Apple Pie Tea
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I have never been in a town with so many apple trees. It seems like people choose to plant them as “ornamental” trees and that is pretty cool. The only small issue (and it is pretty small, also no pun intended) is that the apples aren’t quite crabapples but also not quite eating apples. I did not want to let all these small apples falling all over the neighborhood go to waste so I set out to come up with a few recipes to make use of them.
It has been pretty warm here and after working out or foraging (…or Pokémon Go-ing while walking around foraging…) all I have wanted was a cool, refreshing drink when I got home. With a bowl full of little apples you wouldn’t just eat and a desire for a refreshing drink, I set out to make an apple “tea”.
Oh and bonus, after making this tea the apples tasted awesome! The mealy bitterness was gone and they took on some flavors from the spices. I ate them in yogurt with some crushed graham crackers and called it apple pie yogurt! So good.
Those who are very into definitions and tea, would say that this isn’t technically tea. I am using the name though because tea is a little more universally used then words like infusion!
Apple Pie Tea
Modified from Witty French Gal
Makes about two and a half cups.*
3 cups water
4 small apples (about 6 oz/170 g)
1 cinnamon stick
3 cloves
3 star anise
- Cut up apples in small slices. Remove seeds (they have cyanide) and any bug residue (look at those bug holes above, they are organic and foraged after all) but leave on skin.
- Place all ingredients in pan and bring to a boil.
- Turn off heat and let steep 30 minutes.
- Strain and place in fridge or over ice. Enjoy when cold!
This also tastes great when halved with seltzer water or even an appley wine like Pinot Grigio!
Notes:
* Want more tea? Increase the water and the apple. I found I did not need to increase the spices if I was doubling the recipe. More than that you might want to increase them, but totally up to your taste preference!
For a tasty modification to this tea that adds a little caffeine, try Thai Apple Tea!
– Same recipe as above but add 1 and a half tablespoons of Thai Tea to a loose leaf tea bag (or two Thai tea bags) and add to the water after bowling. Leave in for 15 minutes then remove. Leave the spices and apples in another 15 minutes then remove them. Add any sweetener and milk that you desire!
It looks so pretty and tastes so good. In this picture I added a little bit of milk. Isn’t it pretty??? Dyes the apples a little red too!
3 thoughts on “Apple Pie Tea”
Thanks for the repost!
Great idea for tea. What do you do with the cooked apples? We make something similar, we call it apple compote, cooked apple chunks in water with some sugar or honey and lemon juice. We eat it warm or cold.
Hi Bojana,
I actually just cut them up and put them into oatmeal or use them in baking recipes (if I have plans to make pancakes, muffins, etc.). I also just eat them as is a little warmed up with some maple syrup on them!
Cooking the down again, with a sweetener, and lemon to make a compote sounds delicious!