The Best Cranberry Orange Tea

This has become my favorite iced tea to serve during the winter months. It is really delicious and easy to make.

I stumbled upon this idea when I decided that I wanted to do something with real cranberries for our shop. I couldn’t understand why we only use Craisins in everything. So I decided to make a modified version of  sugared cranberries that I like to use in place of Craisins for a nice winter salad. Customers loved these salads and you can get the recipe for our Whole Berry Cranberry Pomegranate Winter Salads at this link: https://somscafe.com/cranberry-pomegranate-winter-salad-recipes/

One of the byproducts of this recipe was a cranberry infused simple syrup. In the past I’ve just thrown it away. This year I decided to use it to sweeten my Cranberry Orange Tea and I was amazed at how it enhanced the cranberry flavor of my tea.  Now you can make it at home too.

Whole Berry Cranberries & Cranberry Infused Simple Syrup Directions

1. Wash and rinse desired amount of whole cranberries. I usually use 1/2 of a 12oz. package at a time and save the rest for a second batch later.
2. Boil 2 cups of water.
3. Add 2 cups of sugar to boiled water and stir until dissolved.
4. Add whole cranberries and stir them into the simple syrup.
5. Put them in the fridge and let them sit overnight or for at least 8 hours.
6. Line a baking sheet with wax paper and place a drying rack on top. Use a slotted spoon to place the cranberries in a single layer.
7. Sprinkle the cranberries with sugar.
8. Allow the cranberries to dry for at least 30 minutes and add a second or third layer to your desired amount allowing them to dry between application.
9. Turn cranberries over and apply to the second side and allow them to dry.
10. Use the cranberries in any salad that calls for Craisins.  See our post above for Cranberry Pomegranate Chicken Salad and for Cranberry Orange Kale Quinoa Salad.
11. Use the cranberry infused simple syrup to sweeten your Cranberry Orange Tea and add a slice of orange to really bring out the flavor. You can get Cranberry Orange Tea here: https://somscafe.com/product/cranberry-orange/.
12. I like to cold brew my iced tea. See instructions for super easy cold brewed or fast traditional iced tea here: https://somscafe.com/how-to-make-iced-tea/.

Want regular creative recipes with our coffee and tea products? We will be sharing tea recipes regularly in our monthly subscription service and live in our zoom tasting group for monthly subscribers starting at just $11.99/month. Just follow this link: https://somscafe.com/product/monthly-tea/.