Friendship Tea – An Old Fashioned Russian Tea Recipe
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This Friendship Tea recipe is a homemade tea mix that combines instant tea, lemonade and Tang with some spices for a perfect warm drink. Make up a batch of this Friendship Tea to have on hand when guests drop in or to give as the perfect homemade gift with a plate of cookies.
Friendship Tea Recipe
Have you ever heard of Friendship Tea? How about Russian Tea, or Russian Friendship Tea? It’s a homemade tea mix that you that you blend together, and give as gifts. It’s made with 5 simple ingredients, and the flavor is a delicious spiced orange. Is there anything better than a cup of hot spiced tea.
Barbara had a college roommate whose mom would make it for her and send it in a care package. She loved making it because it reminded her of home. The delicious aroma of a steaming cup of spiced tea gave off notes of citrus, cinnamon and cloves.
Barbara found this tang tea recipe in a 1980 version of our local Shelby County Extension Homemakers Book of Favorite Recipes. She tweaked it just a tad so that it uses an entire container of Tang. Not familiar with Tang? It’s a pre-made fruit-flavored fruit drink powder.
Ingredient List
- Instant Unsweetened Tea
- Instant Lemonade Powder
- Tang Orange Drink Mix
- Ground Cinnamon
- Ground Cloves
How to Make Old Fashioned Russian Tea Recipe
Step by Step Instructions
- Use a plastic resealable bag for the easiest method of blending the powder into a uniform mixture. Stir instant unsweetened tea, instant sweetened lemonade, Tang, ground cinnamon, and ground cloves until completely blended.
- Pour into glass mason jars and seal tight, or place in an airtight container. This recipe makes 3 pint-sized jars of Russian Friendship Tea.
- To serve, add 2 to 3 teaspoons to one cup of hot water. Don’t fill your mug to the top with water. The spiced tea mix will fizz as it hits the boiling water.
Full recipe for Russian Friendship Tea from scratch is at the bottom of this post.
Great Gifts
This makes the perfect gift for friends, teachers and loved ones for the holidays or teacher appreciation week. Looking for more gift ideas? Try our Best Homemade Gift Ideas.
You can decorate the jars if desired. Barbara likes to put a little piece of fabric underneath the lids before tightening the seal. On top, be sure to label with the name and the instructions.
Recipe FAQs
- Russian Friendship Tea is an easy, homemade tea mix that features only 5 ingredients – instant tea, lemonade, Tang, cinnamon and clove.
- This tang tea recipe is a perfect gift. Put it in jars, and seal up tight. When your friends and family drink it, they will think fondly of you.
- To serve, add 2-3 teaspoons of the tang tea mix to boiling water.
- Be sure to leave room at the top of the cup because this spiced tea mix will fizz up when you mix with boiling water.
- Love warm beverages Try Hot Cranberry Punch and Hot Buttered Rum!
Linking up to Weekend Potluck.
Where can I buy Tang?
Tang is found in most supermarkets in the same aisle as pre-mixed lemonade. The container is orange, and it has a resealable lid. If you can’t find it, try purchasing online on Amazon.
Does Tang go bad?
No, it actually does not have an expiration date on the canister. Instead, you’ll find a date for when it is best used by. As long as it is sealed tight, and stored in a dry place, it should last for a long time.
What is Russian Tea?
Russian tea is black tea flavored with citrus notes such as lemon and orange. It is typically a sweeter tea containing sugar. Another version of Russian tea (also called Friendship Tea) contains pre-mixed lemonade and Tang with unsweetened instant tea. The lemonade and Tang mimic the traditional Russian tea flavors.
What can I make for homemade Christmas gifts?
The possibilities are endless when it comes to homemade Christmas gifts from your kitchen. Here’s some great suggestions:
- Caramel Puff Corn
- Grandma’s Chocolate Fantasy Fudge
- Crock Pot Chili Nuts
- Cinnamon Glazed Pecans
- Poppy seed Bread
- Homemade Martini Olives
- Peanut Butter Cornflake Cookies
- Iced Thumbprint Cookies
- Hot Cocoa Recipe (Bulk)
Friendship Tea
Ingredients
- 1 cup instant tea mix, unsweetened
- 1 3/4 cups instant lemonade mix
- 20 ounces Tang
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cloves
Instructions
- Mix all ingredients together in a zip lock bag until blended uniformly.
- Pour into glass jars, and seal tight.
- To serve, mix 2-3 teaspoons of tea mix with boiling water, to taste. Be sure to leave room at the top of the mug to account for fizzing.
Notes
- Russian Friendship Tea is an easy, homemade tea mix that features only 5 ingredients—instant tea, lemonade, Tang, cinnamon and cloves.
- This tang tea recipe is a perfect gift. Put it in jars, and seal up tight. When your friends and family drink it, they will think fondly of you.
- To serve, add 2-3 teaspoons of the tang tea mix to boiling water.
- Be sure to leave room at the top of the cup because this spiced tea mix will fizz up when you mix with boiling water.
- Looking for more gift ideas? Try our Caramel Puff Corn, Grandma’s Chocolate Fantasy Fudge, Crock Pot Chili Nuts, or Cinnamon Glazed Pecans.
- Love warm beverages Try Hot Cranberry Punch and Hot Buttered Rum!
- The nutritional information below is auto-calculated and can vary depending on the products used.
Nutrition
Thank you. My daughter in law is a tea drinker. I am going to make this for her for Christmas. I bought a cute little owl made of material for her to set her cup on.
That is a great gift idea! Hope she enjoys it!
I have searched every recipe from Mother’s collection for this exact recipe that she made back in the 80’s for Christmas gifts. I have tried some of the others that call for sugar, but I cannot ever tweak it just right. Thanks for sharing!
Well, we hope this is like your mom’s recipe. Thanks for the note!
I have also been looking for this bc At the age of 83 , she has dementia and can’t remember her favorite Christmas drink !!!
Thank you and May God you !!!
Glad we could help!
Not what I expected, but very comforting on a chilly day.
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for commenting.
I wish it could be made without the sugared Tang. I know it requires Tang but it has a ton of sugar in it.
We’ll think about what could be substituted but Tang is hard to replicate! Thanks for the note.
Use sugar free Tang and lemonade powder from Amazon.
You can use sugar free orange drink. Crystal light or Wal Mart brand. I also use Lipton sugar free caffeine free tea with lemon
I am going to make some up going to see daughter in Kansas spread some love ❤️ thank you amazing Ideas Do you know how to make the pink Tea everyone is Driving? Thank you again.
Thank you! We haven’t seen the pink tea…looking now!!
How long does this keep stored in the jars?
It may start to harden in the jar around 6 months so best to use before that!
I received a small jar from a sweet lady who added red hots to hers as well.
What a fun addition!
I’ve been drinking this as long as I can remember, born 1970. My mom made and gave as part of our Christmas. I have carried on the tradition. It helps with colds. You can add a little rum as well.
I love this recipe. Can you use pink lemonade instead of regular?
We have never tried using pink lemonade but it should provide a similar result.
Thank you for the recipe. Just what I was remembering. You mentioned the Shelby County cookbook. Is this Shelby County Alabama by any chance?
It’s actually Shelby County, Indiana!
For the tea I used raspberry flavor tea and turned out really good
Great to know! Glad it turned out really good.
This looks so good! What a great gift to make for a friend or to enjoy yourself!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Yes, just keep it in an airtight container and it will last a while!
Perfect recipe! I always give as gifts and I make sure there is enough left for me….
We love it too! Enjoy.
I haven’t heard of this.
How many jars does this make?
It makes about 2 pint jars worth of mix with maybe a little left over.