During episode 3 of the show, we can see Nyanta-san skillfully preparing tea for Serara as well as him. Many attempts have been made by us to recreate this recipe, as well as by many others including Adagio.
While Adagio's version is very complex (essentially a spiced black tea with apple and orange flavor) we shall present you with a much more simple take on it. The main reason behind this choice is we aren't actually shown all the steps of Nyanta-san's recipe, let alone spices or oranges. All we see is a tea with light brown colored leaves and apple peel. Presumably the tea is black tea, but what if it is a roasted oolong, or even a roasted green, like Hōjicha?
Shiroe: "What do you think? It's pretty good isn't it?"
Shiroe smiled at the old man. The man was drinking the tea; he seemed surprised at its slightly bittersweet taste, as if he'd never had anything like it before.
Anyone that has bothered reading the source material for the show, which happens to be the light novel written by Mamare Touno Sensei himself, would know the beverage in episode 3 is NOT tea.
In the original story, Nyanta does not prepare tea for Serara, instead he offers her an apple. Later, after reuniting with Shiroe, he does indeed prepare "tea" for Serara (as well as Shiroe, Naotsugu and Akatsuki) in such a fashion as we see him prepare it in episode 3, but he confesses it's not actual tea. So what is it?
As he spoke, Nyanta poured hot tea into his tin mug. It wasn't real tea, he'd said; just a mixture of herbs and dried apple peel. Even that makeshift blend felt like a blessing to Shiroe and the others, who'd drunk only plain water for so long.
—Mamare Touno, Log Horizon, vol. 2A mixture of herbs and dried apple peel. Therefore we receive confirmation that it is not tea, but also that there are 2 ingredients: the mixture, and apple peel. To see our friends of Log Horizon drink actual tea, we would have to wait until Marie offers them black tea leaves upon their return, and of course, later on, the famouse Black Rose Tea available at Crescent Burger for just short of five gold coins for cup.
There is no doubt in our mind Hōjicha is the best candidate for this blend. It looks the same, both in color and shape. It is bittersweet, thanks to the roasting process. It is temperature resistant, unlike many other japanese greens, so we don't have to worry it will shit the bed if we blend it with a roasted oolong (which we will). Apple peel will do the rest.
Blend:
2 parts Hōjicha green
1 part Da Hong Pao oolong
1/2 red apple peel
100°C
2-3 minutes
Should bitterness require to be adjusted, we recommend you play around with quantities or time, leaving temperature unchanged.
Serve together with apple slices.
Coming soon.