Sometimes I do wonder, exactly where the boundaries of “tea” are – obviously, we go beyond the tea plant, to rooibos teas and to herbal tisanes that we call tea – but is any beverage that you pour hot water over, that isn’t coffee, a tea?

In this instance, we have a blend that includes no leaves whatsoever, nor any of the herbs and flowers traditionally in herbal tisanes; instead, it is solely made up of spices and dried fruit. So, is that tea? Well, it is a delicious hot beverage that comes in tea bags, from a tea company – so I guess it’s tea! In any event, it’s tasty.

There is no caffeine in this brew, so it can be drunk as one’s late-night warm cup before snuggling under the quilts for sleep. And although the flavor is somewhat milder than freshly made apple cider, it also has none of the calories of fresh cider, either. So one has this treat entirely free of guilt.

Republic of Tea says this about the blend:

Hot Apple Cider Tea is a naturally-caffeine free blend of apples, cinnamon cloves and ginger, reminiscent of hot apple cider – the perfect accompaniment to the colors of the harvest season.

When autumn leaves begin to change and the chill returns to the air, this unique herbal blend of apples, and spices will surely warm you up.

As one of our most popular herb teas, Hot Apple Cider can run out quickly. Limited Edition, When it’s Gone It’s Gone.

Preparation & Serving: Heat water to boiling. Infuse one tea bag per cup for three to five minutes. Remove bag. Delicious with a little sugar.

Interesting Anecdotes: Greek and Roman mythology refer to apples as symbols of love and beauty. When the Romans conquered England about the first century B.C., they brought apple cultivation with them. The Pilgrims discovered crabapples had preceded them to America, but the fruit was not very edible. The Massachusetts Bay Colony requested seeds and cuttings from England, which were brought over on later voyages of the Mayflower.

Although they recommend 3-5 minutes steeping, I’ve found I can leave the teabag in my cup for longer – in fact, even while I’m drinking – so that the last sip is nice and strong. I don’t need any sugar in this at all; you might want to try it first without adding sweetener, too. If you do want just a bit of sweetener in it, the apple flavor is a great candidate for my favorite way of adding sugar: dropping in a piece or two of crystallized ginger. Ginger and apples… need I say more?

By the way, this tea also turns out to be excellent for dunking shortbread or sugar cookies – yes, I tried it. Yum.