sweet tea without sugar or honey is it possible

The only thing I can suggest is to use less sugar (1 tsp) and then let your tea cool some before drinking, which makes the sweet taste stronger because the whole experience is less... hot (SCIENCE!).

Otherwise I just budget some calories for hot tea with milk and sugar.

Try some other fruit flavoured teas or infusions - I like a vanilla rooibos, but there's plenty of honey/ ginger or berry flavoured varieties.

How are you with just a slice of lemon in hot water?

I read when I was a teenager that if you can stick out drinking tea with no sugar for 10 days, you won't want it any more. At the time I drank it with two sugars, so I thought I'd give it a go. It actually worked.
However, if that's too much to suffer through, there are plenty of alternative sweeteners out there. In any case, your average tea with 2 sugars is still probably less sugary than a fizzy drink...

Personally, I think sweetened tea is kinda gross, but if I wanted to sweeten it without using sugar, I'd use stevia. :drinker:

P.S. That Turkish apple tea recipe (above) looks kind of yummy. I might have to try it.

I really enjoy an apple tea in a local shop close to my work place. These are the closest recipes I have found to the tea (they refuse to give their recipe out). However the one I drink; has 2-3 fresh pieces of apple in it.

Hot Buttered Apple Tea
Ingredients
12 cups of water
2 Family sized tea bags
½ cup apple butter
Directions

Follow instructions on tea bags and while tea is hot, add apple butter. This smells and tastes so delicious - it is like a warm mulled cider.

Turkish Apple Tea
Ingredients:

Servings:
4-6

8 ounces sliced dried apples
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
6 cups cold water
honey

Place all the ingredients except the honey into a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat & simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain the hot tea into a teapot. Make sure to gently push on the apples to remove all the liquid.
Sweeten with honey, if needed, then pour into tea glasses.

Alternatively, you can also add dried raisins to the water while boiling it for a natural sweetness.

These look awesome! Thanks for sharing!

I'd use stevia to sweeten anything

Edit: Agave is another option, but if you don't like the flavour that honey leaves, it might not be for you... Stevia is pretty much flavourless (other than the sweetness)

Aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, Canderel), Sucralose (Splenda, Nevella), Stevia (Truvia, Natvia)...

Splenda is my all-time favourite. But each to their own.

Stevia is a good choice. Or you can add sugar free lemonade mix to tea. You can use flavored tea.

I really enjoy an apple tea in a local shop close to my work place. These are the closest recipes I have found to the tea (they refuse to give their recipe out). However the one I drink; has 2-3 fresh pieces of apple in it.

Hot Buttered Apple Tea
Ingredients
12 cups of water
2 Family sized tea bags
½ cup apple butter
Directions

Follow instructions on tea bags and while tea is hot, add apple butter. This smells and tastes so delicious - it is like a warm mulled cider.

I have raspberry butter at home, I wonder how that would taste. I may have to try it tonight.

Stevia!!!

I actually have a tea/stevia giveaway on my blog right now :P

Aspartame (Equal, Nutrasweet, Canderel), Sucralose (Splenda, Nevella), Stevia (Truvia, Natvia)...

Splenda is my all-time favourite. But each to their own.

^This. Except my favorite is NutraSweet.

I'm a Equal kinda girl.

Liquid stevia, just takes 2 drops and a slice of lemon per cup. Also The Republic of Tea (www.REPUBLICof TEA.com ) has a blend of Sweet Tea that comes in several mixes, 2 you might like are Sweet Tea Classic Black Tea Bags or Calorie-Free Naturally Sweet Tea. You can order small amounts to test and maybe try a few more types of tea. They have some excellent flavors. I generally do not like green tea, but I do like their Goji Raspberry Green Tea and Black Raspberry Green Tea, they also have a white tea that is also very healthy for you. You could give those flavors a try, my favorite is White /Pear tea or White/Honeydew. Hope you find one you like, cause sometimes you just need a sweet tea.

No one has mentioned Monk fruit sweetener. It is right next to Stevia in the Raw in supermarkets ... tastes better than stevia with less aftertaste. Also called Lo Han if you shop in Asian markets. Monk fruit tastes great in tea and coffee and I absolutely HATE the taste of artificial sweeteners but this stuff is more natural, just like the stevia.

I prefer stevia. I use stevia loose leaf in my hot or iced tea and the extract in things that don't get brewed.
For teas, I use loose leaf herbs. We have a local health food store that sells all sorts of loose leaf herbs in 1 lb bags. I do all sorts of mixtures using mint,green tea,roobios,and a few others, depending on my mood. I also grow some herbs and dry them. I grow fresh lemon grass and lemon trees, both great for flavoring things like green tea or even an alcoholic drink.
I have a strainer from Teavana. You put the leaves directly in the water and then the water is strained out the bottom by setting the container on top of your cup. Much,much better than the tiny canisters. Those have been relegated to spice holders for cooking.
Try adding mint to ice tea. It will give it a natural sweetness and cut the bitterness of the black tea.
A bagged hot tea that I love is Roastaroma from Celestial Seasonings. I grew up in Boulder so we had their teas before they went national.
If you like flavored teas, Teavana has some interesting combinations with dried fruits mixed into the tea.

They make a sugar free sweet tea in the Walmart brand. They are the concentrated squirt bottles that they sell. One squirt easily sweetens a cold glass of water and it tastes pretty good.

I really enjoy an apple tea in a local shop close to my work place. These are the closest recipes I have found to the tea (they refuse to give their recipe out). However the one I drink; has 2-3 fresh pieces of apple in it.

Hot Buttered Apple Tea
Ingredients
12 cups of water
2 Family sized tea bags
½ cup apple butter
Directions

Follow instructions on tea bags and while tea is hot, add apple butter. This smells and tastes so delicious - it is like a warm mulled cider.

Turkish Apple Tea
Ingredients:

Servings:
4-6

8 ounces sliced dried apples
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
6 cups cold water
honey

Place all the ingredients except the honey into a saucepan. Bring to a boil then reduce heat & simmer for 15 minutes.
Strain the hot tea into a teapot. Make sure to gently push on the apples to remove all the liquid.
Sweeten with honey, if needed, then pour into tea glasses.

Alternatively, you can also add dried raisins to the water while boiling it for a natural sweetness.

I tried the Turkish apple tea last night using fresh apples---it turned out great. I had a mugful left over and am drinking it now, but instead of putting honey in, I tried a teaspoon of fresh squeezed lemon juice. I can drink it without honey or sugar that way. Thanks for the great recipe. I love apples and cinnamon combined, especially in the winter. I want to try it iced for the summer. :drinker: