Lazy Turmeric Tea Recipes

In lieu of New Year's Resolutions, which are broken easily making you feel defeated, I like to re evaluate my habits. I started experimenting with different coffee mixtures in the morning and landed on my new favorite coffee elixir. Another area I'm focusing on is cutting down on sugar. While sugar is everywhere including my beloved teas, Lipton Citrus Green Tea and Snapple Fruit Teas, I'm swapping these out for drinks with less sugar or, preferably, none. Here are some drinks I've been experimenting with.

I first heard about the magical golden milk while sitting in traffic listening to the High Low when they had a dietitian basically say it is a bit overrated for all the hype surrounding it. Most studies highlighting the benefits of turmeric are talking about such a high doses it wouldn't be feasible day after day. I don't believe any crazy claims about ingredients without doing some research and fact finding. Feel free to do your own research to see if adding turmeric to your diet is a good choice for you.

I felt vindicated when this article from IFL Science popped up about the supplements scientists take. Turmeric is on the list, surprise, surprise! Simon Bishop, the scientist in question, admits many studies and research around turmeric are not conclusive but that doesn't stop him from taking some with his coffee every morning. So with the good and bad in mind I decided to try it out for myself. As far as spices go turmeric has a fairly low barrier of entry. I bought a bag from Brandless for 3 dollars.

I've also heard for turmeric newbies you need to start out with a small amount, less than a teaspoon, or else the grittiness of the spice might turn you off since it does not fully dissolve in your drink. From there you can gradually start increasing the amount up to 1 to 2 teaspoons. After scouring the web for all the results of drinks with turmeric I had an idea of what I wanted to try.

My first concoction was inspired by the many recipes I skimmed over with this one from The First Mess being my template. If you are looking for another easy recipe Pure Wow has a great one with only 4 ingredients. Since I am also lazy when it comes to recipes and didn't want to go to the store I decided to use only ingredients and tea in my kitchen. Both of the teas used are caffeine free so I could drink them after work and not be up all night.

Lazy Turmeric Tea Recipe #1

Glazed Lemon Loaf Tea from Tazo + Milk of Choice + Turmeric

I used the Glazed Lemon Loaf Tea from Tazo as my base for the other flavors. I steeped it in less water for a more concentrated flavor after adding the milk and turmeric. I've also heard of a magical immune boosting tea with lemon, ginger and turmeric so this was my version without using fresh ingredients. I added just enough soy milk to turn the drink cloudy and added a very small amount of turmeric enough to turn the drink a slight tinge of yellow.

Due to the concentrated lemon and ginger flavor I barely tasted the turmeric. For my next try I will probably add more. Another word of advice from the food blogs was not to drink the last sip since this would have the highest concentration of turmeric. Naturally, being a rebel, I drank the last sip. It was delicious.

The only problem I had with this tea, which could also be blamed on other mitigating circumstances, was I drank it around 10 p.m and was wide awake when I tried going to sleep an hour later. So maybe not the best tea to drink right before bed but as a coffee substitute I think it would work perfectly!

Lazy Turmeric Tea Recipe #2

Bengal Spice Tea from Celestial Seasonings + Milk of Choice + Turmeric

This recipe involves adding one more spice to my favorite tea already overflowing with spices from Celestial Seasonings. This is a chai tea which has more flavor than any other ones I've tried. Following the same recipe as before I steeped the tea, in a full mug- no need to concentrate this flavor, added a bit of soy milk and then the turmeric. After my wide awake results from the previous lazy tea recipe I decided to drink this a bit earlier so the effects, if any, would be lessened.

I was also feeling bolder and confident that all the spices would mask the turmeric. I could taste the turmeric faintly but it wasn't too overpowering. Again it wasn't as easy as normal to fall asleep so the lesson learned is don't drink these concoctions at night! I think either one would be a great substitute for coffee in a pinch.

Try my recipes, research more (there are so many more!) online and see if turmeric is a good supplement for your health and wellness goals in 2018 and beyond.