4 Delicious Ways to Make Iced Tea Recipe

Which flavour of homemade iced tea will you prefer? Lemon, mint, lemongrass, watermelon or mango? 

Iced teas are very popular and you can use citrus fruits like oranges, lemons to make them.  Have you tried making iced tea with berries, peaches, watermelon, mango? And I am not talking about opening up a sachet of ice tea here. Make it from the scratch no sugar-loaded water for us, please I need to know how much sugar we consume.

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Contents:

• Why make Iced Tea from the scratch?
• Ingredients for Homemade Iced Tea
  • Substitutes and alternatives
  • How to make Iced Tea at home
• Pro-tips for Iced Tea
• Storage of leftover Iced Tea

Why make Iced Tea from the scratch?

With the heat being what it is I want nothing but a glass of cool drink.   So make your own iced tea at home with the simple recipe where you control what goes into the tea. Use seasonal fruits to make flavoured iced tea to suit your taste and pantry. There is nothing like a lazy afternoon with a nice book, some khakhara and Iced Tea in your favourite flavours!

Should you drink Tea?

Since tea is rich in antioxidants include it n your diet. Any tea from black tea, green tea or Darjeeling tea that is in your pantry is fine. Today I have used loose leaf green tea but there are times I use regular tea. Yes, the one that I use to make my morning cuppa or like my kids use teabags flavoured or unflavored. But remember moderation is the key!

Isn’t it simpler to just open a sachet of ready iced tea?

Yes, it is definitely simple to open a sachet of Iced tea and mix it up. The flavours you get too are amazing! I have followed the easy route often but when I read the ingredients I decided to make my iced tea.

It is not difficult at all! Once you make the basic tea and chill it making the variations is easy. When the girls were here I kept some in bottles in the fridge and they mixed it up to suit their tastes. Even now I am posting this recipe for them as they are complaining of the heat in Bangalore. You can be sure they are going to try making the watermelon flavoured Ice tea that is copied from here.

Ingredients for Homemade Iced Tea:

These are the ingredients you will need the exact measures you will find in the recipe card.

• For the Basic Tea:
  • Water 
  • Tea powder
  • Sugar   
  • Lemon juice
  • Ice cubes
  • Lemon slices for garnish
• For Lemon Mint Tea: 
  • Mint leaves
• For Lemongrass Lemon Tea:
  • Lemongrass leaves
• For Fresh Fruit Flavoured Ice Tea:
  • The fresh fruit chopped, I have used watermelons and mangoes
  • Sugar (if needed)
  • Water

Substitutes and alternatives:

• Tea: Use green tea, black tea, flavoured teas, even your everyday tea is fine.
• Sugar: Substitute with jaggery, honey, brown sugar, honey, maple syrup, artificial sweeteners. In case you can manage it skip the sweeteners totally.
• Lemon Juice: Leave out if you do not like it or if lemon juice gives you acidity.
• Aromatics: I love mint but if you do not you can use basil, holy basil, lemongrass leaves.
• Ice cubes: Leave out if you wish yes I was surprised but people do enjoy iced tea without ice cubes.
• Fresh Fruits: I have used mangoes and watermelons but use oranges, peaches, apricots, apple, berries, ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, lime.

How to make Iced Tea at home:

• Making the Basic Tea:
  • In a vessel bring water to a boil.
  • Today I have added sugar and let it dissolve, but generally, I add it later.
  • Add the tea leaves and switch off the flame. Let the tea leaves steep in the hot liquid till you get a faint colour to your liking.
  • Strain out the leaves and divide the tea into 2 parts. 
• To make Lemongrass Tea:
  • Remove 1-1/4 cup of tea and add the lemongrass and boil it keep covered.
• To make Mint Tea:
  • In the other just add mint leaves and let it sit covered.
• Let the tea mixture cool completely. Strain and transfer to the fridge to chill.
• For Fresh Fruit Flavoured Ice Tea: (Watermelon Iced tea):
  • In the blender add watermelon cubes and blend.
  • Taste and add some sugar and a little water( if needed).
  • Blend the mixture till smooth.
  • Transfer to a mason jar and set to cool in the fridge.
• Similarly, make puree mangoes or any other fruit you wish to use.
• When ready to serve:
  • For the Lemon Mint Tea:
    • In a glass add ice, lemon juice, mint leaves a few slices of lemon and top it up with chilled iced tea.
• For Lemongrass Iced Tea:
  • In a glass add ice, lemon juice, mint leaves a few slices of lemon and stop it up with the lemongrass flavour tea.
• For the Fresh Fruit Flavoured Iced Tea
  • Place the puree in a mason jar, add ice, some lemon juice, mint leaves, lemon slices and top it up with mint flavoured iced tea.
• Here you can use just plain steeped tea too need not add mint. 
• Enjoy!!

Pro-tips for Iced Tea:

• Remember the ice will melt and so adjust the flavours taking that into account.
• If you are planning to use fresh oranges then remove the seeds and membranes before you puree them.
• By the way, you can use store brought juices too only, in that case, avoid adding sugar to your basic tea recipe.
• You can always store sugar syrup since that mixes easy.
• Add chopped fruit to your ice tray set your ice with water. These cubes look beautiful.
• I know some of my friends will cheer when I say add vodka say 30 ml and enjoy an Iced Tea Cocktail. Add liquors for making long island iced tea with this same tea!

Storage of leftover Iced Tea:

• The fresh fruit ice tea especially the mango and watermelon will not stay good. Discard it.
• The basic tea, the mint tea and the lemongrass tea will stay in the fridge for 2 days. Discard the lemon slices before you store them.
• You can always freeze the iced tea in the freezer. This way you can store for a week.

Some related recipes:

Recipe Card:

4 Delicious Ways to Make Iced Tea Recipe

How about some delicious Homemade Iced Teas in different flavours! Lemon and Mint, Lemongrass, Mango and Watermelon! Try them all!

5 from 12 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Beverages

Cuisine: World

Keyword: Iced Tea, Kid Friendly Food, Mango Recipes, Summer Coolers

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Chilling time:: 3 hours

Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes

Servings: 8 people

Calories: 130kcal

Author: ArchanaPotdar

Equipment

• Pan
• Strainer
• Jug
• Blender
• Glasses

Ingredients

• 1 litre water
• 2 tsp tea powder
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 4 tsp lemon juice can add less or more as required
• ice cubes as required
• mint leaves for garnish
• few lemon slices for garnish optional

For Lemon Mint Tea:

• 4-5 springs of mint leaves

For Lemongrass Lemon Tea:

• 2 leaves lemongrass cut fine

To make Mango Flavoured Iced Tea:

• 4 tbsp mango
• 2 tbsp sugar
• ¼ cup water
• A few mango cubes for garnish

To make Watermelon Flavoured Iced Tea:

• 1/4 watermelon cubes
• 2 tbsp sugar
• ¼ Cup water
• A few watermelon cubes

Instructions

• Bring water to boil in a vessel and sugar and let the sugar dissolve.
• Add the tea leaves and let the switch off the gas. The tea leaves will steep I like a light colour you can boil it if wish.
• Strain out the tea leaves.
• Add 1-1/4 cup of tea back into the vessel. Add the lemongrass and bring to a boil. Let it sit covered till it cools.
• In the rest of the tea add the mint leaves, cover and let cool.
• Chill the tea in the fridge for some time.

For the Lemon Mint Tea:

• In a glass add ice, lemon juice, mint leaves a few slices of lemon and top it up with chilled iced tea.
• Stir and serve.

For Lemongrass Iced Tea:

• In a glass add ice, lemon juice, mint leaves a few slices of lemon and stop it up with the lemongrass flavour tea.
• Stir and serve.

To make Mango Flavoured Iced Tea:

• Blend 4 tbsp mango cubes and water to a smooth paste. Check if it is sweet enough otherwise add sugar and blend again. Transfer to a mason jar and chill till needed.
• When ready to serve in the chilled mango juice add a few ice cubes, 1 tsp lemon juice, mint and then add the iced tea.
• Stir and top with mango cubes

To make Watermelon Flavoured Iced Tea:

• Blend 4 tbsp watermelon and water to a smooth paste. Check if it is sweet enough otherwise add sugar and blend again. Transfer to a mason jar and chill till needed.
• When ready to serve in the chilled watermelon juice add a few ice cubes, 1 tsp lemon juice, mint and then add the iced tea.
• Stir and top with watermelon cubes.

Video

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Disclaimer: Please note these are approximate nutrition figures. You are requested to confirm with a qualified Dietitian.

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