This Subtle, Aromatic Tea Is The Perfect Infusion For Your Honey

A drizzle of sweet honey is delicious enough on its own, but even a quality ingredient can be improved upon. We're talking about infusions, using different ingredients to impart unique flavors to honey, the sweetener you enjoy stirring into drinks and mixing into recipes. Whether you prefer the tantalizing combination of dried chilies and honey or an earthier, more herbal-tasting profile in your sweetener, packing honey with ingredients and letting your choices mingle can result in some seriously elevated dishes. 

Tea makes for an easy addition to boost existing jars of honey with flavor — and one variety in particular shines. Earl Grey tea brings a certain sophistication to the sweetener, offering layers of citrus and bergamot with each spoonful. With the infused honey at the ready, you can get to whipping up impressive desserts and drinks without hesitation, as Earl Grey tea pie, martinis, ice cream, and London fog lattes can turn a mundane midweek afternoon into an occasion that feels celebratory. Simply add some loose-leaf tea to honey and allow it to mingle for at least a week. When you're ready to use it, just strain the honey through a fine-mesh strainer, and you're good as gold.

Warming up honey before adding your chosen ingredients can help turn up the intensity of the infusion. You can also lean your homemade honey infusions into a thinner syrup category for easy mixing into drinks and drizzling onto brunch plates by including five or six tablespoons of hot tea per half cup of honey. Simply whisk the water and honey together to a boil, remove it from the stove, and then add three Earl Grey tea bags to steep. Using tea bags eliminates the need to sift out any loose pieces of tea from your honey. The more tea tags you use in your infusion, the stronger the presence of Earl Grey you'll notice in your honey. 

Once made, this flavorful syrupy concoction can keep in the refrigerator for two weeks, so you can pour the Earl Grey-infused treat on top of morning pancakes and waffles or garnish a dish of berries. Having a jar of infused honey at the ready can also make your efforts to make delicious Earl Grey-flavored goodies, like glazed cookies and Earl Grey lemon scones, that much easier.