Turmeric Thai Iced Tea

Turmeric, a flowering plant from the ginger family, is often used in cooking for health purposes. Turmeric tea is made by steeping fresh or dried turmeric in water. This turmeric Thai iced tea recipe is a great addition to your 30 Days to Vegan recipe collection!

What is the benefit of turmeric tea?

There are so many great turmeric tea benefits, and you can make fresh turmeric tea for inflammation or even drink turmeric tea for weight loss to supplement your health.

Turmeric tea is a good source of manganese, iron, and copper, and it also contains bioactive compounds.

Turmeric tea is also naturally low in calories. It can have mood-boosting benefits, and it is also a great bedtime drink to promote sleep.

While curcumin has anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, and antioxidant properties, there may not be a high enough concentration of these components in turmeric tea to be noticeable.

What are the side effects of turmeric tea?

Turmeric usually doesn’t cause serious side effects unless taken at higher doses, and turmeric tea, in particular, is generally OK to drink everyday.

Some people can experience mild side effects such as stomach upset, nausea, dizziness, or diarrhea, although most research indicates that adults can safely consume 400-600 mg of turmeric powder three times daily. In fact, research has shown that doses of curcumin of 4,000-8,000 mg per day are safe for adults.

Who should not drink turmeric tea?

While turmeric tea is safe for most people, consult a doctor if you’re pregnant or taking medications. Also, avoid turmeric tea if you experience an allergic reaction after handling turmeric in any form.

Turmeric Thai Iced Tea Recipe

Servings: About 4

Ingredients:

3 cups water

6 black tea bags (or 3 Tablespoons looseleaf tea)

3-4 cardamom pods, crushed

4-5 whole cloves

2-3 star anise

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

2 inch piece of fresh turmeric, peeled and thinly sliced or grated (or 4 teaspoon dry)

3 Tablespoons whole cane sugar (or granulated sweetener of your choice)

1 cup coconut milk (canned, full fat)

2 Tablespoons maple syrup

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cheesecloth, String

Procedure:

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Roughly grind up all of the ingredients in a spice grinder, including the star anise and cardamom seeds (they are shown whole in the picture). Then in the center of a square or rectangular layered piece of cheesecloth (so small ingredients don’t come out), place black tea, cardamom, cloves, star anise, and black pepper. Gather the corner to the center and tie into a bundle with the string. Cut off any excess cheesecloth from the top.

In a small saucepan, add 3 cups of water. Add the tea bundle, stirring to saturate. Add the grated or sliced turmeric , and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 minutes. Cover the saucepan, and steep for 10 minutes.

After steeping, remove the tea bundle and the turmeric, strain if needed,  and add the whole cane sugar, stirring until dissolved. Place in the refrigerator to chill for 2-3 hours.

In a separate container, mix coconut milk, vanilla and maple sugar.

After tea has chilled, fill  tall glasses with ice.

Fill the glasses about 3/4 full with tea. Top with the coconut milk mixture. Serve!