Our house has a very eclectic mix of Anglo traditions around Christmas. There is German stolen, English roast beef, Yorkshire pudding and Christmas crackers. We hide a pickle in the tree, read Luke 2 before presents and always make a big bunch of good old American Chex mix. But one traditional Christmas drink that everyone waits for is Russian Tea. This recipe is handed down from my husband's Great-Grandmama Long. As far as I know she wasn't Russian, she was Southern, from North Carolina. So that got me wondering..."Where did Russian tea come from?"
I did some digging, and it is true...Russian tea, is a Southern thing. It is modeled after the hot tea with sugar and lemon sipped by upper class Russians, but Southern ladies took it and ran with it. Since it is warm in the Southern U.S. most of the time, traditional "Sweet Tea" is the #1 drink of choice. Russian tea was deligated to a winter drink, always served hot, which is why our family brings it out for Christmas.
The earliest recipes are very much like Great-Grandmama Long's: tea, sugar, spices, and citrus. As technology, convenience and church cookbooks progressed, Southern Russian tea eveoved into an instant mix of Tang, instant tea, and powdered lemonaid with spices mixed in. This is traditionally given as gifts in mason jars. It is quick and tasty with some hot water. For this recipe and some historical reference see this article in Garden & Gun
My family has again, morphed the recipe a bit to suit our tastes. We decided that Russian tea is good enough for more than just Christmas, we have made it a habbit to brew a pot Russian tea on very cold dark days. The spicy, warm, sweet tea makes even the gloomiest days brighter. I like to add star anise and allspice berries or slices of ginger to this recipe, depending on how spicy I am feeling. We slice the skins off the lemons and oranges and steep them with the spices, and tend to reduce the sugar too. The tradition is a good one, but feel free to play around with the recipe and see what you like best.
Russian Tea (Great Grandmama Long)
Boil together: (simmer 20 min)
8 cups Water
5-8 Cloves
1 Stick Cinnamon
Add:
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
4 Oranges, juiced
2 Lemons, juiced
(I like to leave the orange and lemon halves in the tea while the tea bags brew)
4 black tea bags
Remove from heat and steem for 15-20 minutes, then remove the teabags. Serve warm.
