Black Tea

Strong black tea, cardamom, cinnamon, and evaporated milk make this karak chai rich, creamy, and deeply aromatic.

A simple sandwich cookie made with black tea, fresh ginger, and ground cardamom that tastes just like a cup of milky chai.

Across the country, contemporary tea shops appeal to those seeking alternatives to bars and nightlife.

This chicken is juicy, tender, and never ever dry—thanks to the tannins in black tea, plus a sneaky pinch of baking soda.

Sweet, bitter, creamy, and so, so good, milk tea makes for an irresistible base for this bread pudding.

Made with sweetened black tea, milk, and black tapioca pearls, this classic milk tea recipe is sweet, creamy, and delicious.

Tibetan people drink butter tea in copious quantities throughout the day. More like a savory broth than a sweet tea, it is deliciously smooth and creamy.

Reverse the typical relationship between iced tea and ice cubes by using cubes that impart more flavor into the glass as they melt and mingle instead of diluting the drink.

This milky black tea mixes the sweet spiciness of dried ginger with piney-fruity-minty green cardamom and the brash, earthy heat of black pepper.

This refreshing pick-me-up, made with rye, sherry, and crisp cold-brewed black tea, is slightly nutty, slightly malty, tart and thirst-quenching.

This spin on the home cooking favorite is a nod to a classic Southern combination: iced tea and cornbread. Here, the tea makes a sweet and shiny glaze and the delicate sweetness of fresh corn kernels balances out the buttery bread. Muffins are perfect for grab-and-go breakfasts, but you could also make it in a cast-iron skillet and serve family style. Beware, your overnight guests may never leave.

Slightly bruised or wrinkled stone fruit is ideal for making the infused syrup; peaches and nectarines work too.

It might be hard to go back to regular iced tea ever again.

Smoking duck with tea is an Asian tradition. This recipe uses a fragrant brew of Darjeeling tea, fresh ginger, and star anise for roasting rather than smoking. The tea brine gives the duck a dark, smoky flavor. My favorite way of roasting the duck is in the La Caja China box roaster. The duck comes out a beautiful mahogany color and is succulent and moist, with a smoky taste and a crisp skin. An Asian-influenced basting sauce is used as a mop a few times over the course of roasting. Tea brine can be made with other black teas, such as oolong or Earl Grey. It can also be used for roasted chicken or even pork.

The first time I had gâteau basque, I was living in the southwest of France and trying, in my little spare time, to sample as many of the local treats as possible. Gâteau basque, a very moist, buttery cake with a certain je ne sais quoi, was by far my favorite. Despite its name, it’s not really a gâteau, or cake, but rather two layers of buttery, crumbly crust filled with pastry cream. As it bakes, the crust and filling meld into one delicious whole. This rural dessert has many interpretations, with fillings that vary from almonds to raisins to fruit jams. For this version our first pastry chef, Sara Lauren, came up with a pastry cream spiked with an unusual combination of Armagnac, rum, orange-flower water, and almond extract. The cake doesn’t taste like any one of those flavorings, but together they somehow evoke that unforgettable flavor of the Basque country.

The addition of Earl Gray tea in this recipe gives the cookies the slightest hint of bergamot orange flavoring. Grind the tea leaves in a small food processor or a spice grinder.

Iced tea mixed with lemonade—also called an Arnold Palmer—is incredibly refreshing. This version is made with a hit of spicy ginger syrup and basil so it tastes a bit more complex, but it’s still really simple to make. You’ll want to drink this all summer long.

If I’m working, which is to say I’m not drinking anything strong because I’m focused on winning a competition, I don’t drink anything besides sweet tea. I love sweet tea, truly. It’s the drink of the South, the drink of my home. Here’s how we do it.

At all of India’s roadside stalls, Masala Chai is served already sweetened. I have added about 1 teaspoon sugar per cup in this recipe, which makes the tea just mildly sweet. You may double that amount, if you prefer.

When­ we ­decided­ to start serving brunch, we were determined to stick with the original concept of the restaurant, "tea turned on its ear," so we racked our brains to come up with a way to do french toast that was unique, fun, and, most important, tasty! We all tossed a bunch of ideas out there, and one of them was french toast bread pudding. All heads tilted curiously at this idea, so of course we tried it. The idea was for it to be like a true bread pudding—tea-infused, of course—but when the first batch came out, our chef said, "I don't think this one is right—the top is crisp and chewy, but the bottom may be mushy." We tried it, and lo and behold, there it was, the brunch item that would make eyes widen and taste buds explode: a layer of crisp and chewy french toast on top and a wonderfully gooey, creamy bread pudding infused with apricot brandy tea underneath. Note that you will need eight 2-inch-deep oven-safe glass bowls (8-ounce ramekins or crème brûlée dishes work well).

Sara adds a spoonful of bee pollen granules to this flowery smoothie, which she thinks turns it over-the-top sublime. Bee pollen is a storehouse of all naturally occurring multivitamins, proteins, minerals, amino acids, enzymes and hormones. Mary, however, is not wild about bee pollen's sweet-but-raw earthiness and chalky texture. With or without a dash of pollen, the BEE-ootiful combination of jasmine and pure raw honey calls to mind the rare deliciousness of wild honeysuckle. Remember, the floral splendor of this smoothie lies in the quality of honey that you use. If you prefer a fruitier flavor, mango-peach tea works well, too. Feel free to use frozen peaches as a substitute when fresh peaches are out of season.

Enjoyed by millions in India, masala chai, a spiced, sweetened black tea mixed with milk, is now popular around the world. It is sold all over India by chai wallahs, or tea vendors, who pour the tea from big kettles into small cups. Americans have incorrectly shortened the name to chai (which means simply "milk tea"); masala refers to the combination of spices, which often includes cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, pepper, fennel, and star anise. Although there are many chai blends available in supermarkets, making your own is quick and satisfying, and the results are much better.

Ma'Dear, my maternal grandmother, would sun-brew gallon jars full of Sweet Goodness on sweltering hot summer days. Recollections of those containers full of cinnamon-colored tea sitting on her back porch bring back sweet memories of simpler days. This version will satisfy the snootiest of Sweet Tea connoisseurs (read: my mom) and won't give drinkers an insulin spike since it is sweetened with agave nectar.