Iced Tea - 15 Refreshing Recipes

Traditional tea drinking can be successfully replaced with an alternative option. It can not only be refreshing during the summer season, but also have a very interesting taste thanks to the variety of different ingredients and aesthetic techniques. This article covers the following questions: what are the recipes for iced tea - how to make a cold drink - tips for making it at home

Methods for preparing iced tea

Since its inception, there has been only one recipe for adding ice to hot tea. At the moment there are three cooking methods:

classic iced tea;
infusion;
hot brewing tea.

Classic Iced Tea Recipe

This recipe is considered the most correct and is used in almost all cafes. There will be a glass, preferably a larger one; basically they take a glass glass, similar to a beer mug. Fill the glass halfway with ice, add syrups, lemon, and mint to taste. Place a sieve with tea leaves on the glass and pour boiling water over it. Stir and serve to quench your thirst. It is worth remembering that real tea cannot be brewed in cold water, so you need to pour boiling water over the tea leaves in any case.

Infusion

Infusion is considered the longest time for preparing iced tea. Infusion of tea occurs as follows: place 1-2 teaspoons of tea leaves in a container, add water at room temperature and leave to infuse for a day in a warm place, preferably in the sun. With this option of infusing tea, most microelements are preserved, since the tea leaves do not receive any heat treatment.

Hot brewing tea

This brewing method is considered the simplest and fastest. For this recipe, brew the tea leaves with boiling water in the usual proportions. Next, take a third of the prepared tea leaves and fill the remaining container in the glass with mineral water. You can also add lemon juice, syrup or mint to taste. This version of iced tea differs significantly from the other two in its simplicity of execution.

The history of the origin of the drink

The “tea way” originally began in ancient China after the discovery of this plant by Emperor Shen Nune (reign: 2700 BC). According to an alternative version, the discoverer was a Buddhist monk during his journey for educational purposes. Be that as it may, the name comes precisely from the Chinese (“cha”).

The Chinese revered the tea drinking process so much that they even wrote a whole treatise on it. However, it was not China that started promoting classic tea across all continents, since the depth of its veneration here meant that even the manner of growing practically sacred tea trees was kept secret. The introduction and interest of other world cultures occurred thanks to the Indian people.

Citrus tea

Based on the recipe for making ice tea with lemon at home, you can make an interesting citrus drink.

You will need:

150 ml cooled tea;
1 tbsp. lemon juice;
2 tbsp. orange juice;
Mint syrup (optional);
Honey;

Steps

First, brew weak tea and cool it.
In a separate container, mix lemon and orange juice with mint syrup.
Pour them into glasses in small portions.
The remaining space of the glass is filled with tea and a teaspoon of honey is added at the very end.

Lemon iced tea

From these products you will get one and a half liters of iced tea:

Mint leaves;
Lemon;
A tablespoon of green tea;
Ice cubes;
Lime;
Sugar.

Steps

Squeeze juice from citrus fruits. Pour the tea leaves into the kettle, pour hot boiled water, add sugar.
Add citrus juice and mint leaves. Close and wait twenty minutes.
Place ice in a glass, then pour in the strained infusion. Garnish cold green tea with mint leaves and lemon.

Useful tips

If you have already decided to make iced tea at home, here are a few tips to help make the drink even tastier and healthier:

Why you need to drink hot tea in hot weather

Use only good quality loose leaf tea leaves - tea bags will not work!
The water must be purified from impurities, so it is optimal if it is mineral or at least filtered.
Replace sugar with fruit syrups.
Use cubed ice to cool your drink, not crushed ice.
Ice tea goes well with mint, ginger and lemon - they add not only taste, but also benefits to the drink.

Refreshing hibiscus

It can be prepared in several ways. Here's one of them. To make iced tea at home you will need the following products:

Ten grams of hibiscus in bulk;
Two glasses of apple juice;
Fresh mint leaves;
Four glasses of boiling water;
Ice cubes;
Two glasses of cold water.

Steps

Brew hibiscus and mint leaves in a saucepan.
Wait ten minutes, then strain. Pour in cold water and juice.
Drink a chilled drink with ice.

Who invented the cold drink

Refreshing tea was first invented about a hundred years ago. At the beginning of the twentieth century, America experienced unbearable heat for a whole year. One American came up with a brilliant idea - to make iced tea. The locals really liked the drink and gave it the name ice tea.

One day a resident of Switzerland came to America and was treated to iced tea. He was pleased with the taste and freshness of the drink. The Swiss liked the idea and began producing it in convenient containers. This is how Nesti, Lipton, Ahmad and others iced tea appeared.

In 1965, Lipton iced teas began to be produced from tea powder. Now there is a large assortment of cold drinks with different flavors: raspberry, peach, cranberry, mint and others. The most popular today are Lipton cold green teas.

Unfortunately, they contain a lot of sugar and harmful additives. Lipton, Ahmad, Carry is harmful to the body, it is better to make iced tea at home.

With black currant

A bright, vitamin-rich cold drink will give you freshness and quench your thirst. According to the recipe, prepare the ingredients:

Ten grams of black tea;
One orange;
A few sprigs of mint;
Three hundred grams of black currant;
Three nectarines;
Sugar;
Liter of water.

Steps

Grind the currants through a sieve to separate the juice. Prepare tea leaves as usual.
Combine currant juice with tea, add granulated sugar to taste. Refrigerate for twenty minutes.
Place chopped nectarines, orange and ice into glasses. Top up with iced tea, garnish with mint leaves and serve.

Cold with cherry and mint

It is good to drink during the day when it is very hot. You can take this mint cold drink with you in a thermos to nature, it will stay cool for a long time.

Four hundred grams of cherries;
Two tablespoons of green tea;
Sprig of mint;
Liter of water;
Sugar.

Steps

Brew some tea. Strain and add sugar.
Place mint and cherry leaves at the bottom of the container and add tea infusion.
Cover and refrigerate for twenty minutes.
Pour the cherry drink into glasses, add ice.
Serve with a straw and garnish with mint and cherries.

How much to take

Iced tea should not be strong, since in the cold version the astringency of the tea - its main advantage - is not so noticeable. Therefore, we take approximately 1-2 teaspoons per liter of hot water.

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With fat and pineapples. 7 amazing ways to brew tea You need to take water at a temperature that is suitable for the selected type of tea. That is, for black it is about 90 degrees, for green it is about 80. Buckwheat tea, like black tea, is poured with water at 90-95 degrees. But hibiscus requires only 60 degree water.

Iced tea with ginger

Ginger tea is a great option for those who want to cheer up, get their body in order, lose weight and keep their body toned. Ginger tea is drunk not only hot, but also as part of Ice Tea.

The recipe for making ginger tea is slightly different from classic brewing. First you need to grate the ginger, or buy grated ginger. Next, you need to take a saucepan, pour a liter of water into it, boil it and add a few tablespoons of ginger. Next you need to add sugar and leave to cool. Next, it is advisable to take any citrus, such as lemon or orange, and squeeze the juice out of it. You can add seasonings to taste, such as red pepper or coriander. Next, the prepared ice tea should be cooled in the refrigerator until cool and drunk on a hot day to cool down.

Iced milk tea recipe

a third of a glass of loose leaf tea
1 tsp dried mint leaves
1 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. milk
1 tbsp. cream
0.5 tbsp. lemon juice;
1.5 tbsp. Sahara;
salt

Iced milk tea - preparation method:

Pour a glass of boiling water over the tea and mint, let it brew, then strain and mix the tea with milk and cream.
Separately, mix lemon juice with sugar and salt, and then add the “dressing” to the milk drink.
Place the container of iced tea in the refrigerator, stirring every 10 minutes. After 30-40 minutes the drink is ready to drink.

Recipes: how to make iced tea at home

Tea testers use several recipes for making ice tea. You can add mint, lemon, lime, strawberries, herbs, spices and other ingredients to the water.

Lemon iced tea recipe

Ice tea with lemon
To prepare ice tea with lemon as in the photo, you will need mint, ice, green tea, lemon, sugar. Tea leaves are poured into the teapot, boiled water with sugar and citrus juice are poured. Ice is added a few minutes after the mint. It should not melt before drinking the drink.

How to make cinnamon spice tea

Step-by-step preparation of ice tea:

welding;
lemon;
ginger root;
ground cinnamon;
sugar;
ice.

Spices with tea leaves are poured into a container and filled with cold water or boiling water. If the mixture is brewed, it is recommended to leave it for several minutes. To prepare a cold drink, pour the composition with cold water and leave for several minutes.

Refreshing hibiscus

Sudanese rose flowers or hibiscus are used to brew the drink. The plant is grown in tropical areas:

Egypt;
Sudan;
Mexico;
Thailand;
Sri Lanka.

The petals of the flower quickly color the water. The degree of concentration ranges between pale pink and bright, rich crimson shades. Hibiscus is characterized by a sweet and sour taste, as it contains citric acid.

Hibiscus

Ingredients for making the drink:

petals;
boiling water;
apple juice to taste.

If you mix the ingredients, you get a healthy drink with vitamins and antioxidants.

Important! It is recommended to avoid hibiscus for people with hypotension, people suffering from gastrointestinal diseases, pregnant women and allergy sufferers.

Black apple ice tea

To prepare the drink, the usual black varieties of tea are used. As an additive you will need pieces of apples. It is not recommended to add juice as this will result in sour tea.

Pieces of garden or sour apples will make tea with a rich hue. Tea based on sweet varieties quickly loses its taste characteristics. To prepare tea, you need to follow these step-by-step steps:

tea leaves are poured with boiling water;
apple pieces are added;
the drink must cool down;
Ice, lime, mint are added to the composition.

Refreshing peach

To brew peach tea, you will need the following ingredients:

peach;
Black tea;
water;
sugar;
mint;
lemon.

To prepare the drink, it is recommended to grind the peach pulp in a blender. The resulting mixture is added to the iced tea at the end.

Fruit

Fruit tea
The drink is unique due to its composition. It is brewed from berries and fruits selected independently, taking into account personal preferences and wishes. The components are cut into slices or cubes. They can be placed entirely in a container.

The drink is based on black tea leaves. Main ingredients:

black tea leaves;
raspberries;
apple;
pear;
lemon;
currant;
honey or sugar;
ice;
mint.

Berries are added to tea whole or cut into 2 equal parts.

Cool mint tea

Peppermint tea is refreshing due to the presence of a large amount of menthol. Its advantage is that it can be quickly prepared at home. Ingredients for making the drink:

green tea leaves;
mint;
ginger;
honey.

The menthol flavor persists for a long period after the leaves are dried. Therefore, dried or freshly picked mint leaves are used to make tea. A piece of ginger root is cut off. The components are filled with water, infused, and honey is added to taste.

Nestea

For this recipe for iced lemon tea, you will need the following ingredients:

3.5 liters of water;
2-3 tsp. green loose leaf tea;
3-5 tbsp. l. Sahara;
frozen strawberries.

Frozen strawberries for tea
Water is poured into a container and boiled. It should cool to +70 °C. 2 tsp are poured into the kettle. green loose leaf tea. Sugar is added to the drink. The components are mixed until dissolved.

The zest is removed from the lemon. It is necessary to ensure that no white skin gets into the tea. Otherwise the drink will be bitter. Sugar is added and the mixture is mixed. The drink must infuse.

The juice is squeezed out of the lemon separately. Lemon juice is added to warm tea.

On a note! If lemon juice is added to hot tea, the amount of vitamin C will be significantly reduced.

Cooled tea is poured into plastic bottles. They must be stored in the refrigerator. The cold drink is similar to Nestea. The first composition is healthy and natural. Due to its unique composition and the presence of strawberries, it is recommended to store it in the refrigerator until completely consumed.

To brew strawberry tea, add frozen berries to the heated mixture. In this case, the strawberries will gradually thaw, releasing their flavor into the drink. The tea will take on a reddish tint.

Ginger and lemon recipe

Ginger root
According to the traditional recipe, iced tea with ginger root is prepared from tea leaves. The ginger root is pre-cleaned. Then it is grated on a coarse grater or cut with a knife. The ingredients are poured into a heat-resistant container. Dry tea leaves are added. Loose tea can be replaced with bagged tea.

Separately, grate the lemon zest with large shavings. It is added to the previous components. Only the citrus peel is used and the bitter white part is removed. Juice is squeezed out of the lemon pulp. For this you will need a juicer. The fresh juice is poured into an empty container.

The next step is to prepare the mint. The leaves are washed and the water is shaken off. They are lowered into a container for making tea. Spicy clove buds, cardamom or other spices are added to taste.

The workpiece is filled with 1.5 liters of boiling water. Sugar and previously prepared ingredients are added to the broth. The container is covered with a lid and infused. Warm tea is filtered twice to remove all additives. Lemon juice is added to the drink. Before serving, the tea is cooled, poured into glasses, and ice cubes are added. Citrus slices and mint leaves are used as decoration.

Mapenzi tea

For brewing you will need the following components:

2 liters of water;
1 tbsp. l. tea leaves;
5 stalks of lemongrass;
½ bunch of mint;
1 lime or lemon;
small ginger root;
5 tbsp. l. honey

Lemongrass
Lemongrass leaves are separated from the stem. It must be grated and the leaves tied with a kitchen rope. At the next stage, the ginger is peeled and washed, crushed in a mortar. Lemon or lime is washed and cut into small pieces.

Water is poured into a small saucepan, which is placed on the fire. It must be brought to a boil. All ingredients except honey are brought into the container. The heat is reduced and the mixture is cooked for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat, cover with a lid and cool for 5 minutes. The drink is filtered and honey is added. Iced tea can be stored in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Best Tee

To prepare the drink, you will need the following ingredients:

4 glasses of water;
4 tsp. red or black tea;
1 tsp. dry or fresh mint;
¼ tsp. cardamom;
2 ground black pepper;
40 g sugar;
2 g fresh or chopped ginger.

Water is poured into the pan and brought to a boil. Cardamom, black pepper, mint, ginger are added. The ingredients are cooked until they begin to boil. Tea leaves and sugar are added. The composition is cooked for another 5 minutes. The composition is filtered and cooled. Ice is added.

Summer berry tea with watermelon

Watermelon
To make watermelon tea, you will need 8 cups of boiling water, 8 tea bags, 1/8 of a medium-sized watermelon, a bunch of fresh basil, sugar. First, the watermelon is cut into pieces. It is recommended to brew tea bags for 10 minutes. Then the drink cools down. Arbus, sugar, basil and ice are added.

Refreshing peach

An ideal cold drink for a hot summer. You will need:

Rooibos tea;
Ice cubes;
Two peaches;
Strawberry;
Liter of water.

Steps

Brew the tea for a few minutes. Separate half of the fruits and berries, grind them with a blender.
Place the remaining berries and fruits, the crushed mixture into a jug, and fill with strained iced tea.
Garnish with berries, add ice and enjoy a cold vitamin drink.

Procedure

So, pour the required amount of tea with water at the desired temperature. Close the pan with a lid and leave to brew. If you took bags, then 10 minutes will be enough. If the tea is loose leaf, you can wait an hour. After that, you need to strain the tea, squeeze the juice of half a lemon into it, throw in the rest of the squeezed lemon and leave for another half hour. At this point, you can add sugar, herbs, spices, and fruits.

Then you remove the squeezed half, pour the iced tea into a serving pitcher and leave it in the refrigerator.

Iced green tea with strawberries

A very relevant recipe for cold green tea at home. The taste and aroma are mind-blowing! You can use both fresh and frozen berries.

Ingredients:

3-4 spoons of green tea,
1.2 liters of water,
200 g strawberries,
one lemon,
1-2 sprigs of mint,
sugar.

Cooking method:

Brew tea, add sugar to taste and cool.
Add lemon juice, halved strawberries and chopped mint to the drink.
Mix thoroughly.

The history of ice tea and its spread around the world

The drink is in demand around the world thanks to the USA. The plant was first introduced to America by botanist Andre Michaud in the 1700s. 100 years later, Regent's Punch gained particular popularity. To prepare the drink, green tea is used.

In 1904, a world exhibition was held in Santa Louis, which helped popularize Ice T. For the first time, residents of South America became interested in the drink. It adds:

sugar;
ice;
lemon.

Fruit and berry mix

It is better to prepare such drinks based on green tea, and the fruits and berries themselves can be combined and choose different components each time. You will need:

loose leaf green tea;
raspberries, cranberries, blueberries
mint or currant leaves;
apple, pear;
sugar or honey;
ice;
water.

Steps

A tablespoon of tea is brewed in a liter of water, while the selected berries and fruits are crushed in a blender.
The prepared mixture is combined with tea, mint leaves or currants are added, sweetened and infused for about 20 minutes.
Before serving, the drink is filtered and ice cubes are added to it.

Fruit ice tea

Iced green tea can be used to make an unusual fruity drink. In fact, the scope of imagination is not limited here and you can try adding new fruits and berries each time, or use the following recipe.

Take 1/3 of an apple and pear, as well as raspberries, lingonberries or cranberries. Using a muddler or French press, squeeze out the juice and add a little water. Add currant leaves, mint or basil to the juice - any herbs that suit your taste will do. Give the nectar time to infuse.

Pour the cooled green tea into a carafe, add sugar or honey, and ice cubes. Strain the infused juice and add it to the container

Fruit iced tea is ready. Be sure to treat your loved ones to it!

Iced tea with thyme

To get 5 liters of drink you need to take:

water;
green tea – 2 tbsp;
lemon – 1 pc.;
fresh mint and thyme - several sprigs each;
sugar - optional.

Steps

The water in the saucepan needs to be brought to boiling temperature (at this stage you can add sugar).
Mint and thyme sprigs are also placed there; after 5 minutes, tea leaves are added, then lemon pieces are added.
The saucepan with the contents sits on the fire for another 2 minutes, after which it must be removed from the stove. After cooling, the drink can be drunk.

Vanilla iced tea recipe

To prepare it you will need such an exotic ingredient as vanilla syrup. If you have it, then let's start preparing a wonderful drink.

You will need:

200 ml ice tea;
50 ml fresh lemon juice;
4 tbsp. vanilla syrup.

Vanilla-lemon iced tea - preparation method:

Mix all the ingredients, put in the refrigerator for half an hour, then pour into glasses and serve. You can decorate with a transparent lemon slice.

Healthy drink: storage and consumption

How to make your own iced tea? Of course, there are many recipes for preparing it. But if you do everything according to the rules, then you should remember the ancient Chinese wisdom: drink tea only at the temperature at which it was prepared. And in our case, it’s iced tea. Therefore, it is so important in this context to use the cold method of brewing tea, so that one goes with the other as much as possible. For the rest, try and experiment, according to your tastes and culinary imagination, using various additives to Ice Tea, whatever you like. For example, ginger with honey and lemon, or bergamot, or jasmine goes very well with this drink.

You should also remember about shelf life. It's best to drink right away. Because, despite the powerful antiseptic, it should not be stored for long periods of time (unlike store-bought options, which can be stored unopened for up to a year). But our drink is fresh and healthy. Therefore, drink it immediately for your health, quenching your thirst. As a last resort, it can sit in a bottle in the refrigerator, but no more than a day.

Lemonade with alcohol

The drink will serve as an excellent end to the working day. Dry wine quenches thirst well, lemon with mineral water is refreshing. The ingredients you will need are:

Ten grams of black tea;
A glass of dry white wine;
Two hundred milliliters of sparkling water;
Lemon;
Large spoon of honey;
Liter of water.

Steps

Squeeze the juice out of the lemon. Brew black tea and steep for three minutes.
Strain it, when it has cooled a little, mix with lemon juice, wine and honey.
Cool, then add a glass of sparkling water.
Place ice cubes in tall glasses, pour in cold lemonade, and garnish with lemon slices.

Fruity black tea

Compound:

plums – 100 g;
pear – 150 g;
apple juice – 100 ml;
lemon juice – 50 ml;
sugar – 40-50 g;
tea – 20 g;
water – 1 l;
ice - to taste.

Cooking method:

Peel and skin the plums and pears, chop them finely, place in a bowl and sprinkle with sugar. Leave for 15-20 minutes so that they release the juice.
Brew tea separately.
Mix the fruit mixture with lemon and apple juice, pour over the brewed tea, and stir. Leave for 10-15 minutes.
Strain the drink, pour into a decanter and cool.

When serving tea, place ice cubes in glasses, fill with cold drink, and garnish with a slice of lemon.