Friendship Tea Recipes: Cozy Indulgence

Learn how to make some simple, soothing, instant friendship tea. What is friendship tea? Basic homemade friendship tea, also known as Russian tea, Russian friendship tea, spiced tea, or Tang tea, is a hot beverage made with Tang, lemonade, instant tea, some cinnamon, and ground cloves. It makes a delicious, homemade Mason jar holiday gift. In addition to the ingredients for basic friendship tea, you will also find frugal and sugar-free friendship tea recipes. Any one of these friendship tea recipes would be ideal to serve at a Valentine tea party or a kid’s tea party. Friendship tea is also a perfect hot, cozy drink to relax with on a cold rainy day with a cozy mystery book in your hand. What is in a soothing cup of spiced tea? Read on for the easy friendship tea recipes!

My Friendship Tea Backstory

From the time my sister and I were quite young, our dear Canadian grandmother allowed us to choose a fine china cup and saucer with which to enjoy afternoon tea. What a brave grandmother! We were very careful, and the teacups remained undamaged. Our favorite tea to sip was a wonderful concoction we called Russian tea, but is also known, as noted above, as friendship tea. We always had the special tea on hand in our house when I was growing up.

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Fast Forward to Drinking Friendship Tea as an Adult

Now that I have a home and family of my own, the friendship tea tradition has continued. These days, in my houseful of guys, the tea is served in mugs rather than fine china teacups. It’s most requested when someone is feeling under the weather. As a school librarian, I’m constantly surrounded by sniffles, sneezes, coughs, and wheezes. I don’t even like to think about where those books might have been. Despite the constant hand-washing, some type of bug occasionally manages to invade our household. When that happens, I turn to friendship tea. As previously noted, it’s also the ideal beverage for a children’s tea party.

Optional Equipment for Friendship Tea Recipes

In addition to basic measuring cups and spoons, there is one item that makes putting these friendship tea recipes together a lot easier. What is that optional item? It’s my trusty funnel from my canning set, although any jar funnel will do. You can see it pictured below.

What is in Friendship Tea: Basic Friendship Tea Ingredients

What is friendship tea made of?

Here are the ingredients for the recipe for friendship tea that was handed down to me by my grandmother:

1/2 cup unsweetened instant Lipton tea 

1 cup Countrytime lemonade mix

2 cups Tang orange drink mix (you can also use generic powdered orange drink mix)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4-1/2 cup sugar (optional)

How to Make Friendship Tea

Place all ingredients in a 1 quart Mason jar or other container with lid and shake or roll around to combine.  To serve, mix 2 teaspoons of Friendship Tea with 1 cup of boiling water. For a larger mug, use 3 teaspoons, or to taste. Here’s a fun little Pinterest video you can watch to see just how simple it is to mix together a jar of friendship tea. It even has music!=)

Frugal Friendship Tea Recipe

To save money, you can substitute the Countrytime lemonade mix (which can be a bit spendy) with a 3 1/4 ounce envelope of powdered lemonade mix (like KoolAid) and 1 cup of sugar. It is not strictly necessary to make this friendship tea recipe with Tang. You can also make this Russian friendship tea with a generic powdered orange drink mix in the bulk food section of a store like Winco. The cinnamon and ground cloves can also be purchased in the bulk food section. If you can find a generic instant tea mix, that’s even better.

Reduced Sugar and Sugar-Free Friendship Tea Recipes

If you wish to reduce the sugar, you may substitute the sugar and lemonade mix with 1 cup of powdered sugar-free lemonade mix. If you want to make a completely sugar-free friendship tea recipe, you can purchase Tang Zero Sugar packets. Use enough packets to equal one cup.

One More Special Ingredient in this Friendship Tea Recipe

When I think of drinking a cup of friendship tea, I get a warm feeling inside. I think that’s because my earliest memories of drinking it are filled with thoughts of love for my grandmother. Love makes everything taste better! No wonder I feel so soothed and relaxed when I drink this special spiced tea. It really does help me feel better right away, both mentally and physically.

Make Friendship Tea Recipes Even Easier

If you are a regular consumer of tea, you probably already have an electric tea kettle. If you have never owned one, but drink a lot of hot beverages, you might consider adding this handy device to your kitchen collection. After only a few minutes, a nice pot of boiling water is ready for you to use. Mine is similar to this one:

Common Friendship Tea or Russian Tea Questions

How did Russian tea get its name?

The term “Russian tea” for friendship tea with Tang likely originated from the tradition of serving strong, hot tea in Russia. However, friendship tea, which often includes Tang, is an American beverage, and its connection to Russia is more cultural or nostalgic than historically accurate. Russians historically have a robust tea-drinking culture, and black tea with lemon and sugar is a common way to enjoy tea in Russia. Traditional Russian tea is typically strong and is often served with slices of lemon and sugar cubes. The addition of lemon and sugar enhances the flavor of the tea and complements the taste of the brew. This cultural preference for tea with lemon and sugar has been a longstanding tradition in Russia.

Is drinking spice tea good for you?

Drinking spice tea can have potential health benefits. Many spices commonly used in spice teas, such as cinnamon and cloves, contain antioxidants and anti-inflammatory properties. These can contribute to overall health and may help support the immune system.

What to Serve with Friendship Tea with Tang

When serving friendship tea with Tang, you might want to consider pairing it with light snacks, breakfast, brunch, or desserts that complement the sweet and spiced flavors of the tea. Friendship tea with Tang makes an ideal addition to any breakfast, brunch, or tea party menu. It can be served alongside breakfast main dishes, such as make ahead breakfast casserole or easy breakfast skillet. For an afternoon teatime treat, serve friendship tea with decadent orange chocolate scones, buttery cinnamon shortbread cookies, or white chocolate raspberry scones. The options are many!

Packaging Friendship Tea as a Gift

My favorite way to decorate a mason jar lid for gifting calls for some cellophane (any color), a twist tie, and a piece of ribbon. First, cut a 12 inch square of cellophane and lay it center it on the flat jar lid. Screw the band down over the cellophane, then gather it together on top and twist firmly. Fasten the twist with a twist tie, then tie a ribbon below the twist tie. Remove the twist tie and trim the top with scissors so the edges are even. Ta-da! Here is a visual for you to reference.

Free Printable Gift Tags for Friendship Tea

If you decide to give away friendship tea in a jar as a gift, here are some free printable, editable gift tags. I designed them in Google Slides, so you can either keep them as is or customize with your own font and text. To customize, all you have to do is go to File in the top menu bar, then go down to Make a copy, select either option, then name your copy. I’ve included the directions for mixing a cup of Friendship tea on each tag. For ease of printing, the tags are sized to be compatible with a popular business card template which you might already have. You can also just print these tags out on cardstock and cut them out yourself.

Easy Friendship Tea Recipes

Learn how to make some simple, soothing, instant friendship tea. Here you'll find the basic recipe, plus frugal and sugar free friendship tea recipes.

5 from 4 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 5 minutes mins

Course Beverage

Cuisine American, English

Servings 64

Calories 191 kcal

Equipment

• 1 1-quart Mason jar with lid
• 1 Canning funnel optional
• Measuring cups and spoons

Ingredients

  

• ½ cup unsweetened instant Lipton tea mix
• 1 cup Countrytime lemonade mix
• 2 cups Tang orange drink mix
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon ground cloves
• ¼-½ cup sugar (optional)

Instructions

 

• Place all ingredients in a 1 quart Mason jar or other container with lid and shake or roll around to combine.
• To serve, mix 2 teaspoons of Friendship Tea with 1 cup of boiling water. For a larger mug, use 3 teaspoons, or to taste.

Notes

Frugal Friendship Tea Recipe Variation

To save money, you can substitute the Countrytime lemonade mix (which can be a bit spendy) with a 3 1/4 ounce envelope of powdered lemonade mix (like KoolAid) and 1 cup of sugar. You can also purchase generic powdered orange drink mix in the bulk food section of a store like Winco. The cinnamon and ground cloves can also be purchased in the bulk food section. If you can find a generic instant tea mix, that’s even better.

Reduced Sugar and Sugar-Free Friendship Tea Recipes

If you wish to reduce the sugar, you may substitute the sugar and lemonade mix with 1 cup of powdered sugar-free lemonade mix. If you want to make a completely sugar-free friendship tea recipe, you can purchase Tang Zero Sugar packets. Use enough packets to equal one cup.

Keyword hot drink, tea

More Tea Inspiration

Thinking of working one of these friendship tea recipes into your tea party recipe collection? It’s always nice to have a plan when it comes to meals or parties. If you’re looking for a way to get more organized with your meal-planning efforts, I’ve got something for you. Free, editable meal planners! The templates can be used over and over, as often as you need them. You can make as many duplicates as you like, and you’ll be able to save old meal plans for future reference. I hope it simplifies things for you.

Get my digital, editable, printable templates!

You might also be interested in reading about some of my other easy recipes, like Easy Wassail.  If you would like even more recipe ideas, consider following my Easy Recipes board on Pinterest. Wishing you good health and many opportunities to relax and enjoy a cozy cup of friendship tea.

Lisa Mitchell is a wife, mom, and school librarian who likes to create and share recipes, often using fresh ingredients from her family’s small Pacific Northwest farm. For more delicious, easy recipes, click on over to the Food page.