Lemon tea is a great, soothing, and comforting beverage for when you have a sore throat or congestion. It's easy to make with a few simple ingredients such as black tea, honey, fresh ginger, and lemon juice. It's ready in just a few minutes!
Also try these recipes: Karak Chai, Masala Chai, and Pakistani Chai. If you're in the mood for green tea then this Green Tea with Ginger is perfect for you!
Table of contents
About this Recipe
Lemon tea is made with black tea, honey, and lemon juice. It's the perfect soothing beverage for sore throats and perfect for warming up on cold nights. It also helps to boost your immunity and has anti-inflammatory properties.
This hot beverage is perfect for relaxing and comforting sore throats. I love having it on early mornings as it's a very warming drink. It's one of my favorite home remedies for sore throat.
Black Tea or No Black Tea?
There are two ways to make this lemon honey tea, one using black tea, and the other just a simple combination of hot water, lemon juice, and honey.
It's really up to you how you would like to enjoy this recipe and your taste preferences.
Why You'll Love This Recipe
Easy 5-minute recipe: This lemon tea is made with just five ingredients and is ready in just 5 minutes, and is a natural remedy for cough.
Benefits: This hot beverage is full of health benefits. It's great for digestion and is the perfect soothing drink for when you have a cough or chest congestion. It also helps soothe your throat during viral infections.
Variations: You can adjust this recipe according to your taste, and I've listed below a few variations and add-ins for this recipe.
Ingredients You'll Need
- Black tea: I use loose black tea leaves for this recipe, as I think it just tastes nicer. You can however use tea bags.
- Water
- Ginger: Using fresh ginger is best, and I use a small hand grater to quickly grate a small piece of ginger.
- Honey: Used as a sweetner, honey has great health benefits. You can also use other sweetners such as sugar, brown sugar, or even artificial sweetner.
- Lemon juice: Adds a great tangy, fresh flavor to the drink. Since it's the key ingredient here, using freshly squeezed lemon juice is imperative.
How to Make It
- Boil the water: Add water to a small pot, and bring to a boil.
- Infuse with ginger: Add the grated ginger and boil for 30 seconds to infuse it's flavor into the water.
- Steep: Now add the black tea leaves, lower the heat and cover the pot with lid. Let steep for 1-2 minutes.
- Finishing touches: Add the lemon juice and stir.
- Sweeten: Finally add the honey, and mix well.
- Serve: Using a strainer, pour the tea into serving cups and enjoy!
KEY TIP: Use a spoon to easily peel the ginger. Then using a hand grater, finely grate the ginger.
Benefits of Lemon Tea
Aids digestion: Lemon tea helps with regulating the digestive system.
Vitamin C: Lemons are a great source of vitamin C, and this lemon tea is a great way to consume fresh lemon juice.
Great for Sore Throats & Cough: This recipe is a great way to soothe your sore throat, and the added ginger and honey have additional health benefits. Here's a great article on the benefits of tea.
Variations & Add-Ins
Type: You can use tea bags or even green tea.
Fresh Mint: Add 2-3 crushed mint leaves along with the ginger to add an even more refreshing taste to the recipe.
Cinnamon: Add a pinch of cinnamon to add some more warmth and flavor to the recipe.
Cardamom: Crush two cardamom pods and add the boiling water, to make it more aromatic.
Maple syrup: Instead of using honey, you can also add some maple syrup to this tea recipe.
Turmeric: You can also add a little pinch of turmeric powder, as it also has many health benefits.
Helpful Tips
Use a spoon to peel the ginger skin, and then using a hand grater, grate it finely.
If you don't want a caffeinated drink, then you can simply skip the black tea altogether.
To make the recipe even more lemony, add 1/4 teaspoon of grated lemon peel.
If your lemons are hard and not easy to juice, here's a helpful trick that I use all the time. First, roll the lemon on a flat surface for a few seconds. Then place in the microwave for 5-10 seconds until slightly warmed up. Then slice, and squeeze out the juice. It's so much easier than struggling with hard lemons that just don't want to be juiced!
FAQs
Yes, this is a great, healthy drink which can be enjoyed daily.
You can simply skip the black tea in this recipe, and perhaps add a bit more honey for kids.
Yes, you can definitely use one teabag per cup of water to make this recipe.
More Drink Recipes
Honey Lemon Tea with Ginger
Equipment
- Pot
- Tea Strainer
Ingredients
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger freshly grated
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black tea
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1-2 teaspoons honey
Instructions
- Add water to a small pot, and bring to a boil.
- Add the ginger and boil for about 30 seconds.
- Now add the black tea and lower the heat. Cover and let the tea step for 2-3 minutes.
- Remove the lid, and add the lemon juice and honey.
- Stir, and serve immediately.
Notes
- Ginger: Use freshly grated ginger for this recipe for the best flavor. The easiest way to peel ginger is to use the back of a spoon to scrape off the skin. I use a hand grater to grate the ginger.
- Black tea: You can also use teabags.
- Lemon juice: use freshly squeezed lemon juice for this recipe. If your lemons are hard, one handy trick is to first roll them on a flat surface for a few seconds. Then place them in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Remove from the microwave, slice in half, and juice them. This trick makes it so easy to squeeze out the juice from the lemons.
- Honey: Adjust the amount of honey according to your taste.
- Fresh Mint: Add 2-3 crushed mint leaves along with the ginger to add even more refreshing taste to the recipe.
- Cinnamon: Add a pinch of cinnamon to add some more warmth and flavor to the recipe.
- Cardamom: Crush two cardamom pods and add the boiling water, to make it more aromatic.
- Maple syrup: Instead of using honey, you can also add some maple syrup to this tea recipe.
Toni
This is really perfect! So relaxing and healthy!
Kristen
This was perfect to soothe my sore throat. Thank you for the recipe. It helped me feel better!
MJ
I make this often and it's so great for sore throats!
Cathleen
I can never say no to tea! This is perfect for the colder months, thanks so much for the recipe 🙂
Dannii
I have been drinking so much of this recently. I have this super cold that is going around and it has floored me. This definitely helps though.