Start Using Tea Bags For A Twist On Your Simple Syrup

Everyone has their go-to cup of tea for starting their morning, winding down before bed, or sipping on a relaxing afternoon. Whether you enjoy bright, fruity tea or a calming, herbal variety, make sure you don't toss that tea bag straight into the trash the next time you steep a fresh cup. Stretch the life of your tea and infuse it into some homemade simple syrup instead.

Making homemade simple syrup is a simple way to save on purchasing a drink-making staple. Simple syrup is known for its ability to quickly sweeten a drink because of its thick, sap-like liquid texture. Crystallized sugar doesn't always dissolve quickly enough to evenly flavor a drink. So, for example, making lemon simple syrup with a lemon tea bag creates a more concentrated flavoring agent. Instead of using whole lemon slices with sugar to flavor and sweeten your next drink, you have your sweet lemon syrup ready to go and get the job done instead.

All you need to make homemade simple syrup is a one-to-one ratio of sugar and water. With plain simple syrup, you just heat the water in a medium-sized saucepan, add your sugar, and let it dissolve. However, the method for making tea-infused simple syrup is a bit different. To use your leftover tea bags to make syrup, you'll want to bring about a cup of water to a boil, take the saucepan away from the heat, and add the tea bags to the water. Once it steeps, you can bring the water back to a boil before adding the sugar. Just make sure not to boil the water and sugar together for too long as it can result in a sticky caramel, which is not what we're going for here — to prevent this from happening, stir the sugar until it's fully dissolved. And once your syrup has cooled down, it's ready to store. How long your simple syrup will last depends on how you choose to store it, whether in the refrigerator or freezer.

For floral or fruit teas, white sugar works well for creating your flavored syrup. For teas with more robust ingredients such as cinnamon, cloves, or nutmeg, make your simple syrup base with brown sugar instead to complement the bold flavors.

Now that you have your flavored simple syrup, let's take your drinks, and even desserts, to the next level. You can play barista and bartender at home, stocking your kitchen with various simple syrups for lattes, cocktails, and more. Make a robust fall cinnamon spice syrup for drizzling in a cozy cup of coffee or hot chocolate. Or elevate a classic cocktail like an old-fashioned with a bit of the same cinnamon syrup, or brighten it up with sweet tea syrup. 

You can take these syrups beyond drinks, too. Add depth to your homemade sweet treats like popsicles or ice creams with a bit of your flavored syrups before combining ingredients. And if you have even more tea bags to spare, you can use this trick to elevate staple foods in your meals like rice or marinating meats. Experiment with whatever tea you have on hand to discover what interesting flavor combinations you can make, as reusing your tea bags and creating flavored simple syrup is the first step to upgrading your favorite drinks and dishes.