Cool and Refreshing Iced Tea

Last Thursday in my little corner of the world, it was sleeting and snowing. This week we have jumped straight into summer with temperatures in the high eighties. With hot weather, we seem to consume a lot of iced tea. The kids will drink almost a gallon of sweet tea between them when they get home from school in the afternoon.

 A gallon of sweet tea has half the amount of sugar of Kool-aid or soda. We add one cup of sugar to the tea to sweeten it. What the kids don’t know is when I make the tea, I actually use ½ cup sugar and ½ cup of stevia, which is a sugar substitute

After awhile eating or drinking the same thing can get boring, so life gives us variety. You can mix equal parts unsweetened tea with lemon aid, for a refreshing lemon tea. However, if you don’t like lemon, you need more variety. With a few simple ingredients, you can do just that.

Strawberry Iced Tea:

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

4 cups freshly brewed tea

1 cup strawberry apple juice

4 whole strawberries

Combine the water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Let stand until cool.

Add the tea and strawberry apple juice to the sugar syrup and stir to combine. Pour into 4 glasses over ice. Garnish each glass with a strawberry.

 

Cranberry Iced Tea:

8 cups fresh brewed tea

¾ cup sugar or 6 ounces of light corn syrup

1/3 plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 to 4 tablespoons concentrated cranberry juice cocktail

Combine all ingredients in a 2 quart pitcher, stir until sugar is dissolved. Chill before serving

 

Need a little alcohol in your tea? Try Hibiscus Tea with Vodka and Citrus, recipe from Red Book

 4 cup(s) water

 2 cup(s) (2 ounces) Red Zinger tea bags

 1/3 cup(s) sugar, 

 2 tablespoon(s) fresh lemon juice

 1 tablespoon(s) fresh lime juice

 1 cup(s) vodka

 1 cup(s) ice

 In a medium saucepan, combine water, tea bags, and sugar over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, stir occasionally, until sugar has dissolved. Let cool 25 minutes, add lemon juice, lime juice, and vodka.

 Place ice in a tall pitcher. Strain tea into pitcher and discard flowers. Refrigerate before serving.