Sunday afternoon was hot, hot, hot and definitely required some Iced Tea. Since my boyfriend has been back from bootcamp (13 pounds lighter I might add, so proud!) I’ve been supporting him by eating the same meals together. I’ve lost 2 pounds following a slight variation of the Clean and Lean diet, which I should have been doing since the start of the year, but whatever I’m doing it now. Iced Tea seemed like a good option on today’s scorcher, as sometimes water just doesn’t cut it and fruit juices and fizzy drinks are full of sugar. Plus the ‘iced tea’ that you can get in shops is another variation of sugar laden fruit juice too.
I used teapigs lemon and ginger tea* to make this, as it had the refreshing lemon element and a zing of ginger for added kick. They use biodegradable tea temples don’tcha’no, which are caffeine free too so you won’t be climbing the walls (has anybody ever climbed the walls on tea?!). The tea temples allow maximum room for the perfect infusion and they use whole leaf opposed to regular ‘dusty’ teabags. You could always add alcohol to this, if you wanted. It was so lovely, just sweet enough to take the edge off, but really thirst quenching.
I sort of just experimented until I got the desired result, no recipe needed. People don’t experiment enough in the kitchen anymore, everyone is so afraid of getting it ‘wrong’. So I’m explaining my ‘right’ way to make Iced Tea:
Tea
Sweetener (optional)
Your choice of accompaniments/garnishes (lemon, cucumber, berries etc)
Choose your desired receptacle, I picked this wine carafe. Grab your desired tea flavour, then choose something to sweeten if you so wish. I’m using my favourite Sweet Freedom, but honey or elderflower cordial would work equally well.
Boil the kettle, place 1 teabag per person in a jug and fill it up all the way. Leave that to infuse, and cut up some cucumber and lemon slices and put in the carafe. The teapigs super fruit version would be great garnished with blueberries or raspberries.
Once the tea has infused for a little while and is still warm, add the juice of half a lemon and the Sweet Freedom. I added 3-4 teaspoons of the Sweet Freedom.
Pour into the carafe along with a little cold water and add tonnes of ice. Then put in the fridge until you are ready to drink, I left mine for an hour. I would say this made about 5-6 tumbler-sized glasses, so make 2 carafes if you want it for a BBQ.
So that’s it a refreshing brew perfect for a summer’s day!
Levanah
xoxo
teapigs are available at most good supermarkets, and at their online shop. Each blend comes in a range of sizes and prices.
*PR Samples
