to strain the tea.

• In two mugs add a generous amount of honey – 2 to 3 tsp honey makes a sweet tea drink!  Next strain the tea into the mugs and stir to dissolve the honey.

• Serve steaming hot ginger honey black tea and feel the ginger warm your throat and the honey sweeten you palate 😋☕️.