Friendship Tea Mix gives you a fast, cozy mug with bright orange and lemonade flavor, a little apricot sweetness, and just enough cinnamon and cloves to keep it interesting. Stir up one batch, tuck it in the pantry, and you’ve got a warm drink ready in about a minute.
Friendship Tea Mix is one of our most frequently recommended beverage mixes. This tea combines the zippy taste of Tang drink mix with lemonade and a hint of apricot with a very light touch of cinnamon and cloves to bring out the flavors. This is a lovely addition to keep on hand in the pantry, or for gift giving during the holidays.
This old-fashioned mix works especially well for holiday gifting, care packages, or those afternoons when plain tea sounds a little too sensible. If you like easy pantry beverage blends, you’ll probably want to bookmark Instant Chai Tea and browse the full collection of Beverage and Drink Mixes too.
Stored in an airtight jar in a cool, dry cupboard, this dry mix keeps its best quality for about 6 months as an estimate, largely because ground spices lose punch faster than the sugary ingredients around them. Once you mix a mug with hot water, treat it like any prepared beverage and enjoy it right away for the best flavor. For dry-goods storage basics, the USDA recommends keeping dry foods in a clean, dry place, which is exactly what this mix wants.
Friendship Tea Mix Recipe
You’ll Need:
- 1 (18 ounce) jar Tang breakfast drink, orange flavor
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup presweetened lemonade mix, such as Country Time
- 1/2 cup instant tea
- 1 (3 ounce) box apricot gelatin dessert mix
- 2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
Combine the Tang, sugar, lemonade mix, instant tea, apricot gelatin, cinnamon, and cloves in a large zip-top bag or wide-mouth jar. Seal tightly and shake until the color looks even and the spices are distributed throughout the mix.
Expert Tip: If your mix looks streaky or you spot little pockets of cinnamon, pour everything into a larger bowl and whisk it before jarring. Spices like to clump when they hit moisture in the air, because apparently they enjoy being difficult.
To Use:
Add 2 to 3 heaping teaspoons of Friendship Tea Mix to 1 cup of hot water and stir until dissolved. Use the smaller amount for a lighter cup or the full 3 teaspoons if you want the citrus and spice to come through more clearly.
One batch makes about 35.3 ounces of dry mix, which is roughly 100 mugs if you use 3 teaspoons per cup, or closer to 200 lighter mugs at 1 1/2 teaspoons. For a party pot, start with 1/2 cup mix for 8 cups of hot water, then taste and adjust before serving.
Store the dry mix in an airtight jar, vacuum-sealed bag, or tightly sealed zip-top bag in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months for best quality, estimated. Keep a dry spoon in the jar and avoid steam from the kettle, since moisture is the fastest way to make the mix clump and the spices fade early.
Note: Prep time, yield, and shelf life are practical estimates based on the ingredient volumes, the stated 2 to 3 teaspoon serving size, and standard dry-storage guidance.
💸 Budget101® Price Breakdown: Friendship Tea Mix
Ingredient |
Walmart Item |
Pkg Price |
Amount Used |
Cost Used |
|---|---|---|---|---|
18 ounce jar Tang breakfast drink, orange flavor |
$3.84 |
1 ≈ 1 recipe count = an 18 oz jar; costed from current 20 oz Tang price per ounce |
$3.46 |
|
Granulated sugar |
$2.98 |
1 C. |
$0.33 |
|
Presweetened lemonade mix |
$3.24 |
1/2 C. |
$0.36 |
|
Instant tea |
$0.78 |
1/2 C. |
$0.65 |
|
3 ounce box apricot gelatin dessert mix |
$0.98 |
1 ≈ package ≈ 0.567 cup(s) |
$0.98 |
|
Ground cinnamon |
$1.27 |
2 1/2 t. |
$0.12 |
|
Ground cloves |
$2.98 |
1 t. |
$0.15 |
💸 |
Cost |
|---|---|
🧾 Total Batch Cost |
$6.05 |
👨👩👧👦 Cost Per Serving |
$0.06 |
📅 Walmart prices last verified August 26, 2026. Prices may vary by location and are subject to change. Learn how to calculate the cost of a recipe on your own!
Frequently Asked Questions about Friendship Tea Mix
You can, but the flavor will change. The apricot gelatin adds that light fruity note and a little body, so if you leave it out, the mix tastes more like a spiced orange tea. Peach gelatin is the closest easy swap if apricot is hard to find.
Plain instant black tea works best because it lets the orange, lemon, and spice flavors stay in charge. If you use a lemon-flavored or sweetened tea mix, the finished drink can turn overly sharp or much sweeter than intended.
Moisture got to it, even a little bit. Steam from a kettle, a damp spoon, or pantry humidity can make the sugar and drink powders grab onto each other. Break up small clumps with a fork and move the mix to a drier airtight container if needed.
Start with 1/2 cup of mix for 8 cups of hot water, stir well, then taste before serving. That gives you a solid base without making the urn taste like melted candy, and you can add another tablespoon or two if you want a stronger pot.
You can reduce it, but the drink will taste noticeably tarter because Tang, lemonade mix, and tea all lean sharp on their own. If you want to trim sweetness, reduce the added sugar by 1/4 cup first instead of removing it all at once.
A glass jar with a tight-fitting lid works very well because it blocks pantry odors and makes it easy to see if the mix has clumped. A vacuum-sealed bag or heavy zip-top bag also works, as long as you keep it away from heat and moisture.
Usually, yes, because standard instant tea is made from black tea unless you buy a decaf version on purpose. If you need a caffeine-free gift jar, use a decaffeinated instant tea so the flavor stays close without the extra buzz.
This mix pairs especially well with simple baked goods that won’t fight the citrus and spice. Try it with scones, plain butter cookies, coffee cake, or Friendship Scone Mix in a Jar if you’re putting together a gift basket.
Absolutely. Pack the mix into a clean dry jar, leave a little headspace so you can shake it, and attach a note that says to use 2 to 3 heaping teaspoons per mug of hot water. That’s the kind of practical gift people actually use instead of politely storing forever.
You’ll usually notice it in the flavor before anything else. If the orange tastes dull, the cinnamon and cloves smell flat, or the powder has hardened into stubborn chunks, it’s time to replace the batch for a better cup.
Did you make this Friendship Tea Mix? Tag us on Instagram so we can see your pantry stash and gift jars.
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🖨️ Print-Friendly Friendship Tea Mix
Friendship Tea Mix
Ingredients
- 1 18 ounce jar Tang breakfast drink, orange flavor
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup presweetened lemonade mix such as Country Time
- ½ cup instant tea
- 1 3 ounce box apricot gelatin dessert mix
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine the Tang, sugar, lemonade mix, instant tea, apricot gelatin, cinnamon, and cloves in a large mixing bowl.
- Whisk until the color and spices are evenly distributed.
- Transfer the mix to an airtight jar or large zip-top bag and seal tightly.
- To serve, stir 2 to 3 heaping teaspoons of mix into 1 cup of hot water until dissolved.
Recipe Size Alteration
💡 If you altered the ingredients above by doubling or tripling the recipe, you may also need to change the pan/dish size and adjust the cook time.
Notes
The dry mix keeps best quality for about 6 months in an airtight container in a cool, dry pantry.
thank you for this recipe. i will be making it for christmas presents. i like to present things like this in neat jars.:smile1:
Excellent drink anytime
I lost my copy of this recipe…thanks for helping me find it again!:smile1: