How to Make Warm & Cozy Cinnamon Apple Tea at Home

There’s no denying that apple and cinnamon are a match made in heaven. Here’s how to turn that perfect pair into delicious cinnamon apple tea. Add in some white tea for caffeine, ginger for health benefits, and optional peppercorn for added spice.

Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!

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Why You’ll Love Cinnamon Apple Tea

Uses food waste: freeze and use apple cores you would otherwise throw away.
Health Benefits: cinnamon and ginger are anti-inflammatory, not to mention the antioxidants in tea, and everyone knows, an apple a day keeps the doctor away!
Sweet & Spicy: the apple adds the perfect sweetness to balance the spicy cinnamon and ginger.
Naturally sweet: As I said, the apple makes it naturally sweet, so you don’t even have to add any sweeteners.
Caffeinated and Herbal option: This tea is just as delicious with or without the tea as a base! Make it for an energy boost, or to wind down before bed.

Apple Tea

Cinnamon, apple, ginger come together to make the perfect tea for the fall season.

Prep Time: ~2 minutes

Total Time: ~32 minutes

Yield: 2 cups (~ 1 portions in a nice big mug, or two smaller teacups!)

two beige patterned mugs with brown amber tea inside, and a slice of an apple floating on top. They sit on a beige tea towel with themed tea cups printed on it. There are two cinnamon sticks between the mugs and a brown betty tea pot behind them. A warm and cozy scene, perfect for fall.

Kitchen Equipment

Stovetop
Pot
Measuring cup & teaspoons
Strainer (I use the mini Oxo strainer) or a disposable tea bag.
1 large mug or a teapot for sharing

Ingredients

Single Serving (2 cups – one large mug, or two smaller mugs)

2-3 frozen apple cores (or 1 apple sliced)
2-3 thin ginger slices (1 tbsp grated)
1/2 to 1 whole cinnamon stick (I prefer 1/2)
2 cups water
optional: 2 grams white tea for caffeine
optional: 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp brown sugar (to taste)
optional : 1/4 tsp black peppercorn

Teapot for 4

4-6 apple cores (or 4 apple sliced)
4-6 thin ginger slices (1 tbsp grated)
1 to 2 whole cinnamon stick
4 cups water
optional: 4 grams white tea base
optional: 1/2 to 2 tbsp brown sugar (to taste)
optional : 1/2 tsp black peppercorn

Instructions: How to Make Apple Tea

For some recipe tips continue reading below or jump to them now.

Place frozen apple cores or fresh apple slices in pot with 500 ml of water. Bring to a gentle boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer.
Add in the rest of your ingredients (1/2 cinnamon stick, 2-3 slices of ginger, and 2 grams white tea). If you’re using a tea bag, put them in the tea bag to steep. Simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.
Turn off heat and allow the mixture to steep for another 20 minutes or more (the longer the tea steeps the stronger the flavour). Don’t go past 1 hour. 20 minutes is the perfect drinking temperature if you want to enjoy it right away.
Pour the tea through a fine mesh strainer into a mug or a tea pot.
Add an apple slice or cinnamon stick for garnish if you like, and brown sugar for extra sweetness.
The tea can be stored in the fridge (mason jars work well) and reheated or enjoyed cold.

one a wooden table sits a doubled walled glass mug with an orange liqueur cinnamon apple tea. In front of it sits all the main ingredients, an apple, cinnamon sticks, and ginger

Boiled Apple Tea Ingredients

Frozen apples: I love this recipe because I don’t waste an apple. Every time I have an apple for a snack or use it in a recipe, I cut out and freeze the apple core. Then when I want apple tea I go straight to my freezer and I always have what I need (p.s. if you want to eat the apple whole but still want to save the core, take out the core with a corer before!). If you don’t have any apples in your freezer, it’s better to use the entire apple instead of just the apple core as the flavour isn’t as strong.
Cinnamon: My favourite cinnamon sticks are Ceylon cinnamon, but they’re harder to find. It’s a bit softer on the spicy notes. That’s why I prefer only using 1/2 a stick in my tea, but if you’re a huge cinnamon lover, use more! It’s also important to only put your cinnamon and tea after the water has boiled. These are delicate ingredients and can become bitter when over-boiled. I found the flavours were the best when they were added in the water after it was brought down to a simmer.
Ginger: slice, grate, or peel the ginger. You can store fresh ginger in the freezer to always have on hand. Or you can use freeze dried ginger slices.
White Tea: For a subtle caffeine boost that goes well with apples and cinnamon I find white tea is the perfect pairing. You can use any white tea, I like a Silver Needle for a light addition.
Peppercorn: whole peppercorn adds an even spicier note to this already spicy ginger and apple tea. Try not to add too much because it gives a good kick.

5 apple tea ingredients on the counter, a full gingerroot in the back. three pinch bowls, one is filled with peppercorn, one with three frozen apple cores, and in front is a pile of white tea leaves. There are also two cinnamon sticks on the counter and a full apple for decor.

Apple Tea Recipe Alternatives

Add the Peel for a Beautiful Pink Hue

If you’re making for kids, or want to impress your guests give your tea a beautiful pink hue by adding in some apple peels. This will give a beautiful pink hue to your tea.

How Long Does Cinnamon Apple Tea Store?

This tea stores wonderfully in the fridge for up to 3 days for the best flavours. Make extra and store it in the fridge so you can enjoy these cozy flavours for several days.

The tea reheats well in the microwave for a minute until it’s the temperature you want! But you can also enjoy it cold for a refreshing drink.

Try This Apple Tea Recipe Cold

It’s absolutely delicious cold, you can taste more of the sweetness and pure freshness of the apples!

Tea Tasting Notes & Guide: you might be interested in my digital and printable tea tasting notes & guide to take your tea tasting to the next level. See it on Etsy.

a lifestyle shot of two people enjoying cinnamon apple tea in cute glass irish coffee mugs with handles. They are each on brown wooden coasters on a wooden table. The one in the front is too close to the camera and is half cut off and out of focus. There also an apple next to it slightly out of focus. This tea is being enjoyed at home, with blurred black and white photo galleries on the wall behind.

My Tea Essentials

To make any tea, you need a good kettle. My go-to is my Cuisinart electric temperature control kettle. It’s can hold 1.7 L, perfect for larger groups. And I can choose the temperature for the specific tea I’m making. But above all, my favourite feature is that it will continue to re-heat for 30 minutes, so I can re-steep as much as I want.

If you’re using loose leaf tea, I like these metal strainers that are dishwasher friendly, come with a cover to keep your tea warm, and it doubles as a place to put the strainer after it steeps.