Give Your Cup Of Tea A Festive Flair With Colorful Sugar Cubes

Here at Tasting Table, we're all about using flavorful sugar to elevate your favorite beverages, whether it's a sugar rim infused with aromatic flowers (hello, tea party cocktail menu!) or a sugar rim laced with honey. But a sweetened rim isn't the only way to supercharge your drinks. To take your go-to cup of tea to the next level, it's time to utilize colorful sugar cubes.

Vibrant, dyed sugar cubes make a beautiful element for your morning tea ritual, or an elegant touch for a legendary presentation when entertaining. Place them in an ornate dish and watch your tea party guests go wild (bonus points if there's a lace tablecloth involved). In an airtight container, they boast the same Methuselah-esque shelf life as regular sugar cubes.

To make these colorful cubes at home, all it takes is one cup of granulated sugar, a tablespoon of water, and a couple drops of food coloring. Mix the sugar and water in a small bowl until it's been thoroughly dampened, add the dye, then stir once more to evenly coat. You can manipulate the hue by adding more or less food coloring, and if the sugar starts to become overmixed and non-pliable, simply add a few extra drops of water, taking care not to over-wet. From there, firmly pack your loose sugar into an ice cube tray, then allow the cubes to sit at room temperature for at least one hour to harden. For greater structural integrity, allow them to harden overnight.

Don't worry if your cubes come out a little chipped or rough around the edges; they'll be promptly dissolved in your hot tea. However, if you're feeling ambitious (and digging the aesthetic), you can press these technicolor sugar cubes into fun shapes by forming them in a candy mold tray instead of an ice cube tray. Now for the fun part: brainstorming color and tea flavor pairings. 

A monochromatic look is a solid aesthetic choice here. Pinky rosehip tea would look delightful bobbing with magenta sugar cubes. Similarly, you could pair yellow sugar cubes with chamomile tea, purple sugar cubes with lavender-loaded Earl Grey tea, dark green sugar cubes with peppermint tea, or deep red sugar cubes in rooibos tea. But the uni-color approach isn't the only style option. Your steaming cuppa tea would also glean a glamorous upgrade from some vibrant contrast, like magenta sugar cubes in cheery yellow-hued lemon tea. And deep red sugar cubes would look rustic and earthy floating in a mug of cognac-colored ginger tea.

The main thing here is to opt for a tea that will benefit from a touch of sweetness, flavor aside. If you wouldn't ordinarily stir a teaspoon of sugar into a certain tea, then adding these vibrant sugar cubes might throw off the taste. Got any of these bad boy beauties left over? You can use them to help keep your cheese fresh or keep your cookies crisp.