What are some common variations of apple tea from different cultures?

What is apple tea?

The name covers a few different drinks. Some are a fruit infusion of apple only, some are black or green tea flavored with apple, and some are instant granules. Because the name is loose, check whether a product contains real tea leaves if you want to avoid or include caffeine.

Turkish apple tea (elma cayi)

This is the best-known version. The Tea Centre describes it as a fruit tisane, not a true tea, made from crystallized apple granules, with a sugary taste that lemon and cinnamon balance. It is traditionally served in small tulip-shaped glasses, and apple tea has traditional folk use for an upset stomach, which is a tradition rather than a proven treatment. In that shop’s hot recipe, you simmer the apple tea with lemon and cinnamon in 300 ml of water on medium-low heat for about five minutes, until the sugared powder softens and the apple dissolves. The iced recipe uses 250 ml of water.

Homemade fresh apple tea

• Slice an apple, simmer it with a cinnamon stick in water until soft, strain and sweeten if you like.
• Add cloves, ginger or a slice of lemon for variety.
• Use dried apple pieces for a milder flavor.

These are everyday home methods, not fixed recipes, so adjust time and sweetness to taste.

Apple with real tea

Some people add apple slices or apple juice to black tea or green tea, and many packaged herbal blends combine apple pieces with cinnamon. Those with tea leaves contain caffeine.

Serving ideas

A note on other cultures

This page lists only the apple teas we could verify, and we found no well-documented apple tea tradition elsewhere to describe. Instant granules are often sweetened, so read the label if you watch sugar.