American•budget

Pineapple Tea

Don't toss your pineapple peels! This recipe turns the fruit scraps into a refreshing spiced tea that can be served hot or cold.

Ingredients

Quantities are shown as originally provided.

1
Gather the ingredients.
2
Put your chopping board onto a clean baking tray to catch any juices that might run off. Set your pineapple on the board. Lay it on its side and cut off the base and the top. Reserve them.
3
Set the pineapple to sit on the base. Slice off the peel in strips from top to bottom till you've peeled it all. You can be generous with the flesh you remove so you cut off the eyes as well. Reserve the peels.
4
Cut up the fruit, slicing flesh off opposite ends, then repeat with the other sides. Reserve the core.
5
Put the top, base, peels, and core into a large pot.
6
Add the brown sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon stick, cloves, and 8 cups of the water.
7
In a blender, combine the ginger with 1 cup of the water. Blend on medium until thick and the fibers are broken down, about 30 to 45 seconds. Add the mix into the pot of pineapple peels and rinse out with the remaining 1 cup of water.
8
Bring to the boil on medium-high heat, about 12 to 15 minutes.
9
Turn down and let simmer for 35 to 40 minutes, tasting at the halfway mark. At that time, press down gently on the skins to break up the flesh and release additional pineapple flavor .
10
Turn off the heat and let the juice cool down.
11
Once cool, pass through a fine sieve/strainer and discard the solids. You could also pass through a cheesecloth/nut milk bag.
12
Decant into bottles and refrigerate. You will see some sediments settle at the bottom.
13
When ready to drink, heat up gently or pour on ice.