Vanilla Chamomile Tea Mocktail

Just because it’s almost Winter, doesn’t mean cocktail season is over. While a lot of people are prepping for their mulled wine making (and drinking), I decided to do something a little different this year... Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all about the Christmas Sangria (as I like to call it), but I wanted to start celebrating early this year and didn’t have all the ingredients on hand. So into the pantry I went to see what I could come up with.

Usually when you think cocktail, you think alcohol, but this is one of the things I didn’t have. To be honest, I’m really not a heavy drinker, unless we’re talking full-bodied wines, and even then, the heaviness is all in the tannins, not the amount I’m consuming (in most cases). Anyway, I knew I needed something as a replacement, and I thought, what do people drink when it’s not “wine o’clock”? Coffee was my first thought, then tea came to mind as I could see the Tazo overflowing on the shelf. With that I grabbed not one, but two different tea bags, and while waiting for them to steep, I searched for what I could add. To find out the rest of the ingredients, followed by the recipe for this virgin cocktail, keep reading below…

Vanilla Chamomile Tea Mocktail

Ingredients:

. 1 Calm Chamomile tea bag by Tazo (or other chamomile tea of choice)

. 1 Zen tea bag by Tazo (or other green tea of choice)

. 1 cup hot boiled water

. drizzle of Vanilla Chamomile maple syrup by Noble Handcrafted (or other maple syrup of choice)

. 2 (or more) fresh orange slices

Directions:

Bring kettle to a boil and place both tea bags in mug of choice. I used my stainless steel stemless “wine” tumbler from Corkcicle to make the heat last (highly recommend), but you can use anything you want. As for the tea(s), I used Tazo, because it’s what I had on hand and the flavours are stunning. Their Calm Chamomile contains a soothing blend of chamomile flowers, hibiscus flowers, rose petals, blackberry leaves, spearmint leaves, peppermint leaves, lemongrass, lemon balm, licorice root, and sarsaparilla root. And their Zen is a green tea blend containing spearmint leaves, lemongrass, and lemon verbena. However, if you don’t have Tazo and want to save a trip to the store, look for any chamomile and green tea in your pantry and use those.

Pour boiling water over tea bags and let steep for 5 mins.

Remove tea bags and drizzle a small amount of maple syrup into the tea. I used Vanilla Chamomile infused maple syrup by Noble, which you can find at Welk’s on Main. OR, you can use whichever maple syrup you have and add in a drop of vanilla extract for a similar effect.

Stir in 2 (or more) orange slices.

Sip and enjoy this warm and simple, multi-layered drink without having to experience a hangover at the end.