Turmeric Tea Recipe
I started making this turmeric tea for its beneficial properties, and now it is one of my favorite daily rituals - made from a honey turmeric paste with lots of lemon juice and freshly ground black pepper.
This is how turmeric tea worked its way into my life. The backstory - for a while it felt like someone was sticking a hot poker between my shoulder blades, particularly if I moved my neck in certain directions, like left or right. And the mornings? Ouch. I'm not entirely sure what I did, but I think it might have something to do with shepherding heavy boxes up and down our stairs. Over and over. Apologies for the complaining, but it was something that had been bothering me for the past few weeks, and nothing was really helping until it occurred to me to bump up the turmeric in my diet. It has significant anti-inflammatory properties (as well as a host of other benefits), and I started going for it - adding extra turmeric to curries, drinking turmeric tea in the morning and evenings, and generally keeping it out on the counter for easy access.
Turmeric Tea Inspiration
I remembered an Ayurvedic turmeric paste I'd read about when I was flipping through books in the Los Angeles Library earlier in the summer, and started using that as my tea base. And it helped! I like turmeric in general, but the tea is, flat out, a favorite. I make a paste of honey and turmeric that keeps in a jar for easy use. I heat water, pour it over a spoonful of the paste, and finish with a big squeeze of lemon and a substantial amount of freshly ground black pepper. It's good stuff - the black pepper makes it invigorating (and also helps the body absorb the turmeric), and the honey sets off the earthy-acridness of the spice enough that the tea is still balanced and delicious.
One thing - use mildly hot water here, but not boiling - to help preserve the properties of the raw honey. I'll make note in the recipe below, but wanted to call that out in particular. You can also blend the paste into smoothie, or swirl it into yogurt.
Turmeric Tea Variations
I love combing my spice drawers & herb stashes to experiment with different blends. Here are a few recent turmeric-centric favorites.
- Ginger Verbena Turmeric Iced Tea: I have a prolific lemon verbena plant and I love using the leaves (fresh or dried) in this tea. To eight cups of boiling water add 20 crushed cardamom pods, 10 lemon verbena leaves, 20 black pepper corns, and 10 crushed ginger slices (peeled, 1/4-inch thick, size of a quarter). Boil for 15 minutes, remove from heat and stir in 1/8 teaspoon dried turmeric, or a bit of the honey paste (recipe below). Strain, chill, serve over ice.
- Ginger Tulsi Turmeric Iced Tea: I also grow a good amount of tulsi basil in my garden. It makes a wonder gift on its own, or as part of custom tea blends. And I love it in this iced tea. Basically the process is the same as the above iced tea, simply swap out the lemon verbena, swap in tulsi basil.
- And when I'm ready for a break from turmeric tea, I trade in 8-10 threads of saffron in its place. For a saffron version. Or you can double up and use both!
Hope you enjoy these as much as I do. xo
Turmeric Tea
Turmeric tends to stain anything it comes into contact with, so be careful.
- 1/3 cup / 80 ml good, raw honey
- 2 1/2 teaspoons dried turmeric
- lemon
- lots of freshly ground black pepper
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Work the turmeric into the honey until it forms a paste. You can keep this on hand, in a jar, for whenever you'd like a cup.
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For each cup of tea, place a heaping teaspoon of the turmeric paste in the bottom of a mug. Pour hot (but not boiling water) into the mug, and stir well to dissolve the turmeric paste. Add a big squeeze of juice from a lemon, and a good amount of black pepper. Enjoy! Stir now and then as you drink so all the good stuff doesn't settle to the bottom, or top off with more hot water as you drink it.
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Comments
this looks great! I'm assuming this would also be great for digestive problems. does this keep in the fridge/pantry and for how long? thanks!
My eyes said beautiful. My tastebuds said... 'but how does it taste.....?????'. I'm going to give this a try. I already have a new bag of tumeric.
It is nice to hear that the turmeric helped with your muscle pain. The tea sounds good, and I think I'd like to try it. From my own research: Even though most of us would consider turmeric to be a spice, the FDA classifies it as a food colour. Many processed foods use it just for the colour. It can also slow down blood clotting which may be an issue if you are scheduled for surgery (ref Oregon State University – Linus Pauling Institute).
I have been known to subject myself to "turmeric shots" if I'm feeling under the weather, but I think adding a little tea and lemon would make them much more palatable--I'll have to try this tea next time!
Turmeric is by far one of the most medicinal spices out there and I, too, have experienced amazing results when I consume it. I actually drink a tea almost identical to this on a regular basis...although I now need to try it with the black pepper (I've read about how black pepper helps the body absorb turmeric's nutrients recently...so cool!) I also like to make my tea with the fresh turmeric root by grating it as I would ginger. Powerful stuff!
I love Turmeric tea. I also love to put a honey turmeric paste on my face for a delicious facial! And if you have leftover honey/turmeric, its also great on sauteed veggies like onions & squash :)
Thank you for this! I am always looking for ways to get more turmeric into my diet. I haven a disease which causes chronic inflammation. I think this will help me.
I've been doing turmeric in capsule form because very little of what I cook calls for it. I'm absolutely planning on giving this tea a try!
I knew that turmeric was really good for you but I never would have thought to use it for tea. I always think of it in savoury applications. Thanks for the tip!
What a powerful recipe - I recently tried a turmeric tea for the first time and wasn't blown away, but this recipe looks superb! I think the addition of honey and pepper seals the deal for me. It's amazing how foods can be so powerful. Thanks for an amazing idea.
Sounds gorgeous. I remember having a beautiful Turmeric Tea in Tokyo a few years ago. It was wonderfully smokey, and I have been looking everywhere for it. This recipe will be a great substitute I'm sure.
Oooh through yoghurt, love that idea! My friend recently introduced me to a similar recipe. I've been loving tumeric for it's health benefits, adding it with particular fervor to roasting cauliflower. Thank you for this one. Heidi xo
Does the paste need to be refrigerated, or can it be left out?
hi heidi, i've never had turmeric tea but it sounds like it may be good in cooler months coming up too. hope you'll be all better soon!
this sounds perfect! I've been feeling kinda off lately too. I might make my tea with a bit of raw ginger or ginger juice. Thank you for the inspiration heidi!
Very interesting! My mother in law makes drinks with turmeric all the time, but this sounds more complex. Will give it a try tonight!
well, now. i do love my turmeric, but mostly find myself eating it in curries and indian-leaning vegetable dishes. but tea? i had to read it through, twice, but think in the process i might just be sold. for who doesn't have achy sore grumps here and there? and who doesn't love a splash of gold in their day? i'm thinking the yogurt swirl, especially, has serious potential...thanks, as always, heidi.
Yum! I caught the cold that's been floating around my college recently, so I've been drinking ginger that's boiled with turmeric and black pepper. I like the idea of mixing it with honey for easy use.
I'm surprised it hasn't stained the mortar and pestle! xo
HS: A quick scrub immediately after and it is no worse for the wear.
What you described, about the turmeric, lemon, water - reminds me of one of my favorite juices on a cleanse I did. They used agave rather than honey and added some cayenne rather than black pepper and I was sort of meh about it in the beginning but by the end, it turned out to be a favorite so I know I'd love your tea. And glad you shoulder is doing better!
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