29.6.11

Iced Fruited Herb Tea



Sweet summer. School is out. Life slows down. The sun comes up early - lighting my bedroom slowly and waking me gently a little before 5:00 AM - and goes down late, still light at 10:00 PM. I love the glorious long days. The garden grows. Watermelon is a valid meal (in my opinion). Time stretches out most deliciously. When I was a child summer seemed to last forever but now I know that it is over in a minute. Summer is sadly short here in Calgary, every moment a tiny treasure that wants to be enjoyed.


One of the signals of 'real' summer's arrival is making the first pitcher of "Fruited Iced Herbal Tea". I have had the recipe forever and cannot recall from where. We love it. Love it. I made gallons of it for Eden's wedding and again for Merin's. And then just gallons more for everyday summer relaxing. If it is summer there is a pitcher in the fridge at my house. Super easy and very refreshing it is a much cooler option than pop, best enjoyed in the shade with a good book and a lounge chair. Or at the park with a picnic. Or while watching the kids play in the sprinkler. Or when you are just hot and thirsty .... you get the idea.


Fruited Iced Herbal Tea


4 tea bags*
10 cups water
3/4 cup honey
2 lemons, juiced
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp almond extract


Boil 2 cups water, steep tea. Add the honey, lemon juice, vanilla, and almond extract. Mix well, then add the remaining 8 cups of water. Serve over ice.


Note: if you don't serve this over ice, add more water. It is much better when it is not too concentrated - more refreshing.


*I use a combination of different herbal teas when I make this. There is some flexibility in what I use but I  always include at least one tea bag of mint tea. From there it varies - fruity or berry teas are popular for this at our house and look very pretty as well, rooibos teas (an Earl Grey flavoured rooibos is fantastic), anything you like but personally I don't like the licorice or cinnamon teas for this recipe. (Although I seriously love them otherwise!)
So my selection for a recipe of iced tea may look like this:
1 mint tea bag
2 tea bags of an Earl Grey flavoured rooibos tea
1 fruity tea bag (like Berry Zinger or something similar)

12 comments:

Eden Lang said...

Oh- LOVE LOVE LOVE your iced tea! and now that its on your blog I don't have to bug you every time I want to make some!

aaaaaand happy birthday mom! love you so much.

xoxo

Melissa said...

I was enjoying the hot sun with my son and dogs this afternoon and thought I would really love a caffeine free iced tea. I knew I could easily find regular iced tea but they have so much sugar and I didn't want the caffeine! So happy to find this post on your blog! It sounds perfect and just what I was craving! Thanks!

Oh I see from Eden's post it's your birthday!! Happy Birthday! :o)

Shaz said...

Happy Birthday my favorite sister... I have alway loved you in a very big way. I remember the iced tea very well, we actually got the recipe from Cathy Harker many years ago. I hope your day was everything it could be, I am sorry you didn't have time to have tea with us today, I was looking forward to seeing you.
Love Shan

Anonymous said...

Cheri:

Oooooo, Happy Birthday!!! .....and thanks for posting this recipe. I wanted to make something special this year for the many tea parties my granddaughter and I have planned for our week at the cabin.

Thelma

herbal tea said...

Iced tea is a traditional refreshing drink during the warm months. Iced Teas are refreshing and delicious blends of juicy fruits and Herbs. This tea is perfect on a summer day.

DeEtte said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CHERI!!! Hope you had a fabulous day! Surrounded by your loved ones and lots of great food!!!
love DeEtte

Allie said...

I just whipped this up for a day at the beach (SUNSHINE! GLORIOUS SUNSHINE!) and it is SO SO SO good. Can't believe how delicious it is. I'm going to try this with all different kinds of teas and figure out my favourite. : )

avchd movie editor said...

I have never tried Fruited Tea . I have heard this first time. After you posted this I want to drink this Iced Fruited Tea once. I hope it has good taste for me.

thermo logistics said...

Iced Fruited Herb Tea isn't really made from tea. It is an all Natural Herbal Tea that has many health benefits. This tea is perfect on a summer day.

Amanda said...

Hi Cheri! How long do you steep the tea for? And Will this work if I double or triple the batch? Or should I make small batches and then add them together?

Cheri said...

Amanda - I let it steep for at least 15 minutes and as much as 30. You can easily make multiples. It works perfectly to quadruple a batch. When I do that I don't add the remaining 8 cups of water but store it as a concentrate in the fridge and mix it up as needed. Good luck with it!

Amanda said...

Thanks Cheri! I quadrupled the batch and it turns out great! We had it for our YW/AD tea party last night. Yummy!!