23 May, 2008

Iced Tea

Inspired by this Martha Stewart recipe I decided to make my own iced tea couple of weeks ago. I wanted it to be refreshing, not too sweet, and unusual. I remembered drinking "Rose petal" white tea at my friend's house. The drink had a slight rose flavor and a rather interesting aftertaste of ... dried coriander. I would not lie, the first sip was rather peculiar but after a while the herby taste grew on me.
Armed with this idea I got my white tea bags ready (you can use loose leave tea - I was just very lazy that day).

Refreshing Iced T

the recipe is good for approximately a liter of tea. Feel free to adjust the amount of sugar and lemon according to your taste

2 white tea bags
1/2 of the lemon, thinly sliced
~4 tbsp of brown sugar
2 springs of basil, leaves removed
3 springs of cilantro (for those of you who can't stand cilantro, substitute it with fresh mint)
1 litre of water

Boil water.
Thinly cut half of the amount of basil and cilantro.
Put all the ingredients, apart from sugar and water, in a tea infuser (if your teapot does not have one you can simply put the ingredients in your tea pot. Do not forget to pour your tea into a different pot once it's ready).
Pour hot water and add sugar. Mix everything well and let steep for 15-20 minutes.
If you don't like your tea too strong you can remove the tea bags but keep the herbal mix for longer.
Remove the infuser and refrigerate the tea until cold.

2 comments:

  1. I just love homemade iced-tea! David Lebovitz (www.davidlebovitz.com) has a recipe for a peach leaf 'iced tea' as well. If only I could find those here.

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  2. Thanks for the link - I'll check out the website.

    Iced tea is my favorite summer drink. I drink hot tea all other seasons but there is nothing better than a refreshing glass of a fruity cold beverage on a hot summer day.

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