Cloves: Benefits, Taste, Caffeine, and How to Steep Them
The dried flower buds of a tropical evergreen, and one of the warmest, most aromatic spices in the world. Naturally caffeine-free, sweet-spicy, and a little goes a long way.
Meet the ingredient
What are Cloves ?
Cloves are the unopened flower buds of Syzygium aromaticum, an evergreen tree native to a handful of small volcanic islands in eastern Indonesia. The buds are picked by hand just before they open, when they flush from green to pink, and dried in the sun until they turn the deep reddish brown you know from the spice rack. Each dried bud looks like a tiny nail, which is where the name comes from: clavus is Latin for nail.
Their power is in the oil. Cloves are up to a fifth essential oil by weight, most of it eugenol, the compound behind their warm, sweet, faintly numbing bite and the reason dentists once reached for them. Steeped whole in an infuser or tea bag, a teaspoon of cloves gives a golden, fragrant cup that tastes like the heart of a chai without any tea leaf or caffeine. They are one of the most useful spices to keep on hand: a single bud will lift a pot of black tea, a mulled cider or a cup of hot milk.
- OriginMaluku Islands, Indonesia
- FlavorWarm & Spicy
- CaffeineNone
Botanical origins
The Clove family tree
Cloves belong to the Myrtaceae, the myrtle family, a family of aromatic trees and shrubs that includes eucalyptus, guava, allspice and the Mediterranean myrtle. Nearly all of them pack scented oil into their leaves, and cloves simply do it in the flower bud instead. The genus Syzygium is one of the largest tree genera in the world, with more than a thousand species across the tropics, but only S. aromaticum is grown for its buds.
The clove tree is a slender evergreen that reaches around 30 to 40 feet, with glossy leaves and clusters of buds at the branch tips. It takes six or more years to give a first harvest and can bear for a century; the oldest known tree, on the island of Ternate, is thought to be about four hundred years old. Buds are picked when they turn pink and dried for several days until they lose about two thirds of their weight. Whole dried buds hold their oil far better than ground clove, which is why we sell them whole for tea.
Health benefits
Clove tea benefits
Is clove tea good for you? Cloves are one of the most concentrated spices there is, rich in eugenol and antioxidants, and they have been steeped for warmth, digestion and sore mouths for two thousand years.
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Cloves are one of the richest natural sources of eugenol, an aromatic oil that gives them their warm flavor and their long history as a soothing remedy. Eugenol is studied for anti-inflammatory activity, and it is why clove has been used for centuries to calm aches, sore gums and stiff joints.
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Before modern anesthetics, dentists used clove oil to numb toothache, and the tradition of chewing a clove for fresh breath goes back to Han-dynasty China. Clove tea carries a little of the same numbing, antibacterial warmth, which is why it is a classic cup for a sore mouth or throat.
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Gram for gram, cloves rank near the top of every antioxidant chart, well ahead of most fruits and vegetables. Eugenol and the polyphenols that come with it help the body manage oxidative stress, and a good share of them steep into the cup.
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Cloves are a classic carminative, a warming spice used in Ayurvedic, Chinese and European traditions to ease bloating, gas and nausea. A small cup of clove tea after a heavy meal is one of the oldest uses of the spice, and it is why cloves turn up in so many digestive blends.
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Compounds in cloves, including eugenol and nigricin, have been studied for their effect on blood sugar and insulin response, with early trials showing modest improvements. Clove tea is naturally sugar-free and calorie-free, which makes it an easy swap for a sweetened afternoon drink.
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Cloves are unusually rich in manganese, a trace mineral the body uses to build bone and to run the enzymes behind metabolism and antioxidant defence. A teaspoon of whole cloves carries a meaningful share of the day's manganese, along with small amounts of vitamin K and vitamin C.
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
History
History of Cloves
For most of history, every clove on Earth came from five tiny volcanic islands in the Maluku Islands of Indonesia, the original Spice Islands. Cloves were traded across Asia long before Europeans knew where they grew: a clove has been found in a Syrian kitchen dating to about 1700 BC, and in Han-dynasty China courtiers were required to hold a clove in the mouth before speaking to the emperor. Arab traders carried them to Rome and the Mediterranean, and by the Middle Ages cloves were among the most expensive goods in Europe, sold by the bud.
The Portuguese reached the Maluku Islands in 1512 and were pushed out by the Dutch, whose East India Company spent the seventeenth century burning every clove tree outside the one island it controlled to keep the price high. The monopoly finally broke in 1770 when the French botanist Pierre Poivre smuggled seedlings to Mauritius. From there cloves reached Zanzibar, where the Omani sultans planted them so widely that the island became the clove capital of the world, a title it still shares with Madagascar and Indonesia. Today it can be found seasoning kitchens and, steeped whole, warm cups of tea.
- Herbal tea Caffeine free
- White tea Low caffeine
- Green tea Low caffeine
- Black tea Medium caffeine
- Matcha High caffeine
Levels are typical; steep time and leaf amount change them.
Caffeine
Does clove tea have caffeine?
No. Cloves are naturally caffeine-free. They contain no stimulants at all, so clove tea on its own is a cup for any hour, and a bag of cloves steeped alongside black tea adds flavor without adding caffeine.
Taste
What does clove tea taste like?
Clove tea tastes warm, sweet and intensely aromatic, with a peppery bite and a gentle numbing tingle on the tongue from the eugenol. The cup is pale gold and surprisingly smooth, with a natural sweetness that lingers and a faint bitterness underneath if you steep it long. It tastes like the heart of a chai or a mulled cider with everything else stripped away. Cloves are potent, so a level teaspoon is plenty on its own, and they blend beautifully with cinnamon, ginger, orange peel or a strong black tea.
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Making the tea
How to make clove tea
Heat
Bring fresh, filtered water to a boil.
- Heat
- Measure
- Steep
- Remove
- Enjoy
Where to buy
Where can I buy Organic Cloves ?
You can find Organic Cloves on our website! We are USDA certified organic, and our products are vegan and free of GMOs. Try them out today!
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