Iced Tea Recipes
Nothing compares to a tall iced tea when temperatures are on the rise. We've selected a variety of recipes that highlight simple, fruity, herbal or creamy renditions of tea-based drinks. Take advantage of the bounty of fresh ingredients from your garden or the produce aisle and toss them into your favorite teas to amp up the flavor and health benefits. Tea is the ideal medium for it.
Southern Sweet Tea
Few drinks are as classic as this one. Sweet tea Southern-style is a long-standing tradition, having been consumed by generations who take their tea in large Mason jars—preferably on the front porch. Southerners know how to hydrate, and this sweet tea hits the spot.
Ingredients
16 cups water
16 Lipton tea bags
16 tablespoons cane sugar
Sliced lemons for serving
Method
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Remove from the heat and add the tea bags, stirring to ensure that all are submerged. Steep until the tea is strong, about 15-20 minutes.
Remove tea bags with a slotted spoon and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Cover and allow to cool before transferring to a pitcher or several large Mason jars. Chill in the fridge for several hours. To serve, pour tea over ice and add a lemon slice on the side.
Tea Cream Soda
This Italian-style cream soda combines Earl Grey tea, vanilla extract and simple syrup to create a concentrate guaranteed to refresh when combined with chilled seltzer water.
1 cup cane sugar
1 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons Earl Grey loose leaf tea
Seltzer water, chilled
Half and half or whole milk
Method
To make the simple syrup, combine the sugar and water in a small saucepan. Heat until the sugar dissolves into the water. Remove the pan from the heat.
Immediately add the loose leaf tea, cover, and allow to steep for 4-6 minutes depending on the level of strength you prefer. Strain the tea leaves, add the vanilla to the concentrate and allow the mixture to cool.
For the soda, fill a 12-ounce glass three-fourths full with seltzer water. Pour in 1/3 cup of the tea concentrate, depending on desired sweetness. Add a splash of half and half or milk. Yield: three 12-ounce drinks
Ginger Tea Slush
This chilled drink is the perfect answer to sultry summer days. The mint and ginger are such ideal flavor partners that you'll wonder why you hadn't paired them before.
Ingredients
1/4 cup thinly sliced peeled, fresh ginger
10 mint leaves, torn
6 cups water
6 tablespoons loose leaf black tea
1/2 cup agave nectar
Method
In a saucepan bring the water, ginger and mint to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Turn off the heat, add the agave nectar and tea, cover and let steep for about 30 minutes. Strain the tea and cool completely.
Pour some of the tea into an ice cube tray and freeze. Refrigerate the remaining tea. When ready to serve, place half of the ice cubes into a blender along with 12 ounces of the chilled tea. Blend until slushy. Pour into 2 tall glasses and grab a straw.
Fruit-Infused Iced Tea
The options for infusing fresh or frozen fruit into your favorite teas are endless. Rather than introduce chunks of fruit to your tea, however, try adding the juice of the fruit and set aside a few whole pieces of fruit solely as garnish. We've included a sample recipe for a fruit-infused tea and leave it to you to substitute your own fruit combinations.
Ingredients for the syrup:
2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, plus extra for garnish
1 cup granulated cane sugar
¼ cup water
Ingredients for the lemon iced tea:
Juice of 4 lemons
1 lemon, thinly sliced for garnish
2 cups water
2 tablespoons loose leaf tea of your choice
Method
To make the syrup:
In a saucepan, mix the ingredients and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and let the mixture simmer until the berries are softened, approximately 10 minutes. Allow to cool and then strain the syrup into a jar using a fine-mesh sieve.
To make the lemon tea:
In a deep pan, bring 2 cups of water to a boil. Add your tea of choice to the water, cover and remove the pan from the the heat. Allow the tea to steep for the time required for the tea you've selected.
Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain the tea into the raspberry syrup jar. Next, add lemon juice to the jar and stir. Allow the tea mixture to cool completely and store it in the refrigerator for future use.
Into a tall glass, add a few ice cubes, the raspberry tea, a slice of lemon and two to three fresh raspberries.
Try your own fruit-infused tea pairings, such as strawberry and basil, ginger and lime, mango and orange, peach and mint...the pairings are endless.
Mint Iced Tea
If you grow mint in your garden, this tea will surely put those leaves to good use. Relying on only four ingredients, you'll be able to create a delicious tea concentrate to keep in the fridge ready for water and ice.
Ingredients
3 cups water
32 grams or 1/2 cup green loose leaf tea
1 cup fresh mint leaves, washed and dried with thick stems removed
1-3 tablespoons cane sugar or turbinado
Ice
Optional: reserved mint leaves for garnish
Method
Steep the tea in 3 cups of water at 180 degrees F. for 3 minutes. Strain the leaves in a fine-mesh strainer and discard them or resteep the leaves for 4 minutes to brew a second batch. Pour the brewed tea into a quart container or pitcher.
Add the mint and sugar to a large bowl and muddle them using either a muddler (a bartender's tool) or some other blunt utensil like the wide end of a wooden spoon. The goal is to bruise and tear the leaves while the sugar acts as an abrasive.
When the mint is mashed (most of the leaves should be darkened and roughly torn), pour the tea over the mint and sugar mixture and allow the liquid to come to room temperature. Don't strain it.
Cover and store the tea in the refrigerator. Whenever you're in the mood, fill a tall glass with ice and add a 1:1 ratio of cold water to tea concentrate mix. Stir and garnish with mint leaves if you'd like.
Iced Milk Tea
Strongly brewed tea, sugar and evaporated milk create a drink that you're likely to return to again and again. It's delicious and comforting at the same time.
Ingredients
8 oz. water
2 Lipton Yellow Label Tea Orange Pekoe tea bags
1-2 tablespoons brown sugar
2-4 tablespoons evaporated milk
Method
Bring water to a boil. Steep 2 tea bags for 5 minutes or until the tea is as dark as coffee. Remove the tea bags and squeeze out the liquid before discarding. While the tea is still hot, stir in the sugar until dissolved.
Add evaporated milk, starting with 2 tablespoons. If you'd like your drink creamier, add an additional tablespoon at a time until it suits your taste.