Soothe Your Soul series: For Fall, Enjoy Exotic Teas Infused with Spices

Once temperatures drop and the leaves start to turn, a mug of piping hot, freshly brewed tea is just so enticing! But beyond dropping your regular tea bag into a cup of hot water, make your autumn tea time a real treat. Savor teas infused with exotic spices and prepared with the proper accessories for a truly relaxing and rejuvenating experience. To help you get started, we chose some intriguing tea recipes and trendy tea-time essentials for you to choose from!

Tips for Enjoying Exotic Fall Teas with Spices

• Celebrate the season by buying a selection of teas featuring autumn spices: cinnamon, apple, orange, nutmeg, mint, and the like.*
• Enjoy the health benefits of natural ingredients like ginger, turmeric, lemon, cardamom, and various green teas.*
• Experiment with more exotic flavors like jasmine, oolong, persimmon, anise and many more.**See the amazing recipes we share below.
• Invest in the proper gadgets for making tea preparation not only easier and more efficient, but definitely delicious!
• Make your tea time a total experience with a special mug or cup all your own, a comfy armchair or sofa to curl up in, a fluffy, warm throw, and maybe some soothing music to relax and unwind to.

8 Recipes for Teas Infused with Exotic Spices

Surfing the web for these amazing concoctions made us practically savor the aromas, flavors and warmth of tea on a chilly autumn day! Take your pick.

1 – Homemade Masala Chai – Chai is a fragrant milky tea enjoyed throughout India and parts of Africa. Thanks to The Kitchn (recipe link here), you can make it right in your home kitchen—blending five spices: green cardamom, cinnamon, fennel seed, fresh ginger, and black peppercorns.

2 – Orange Spiced Black Tea – This recipe is just one of six featured in this great post from Learning Herbs. It uses black tea, cinnamon chips, black pepper, crushed cardamom pods, dried orange slices, and orange extract. The entire post guides you through the steps of blending your own teas rather than buying expensive (and often artificially flavored) blends—and suggests giving them as gifts. Great idea!

3 – Oolong Tea – Never tried (or even heard of) this type of traditional Chinese tea? Well, this recipe from The Kitchn demonstrates the Western style of steeping the oolong leaves in a teapot or right in your cup.

4 – Lemon and Cinnamon Tea – This seems like an American fall concoction, doesn’t it? But we found it on the Norwegian blog, House of Treats! As blogger Lene puts it, it “tastes like a little bit of Christmas”—featuring cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon juice to flavor your favorite tea. Yum!

5 – Spiced Persimmon Turmeric Tea – You’ve surely heard of the health benefits of turmeric. Well, this infusion (not technically a tea) from Gourmande in the Kitchen offers that, plus similarly medicinal ginger and cinnamon, rounded out by the kick of black pepper and the sweetness of persimmon.

6 – Ginger Mint Green Tea – So easy to enjoy your own light and refreshing cup of this blend we found via Craftea. Perk up your basic green tea with freshly sliced ginger and mint leaves, steep to desired strength, garnish with lemon slices, and serve either hot or cold.

7 – Fresh Mint Tea – Check out this bright, clean-tasting drink to aid digestion after a rich meal or to unwind with at the end of the day. Gourmande in the Kitchen mentions combining different kinds of fresh mint leaves (spearmint, peppermint, chocolate mint), or choosing just one. Crush the leaves while steeping to release the essential oils, and add honey to taste. (In warmer weather, a pitcherful of this refreshing tea can be kept chilling in the fridge to enjoy all day long!)

8 – Slow Cooker Cranberry Spice Tea – After a long day, this comforting tea from Pumpkin ‘n Spice will surely be the antidote for a tired soul. Try this recipe that is made of black tea, cloves, cranberry juice, sugar, and garnished with a cinnamon stick and a slice of lemon.

Our Product Picks for Perfect Tea Preparation

With such fabulous tea recipes, it’s only right to have the proper teaware and accessories to make them right and enjoy them in style. Happy shopping!

(*affiliate links from Teavana)

1 – White Remi Glass Tea Mug with Stainless Steel Infuser – Made of heat-resistant glass,  this all-in-one tea mug, a Teavana exclusive, features an infuser basket and a lid that doubles as a coaster.

2 – Gray Uni Mug with Infuser – This Japanese-design glass tea mug comes with a built-in plastic infuser in different colors—fun for your daily tea time and a great gift idea, too!

3 – Black Faceted Mug – Go trendy with your tea drinking! Choose an edgy mug like this one (don’t worry, the rim is smooth)—12-oz. capacity and available in black and white.

4 – Maharaja & Samurai Chai Maté® Tea-filled Tin – Described by Teavana as “our champion chai,” this blend of oolong, maté and green rooibos teas features the spiciness of ginger, cinnamon, black peppercorn, cloves and nutmeg with sweet notes of pineapple, papaya, orange peel and lemongrass. All in an airtight tin.

5 – Jumpstart Tea Sampler – For the tea time novice, a nice way to start the habit is with a sampler like this trio of Tropical Black, Oolong & Green Tea Blend; Gyokuru Imperial Green Tea; and English Breakfast Black Tea.

6 – Hobnail Cast Iron Tea Pot – Styled after traditional Japanese tetsubin tea pots, this cast iron beauty keeps your tea hot longer, is lined with porcelain enamel to prevent rusting, and comes with a removable stainless steel mesh infuser basket. Available in red, purple and teal.

7 – Swirl Gold Black Iron Coaster – A Japanese cast iron coaster for tea cups, featuring a graceful swirl design said to resemble both wind and waves.

8 – Paper Tea Filter Bags (Single cup size – 100 CT) – Make your own tea bags with your favorite loose leaf tea enclosed in these handy, disposable single-serve filter bags. Made from abaca pulp, they are biodegradable.

9 – White Hexagon Canister (6oz) – With its mod shape and silicone lid gasket, this canister is both a great tea storage container and a cool addition to your countertop.

Don’t forget the spoon, too!

10 – Teavana® Perfectea™ Spoon – Exactly one teaspoon in capacity, bowl-shaped for easy scooping of even large tea leaves, and made of brushed stainless steel for durability.