This cranberry spiced tea recipe is a cross between Russian tea and wassail, with a cranberry twist that makes it the perfect beverage to sip with your Thanksgiving meal.
Just in time for Thanksgiving, I’m sharing a cranberry spiced tea recipe using Sweet’N Low® as part of a sponsored post for Socialstars. #donthesitaste Read my full disclosure policy here.
This cranberry spiced tea recipe is a cross between Russian tea and wassail, with a cranberry twist that makes it the perfect beverage to sip with your Thanksgiving meal.
Made with fresh cranberries, fruit juice and seasonal spices like cloves and cinnamon, this homemade spiced tea recipe knocks the socks off those powdered holiday tea mixes that my parents drank in the 70s and 80s!
While it does take a bit of time to cook the cranberries and steep the spices, the hands-on work for this recipe is minimal. And it smells so delicious when it’s cooking, you’ll probably want to keep a pot brewing when you have guests for the holidays.
I like serving a sugar-free drink like this for the holidays to address the needs of guests with diabetes and other dietary restrictions. Since it is sweetened with Sweet’N Low®, a zero-calorie sweetener, they can have as much of this as they like without worrying about added sugar or calories. And with all the yummy food that is part of a Thanksgiving feast, it’s a good idea to have a sugar-free, low-calorie beverage option.
Ingredients to Make Cranberry Spiced Tea
To make this cranberry spiced ice tea, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- fresh cranberries
- 8 cups water
- cinnamon sticks
- whole cloves
- oranges
- lemon
- Sweet’N Low®, equal to 1 cup of sugar
- tea bags
How to Make Cranberry Spiced Tea
(You will find complete recipe, with exact ingredients at the end of this post.)
Rinse the fresh cranberries well, then combine them with water in a large pan. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce the heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until cranberries have softened.
Remove the cranberries from the heat. To the pan, add orange juice, lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon sticks, sweetener and tea bags.
Allow the tea bags to steep for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and allow the cranberry spiced tea mixture to steep, covered, for an additional 30 minutes to an hour. You may want to turn the burner to warm or low, to keep the spiced tea mixture from cooling down.
Remove cinnamon sticks and cloves before serving.
How should I serve cranberry spiced tea?
You can serve this cranberry tea hot, as shown, or iced. I like to garnish each mug or glass with a lemon or orange slice with float a few cranberries in the beverage.
Can I use a sugar in this recipe?
Yes, you can make this recipe with sugar rather than a zero-calorie sweetener. Substitute the Sweet N’Low for 1 cup of sugar.
Remember, using sugar will change the calorie count and other nutrition facts of this recipe.
Be sure to visit visit Sweet’N Low® for more seasonal drink recipes designed to help you enjoy the sweetness you love without the extra calories.
Cranberry Spiced Tea
Ingredients
- 12 ounces fresh cranberries rinsed
- 8 cups water
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 6 whole cloves
- juice of 2 oranges
- juice of 1 lemon
- 24 packets Sweet’N Low® equal to 1 cup of sugar
- 3 family-sized black tea bags or 6 regular tea bags
Instructions
- Combine cranberries and water in a large pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes, until cranberries have softened.
- Remove from heat and add orange juice, lemon juice, cloves, cinnamon sticks, Sweet’N Low® and tea bags.
- Allow to steep for 5 minutes, then remove tea bags and allow to steep, covered, for an additional 30 minutes to an hour. It may be necessary to turn the burner to warm or low, to keep the spiced tea mixture from cooling down.
- Remove cinnamon sticks and cloves before serving.
Nutrition
Pin This! Cranberry Spiced Tea
Looking for more ways to warm up this holiday season? Try these seasonal beverages:
Theresa @DearCreatives
Hi Amy, this sounds so yummy. Pinned & shared. I hope to try some soon. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving with your family.