Friendship Tea Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

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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 made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (2)

Table of Contents

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.

Friendship Tea Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (4)

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.

Friendship Tea Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (6)

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.

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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.

Friendship Tea Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (10)

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 Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (13)

Print Recipe

4.50 from 2 votes

Friendship Tea

This Friendship Tea recipe is a homemade tea mix that combines instant tea, lemonade and Tang with some spices for a perfect warm drink.

Prep Time5 minutes mins

Cook Time0 minutes mins

Total Time5 minutes mins

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: American

Keyword: friendship tea, russian friendship tea, russian tea, spiced tea mix, tea with tang

Servings: 96

Calories: 18kcal

Author: Barbara

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

Calories: 18kcal | Carbohydrates: 5g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 1g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 2mg | Potassium: 17mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 40IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 3mg | Iron: 1mg

Friendship Tea Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (15)
Friendship Tea Recipe made with Tang - These Old Cookbooks (2024)

FAQs

What is the drink made from tang? ›

"This powdered hot tea mix flavored with orange, cloves, and cinnamon has been a favorite of mine since childhood... and is now a favorite inexpensive gift for friends and family.

What is another name for Russian tea? ›

Friendship tea, also called Russian tea and Tang tea, is a mixture of instant tea, orange-flavored fruit drink (Tang), lemonade drink mix, and spices. As a hot tea, it is all of these things at once: quite sweet, quite tart, and quite fragrant with spice.

What makes Russian tea different? ›

It was traditionally composed of black tea with lemon and sugar, orange and pineapple juices, cinnamon, clove, honey, and lemon or orange wedges for garnish. It was typically afforded only by the elite at this time and enjoyed during the cold of winter as a way to warm up.

Why is it called Russian tea in the USA? ›

Place of Origin

American recipes for the drink date back to the late 19th century, when according to Garden & Gun, well-to-do Yanks adopted the Russian style of serving tea with lemon and sugar. As the blog Yesterdish notes, the name Russian Tea initially referred to a simple iced brew with lemon.

What is the Tang drink? ›

Tang is an American drink mix brand that was formulated by General Foods Corporation food scientist William A. Mitchell and General Foods Corporation chemist William Bruce James in 1957, and first marketed in powdered form in 1959.

What are the disadvantages of drinking Tang? ›

In this blog post, we will explore why Tang is not healthy for children, backed by research articles.
  • High Sugar Content. One of the main reasons why Tang is not healthy for children is its high sugar content. ...
  • Lack of Nutritional Value. ...
  • Alternative Healthy Drinks for Children. ...
  • Conclusion.

What do Russians sweeten their tea with? ›

Sugar, lemon, honey, jam or milk can then be added freely. Sugar and other sweeteners are served in bowls; using the personal teaspoon to add them to the tea rather than the one in the bowl is considered impolite.

What is the strongest Russian Tea? ›

Chifir (Russian: чифи́рь, romanized: čifir', or alternatively, чифи́р) is an exceptionally strong tea, associated with and brewed in Soviet and post-Soviet detention facilities such as gulags and prisons.

What black tea do Russians drink? ›

Traditionally-speaking, Russians preferred strong black tea from China with a heady aroma and they would let a spoonful of sugar or jam dissolve in their mouths just before drinking it.

Does da mean yes in Russian? ›

The Russian word for Yes is Да (da). Let's check out this lesson on the Yes in Russian. You can certainly use other words to express your agreement.

What is Smoky Russian Tea? ›

Inspired by the ancient classic Russian caravan tea that got its smoky flavour from the old tea trade routes, and the caravans evening campfires along them. This is a pinewood smoked Lapsang Souchong black tea. Blended with Formosa Oolong sourced from Taiwan & Mao Feng Keemun sourced from China.

What is a samovar tea? ›

samovar, metal urn, often of brass, with a spigot near its base, widely used in Russia to boil water for tea. In traditional samovars water is heated by means of a vertical tube, containing burning charcoal, running up the middle of the urn. A filled teapot is set atop the chimney to steep.

Can you put jam in tea? ›

After a long day of experimentation, we found that the mixtures of Raspberry Dreamy Green tea with blueberry jam, and Bright Peach Black tea with apricot jam created idyllic summer beverages.

What is a tea cake in England? ›

England. In most of England, a teacake is a light, sweet, yeast-based bun containing dried fruits, most usually currants, sultanas or peel. It is typically split, toasted, buttered, and served with tea. It is flat and circular, with a smooth brown upper surface and a somewhat lighter underside.

What is a tea cake in China? ›

Tea cakes are often misunderstood as those cakes that you consume as sides with your tea or any other beverage. However, tea cakes are compressed tea leaves given the firm shape of a cake with certain aromas and flavors. These are quite popular, even more than loose tea leaves in some regions of china and japan.

Why do astronauts drink Tang? ›

Tang accompanied astronauts to the nether regions for the next decade (through the Gemini and Apollo programs), and General Foods gushed proudly in print and tv ads that it was chosen by the Gemini astronauts because it was packed with vitamins, easy to make and tasted great.

Is Tang healthy or not? ›

Despite the fact that it is fortified with nutrients, it does not satisfy the MyPyramid recommendations for consuming a minimum of 1.5 cups of fruits (or the equivalent) daily. Even 100-percent fruit juices are high in calories, carbohydrates and sugars and should be consumed in moderation, if at all.

What was Tang originally made for? ›

The beverage always will be connected to the golden era of midcentury space exploration, but NASA actually did not invent Tang. Tang orange drink mix is inextricably tied to '60s space exploration, but the beverage remains popular today. Tang debuted in 1957 as a vitamin C-packed breakfast drink.

Why is Tang so popular in Alaska? ›

In Alaska, where fruits were hard to import and to carry crosscountry without freezing, Tang became a common solution to the problem of providing a source of Vitamin C to children.

References

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