Friendship Tea

I've been craving this tea all winter, and finally took the time to gather the ingredients and throw it together.  I first drank Friendship Tea back in the early 70's, when it was called Tang Tea. 

Tang had been advertised as the drink of astronauts, which was a pretty exciting thing for a kid to think about.  I was happy to get my first taste of Tang at my friend Laura's house.  Compared with the garden-variety orange juice my own mother served, Tang's color was so....orange.  Fluorescent orange!  Although it didn't really taste like orange juice at all, I thought it was pretty good, and very exotic. 


Friendship Tea

1 1/2 cups sweetened instant tea powder with lemon flavor
1/2 cup sweetened lemonade powder
1 cup Tang, or any orange-flavored drink mix powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Mix well.  Brew up a cup, taste, and make sure the blend is to your liking- you can always tweak the ingredients more to your own personal taste. 

To serve, heat 1 cup of water to boiling.  Add 3 teaspoons of the drink mix and stir.  If you like the mix, great!  You're done!  If not, add whatever ingredient you'd like to have a more predominant flavor.  Maybe you want a more tea-dominant flavor, or maybe you're crazy for the orange boost of the Tang.   Keep tasting until you're satisfied.  Then make sure to store in an airtight container. 

Tip:  To save money, use unsweetened tea powder and orange and lemonaid Koolaid-type drink mixes and add your own sugar.  For diabetic tea lovers, use unsweetened ingredients and add the sugar substitute of your choice.