Spices for drinks
Chai, mulled wine, spiced coffee, golden milk and the cordials of the world.
Spiced drinks are among the oldest uses of spice, from mulled wine and masala chai to Mexican hot chocolate, Arabic coffee and Caribbean sorrel.
Hot drinks
Masala chai combines black tea with ginger, cardamom, clove, cinnamon and pepper. Arabic coffee is flavoured with cardamom, sometimes saffron. Mulled wine and wassail use cinnamon, clove and orange, and Mexican hot chocolate takes cinnamon and sometimes chilli.
Cold drinks
Sorrel, a hibiscus drink with ginger and clove, is served at Christmas in the Caribbean. Jamu in Indonesia uses turmeric and ginger, and tamarind drinks are sold across Asia, Africa and Latin America.
Spirits and bitters
Spices flavour spirits and liqueurs, such as anise in ouzo, pastis and arak, juniper in gin, and clove, quinine and gentian in bitters.
Drinks on EveryMasala
The spices written up so far, best known first.
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 4 moreBasil
A tender culinary herb with glossy leaves and a licorice-like aroma, native to tropical Asia.Leaf 路 Anise and liquorice 路 Warm and sweet-spiced
馃嚥馃嚱 MexicoPineapple sage
A Mexican shrub with leaves that smell of pineapple and flowers that feed hummingbirdsLeaf 路 Citrus and bright 路 Sweet and mellow
馃嚭馃嚫 United StatesMrs. Burns' Lemon Basil
An heirloom sweet basil cultivar from New Mexico with intense lemon flavor and large leaves.Leaf 路 Citrus and bright 路 Floral and perfumed
馃嚠馃嚦 India and 5 moreLemongrasssereh; tanglad; takhrai; sera
A tropical grass with citrus-scented stalks used in Asian soups and herbal teasLeaf 路 Citrus and bright 路 Sweet and mellow
馃嚚馃嚦 China and 5 moreRoselle
The deep red calyx of a hibiscus plant, steeped into a tart drink or cooked as a leafy green.Fruit 路 Sour and tart 路 Citrus and bright
馃嚭馃嚫 United States and 4 moreSassafras
An aromatic tree of North America and East Asia, famed for fil茅 powder and root teaLeaf 路 Citrus and bright 路 Anise and liquorice
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Sassafras: Randy Everette, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Pineapple sage: Eric Hunt, CC BY 2.5, source
- Lemongrass: Unknown author, CC BY 2.0, source
- Roselle: Bamouzou, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Basil: Castielli, CC BY-SA 3.0, source