Monday, July 1, 2013

Iced Lemon Tea ~ A substitute for hot tea for this boiling summer !

The temperature hit 120 F over this weekend. Oh boy, it is so hot and they say the summer has just begun :(. I could literally feel being placed in an oven. Lots of buttermilk, cool drinks, chilled desserts is all what we want to have.



Evening tea time is never spared without a cup of hot coffee, at our home. But with the heat here, we loved sipping this iced tea. Every gulp of it felt heavenly :). Would you like to try some?




Well, you might be imagining it is not a recipe. But for beginners, it might be helpful. Because I have heard it from someone how she had trouble preparing tea for the first time. She indeed asked, "How many bubbles should I wait for the hot water to release before I drop in the tea leaves?" We couldn't stop laughing at that question untill we realized she was serious. But now she makes perfect tea :).


So hoping that this post would help someone out there, here is how I made it.


Ingredients

  1. 2 glasses of water
  2. 1/2 tbsp of tea leaves
  3. 3 tbsp of sugar
  4. 5-6 drops of lemon juice
  5. Sliced lemon for garnishing
  6. Mint leaves for garnishing
  7. Ice cubes as required
Method

  • In a saucepan, pour in the water and add sugar. Heat it.
  • Once its about to boil, drop in the tea leaves and let it boil.
  • Remove it from heat and add the lemon juice to it.
  • Drain out the tea on to a pitcher and let it cool.
  • Once cool, adjust the sweetness accordingly and pop it into the fridge and let it chill. 
  • Serve it with ice cubes and garnished with sliced lemon and mint.

Tips
  1. Do not drop the leaves as soon as you place the pan on heat. It makes the tea very strong. We like the iced tea to be mild and so I do not tend to boil it for long either.
  2. I used just few drops of lemon to get a flavor. Too much of lemon juice would make it taste bitter.
  3. You could also crush the mint leaves with your hand and drop it in the pitcher before you chill it.






17 comments:

  1. Those pics look soooo cooling.Love the way u have set the shots.Yet to develop a liking for iced tea I am still a hardcore hot tea lover with lot of milk :))Hope wildfires are not near ur area.Here too temp is soaring to above 90s.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Meena :)

      We had heat wave warnings and dust storms at night. Wildfire is towards the north. Feel so sorry for the lives lost and destruction caused. Hope everything settles down fast.

      Delete
  2. I totally agree...this is a pure substitute....i dont drink tea with milk...only green tea or ice tea...yours looks amazing...loved the flavour

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  3. Oh My God.... Ur clicks are super tempting.. Very well done dear

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  4. Ice tea looks very refreshing and the pictures look wonderful!

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  5. brilliant pics ! perfect for this heat of course ! u r right about feeling like inside an oven :(

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  6. Very beautiful photographs.. love it :)

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  7. excellent pics Anupa, gr8 job in making them as well, so fresh n looks delicious

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  8. I loved ur first click...looks like a perfect drink for a hot day, I can feel the chill just by looking at the picture,awesome :)

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  9. Wow so lovely photos :) Loved the touch of mint in the tea... Here I am complaining about temperature hitting 100 F and you had 120 F for the week end !! Gosh !! Cant imagine how hot it must have been...And summer has just begun...Btw Thats a great iced lemon tea that I would love to sip..

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  10. Delicious lemon tea, Very nice clicks.

    ReplyDelete

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