When the temperature rises in the summer, nothing compares to sipping a chilled glass of fruited iced tea.
For me, fruit-infused iced tea has always been a first summertime refresher, but some time ago, I learned that the best way to make iced tea is to brew it.
Why Make Cold-Brewed Iced Tea?
For a milder, tastier, smoother iced tea that has no acidity or bitterness, cold brewing is the best option you have.
Surprisingly the hardest part of making a cold brew iced tea is waiting for the tea to get icy in the refrigerator! Plus, who wants to go through the pain of boiling water in the summer?
Another reason for brewing iced tea is to prevent cloudiness in iced tea, which results from the copious amounts of tannins present in tea.
When these tannins come in contact with hot water, they make the tea cloudy. Since we don’t use hot water to brew iced tea, it never gets cloudy!
How To Make Fruited Iced Tea?
Here are some of my favorite combinations for your fruited iced tea:
- Strawberries +blueberries + raspberries + blackberries with some fresh mint
- Orange and lemon slices + blueberries + fresh basil leaves
- Peach slices + raspberries + mint leaves
- Lemon + Honey + Ginger
- Watermelon + Mint
- Raspberry + Sugar + Peach
- Orange + honey
The best part about these recipes is that they are customizable. You can experiment by using different combinations of your favorite fruits and herbs to make a brew that suits your taste. You can drink it unsweetened or add sugar/honey if you prefer.
6 Easy To Find Ingredients:
- 1 cup water at room temperature
- Two teabags
- Various fresh fruit
- Fresh herbs of your choice
- 1 cup white sugar mixed in 1 cup water OR
- 1/4 cup liquid honey mixed in 1/4 cup hot water
4 Simple Instructions To Prepare:
- Add the water to a mason jar and submerge the tea bags in it so that they are moistened. Leave the jar at room temperature for about an hour.
- Add the fruits and herbs you want and cover the jar. Place the jar in the refrigerator and leave it to cool for almost 12-24 hours.
- In the meantime, prepare a simple syrup by using the sugar mixed with water and heating it over medium-high heat, allowing the mixture to come to a boil. Keep stirring the mixture until the sugar dissolves.
Let it boil for 1 minute. Allow it to cool fully before moving it to a jar. Refrigerate it for a month. (If you’re using honey, then repeat the same steps as mentioned before. Cover and refrigerate for two weeks.)
- When the jar has been cooled, remove the tea bags and sweeten your fruited iced tea as per your liking. Usually, 1-2 tablespoons of the sugar syrup are enough for this amount of tea. Add ice cubes, stir well and enjoy your refreshing summer drink!
How To Sweeten Your Fruited Iced Tea?
It is almost impossible to dissolve regular sugar in cold liquids, so the trick to sweeten cold liquids is to use the simple syrup as discussed above in the recipe.
Also included in the recipe is another method of making the syrup using honey and hot water. Or just check our complete guide on how to sweeten tea naturally.
Few Important Tips:
You must be wondering why the recipe says to use two tea bags for a single serving. The answer to that can be found in the fact that things dissolve much slower in cold water than they would in hot water.
Therefore to get the same strength you usually get with hot brewed tea, you would need to use more tea bags. You may want to use even three tea bags if you love strong tea.
If you have the time, I would recommend that you let the steep at room temperature for about an hour, at least. This will help the tea to dissolve in the water before the refrigeration process starts.
Since everything will be placed together in the jar, I’ll strongly recommend that you place the tea leaves in a large filter bag, so the tea has room to move around and also be removed easily when the time comes.
You can use frozen fruit in your iced tea as well! Just add the frozen fruit, and it will thaw as the tea steeps in the refrigerator.
Experiment with different fruited iced tea. Just change up the fruit and herbs and enjoy the different flavor combinations.
Pairing Fruited Tea With Black Tea & Oolong Tea
Black tea and oolong (A traditional Chinese Tea) pair well with fresh fruit. Since the taste of white teas is so subtle, the fruit easily overpowers it, so it’s a bit difficult to get the balance right using white teas. Avoid putting in strong-tasting fruit like a pineapple when using lighter teas like green tea.
Cold brewing fruited iced tea results in a smooth end product, which is mostly mistaken as a weakness in the tea. You will get used to it with time! You can also have a look at our complete guide on how to prepare a simple Fruit Tea at home by using ingredients readily available in your area.
Fruited Iced Tea – Fun Facts
Using mason jars to make fruited iced tea is excellent when it comes to serving your guest’s tea. Simply place the jars in an ice bucket, and your guests can grab a cute looking jar and drink the refreshing tea right from it! Jars are also ideal when traveling, and you can also take one to work with you!
Always keep a stock of 5-6 jars in your refrigerator so that you can start brewing the next one when you’ve emptied one. This way, you’ll always have one ready to enjoy or serve your guests if someone decides to drop by unannounced!
Make it a habit to sweeten the jars at the time you remove the tea bags so that you know the jars without the teabags are ready to drink!
To add a bit of aesthetic touch to your fruited Iced Tea, use some red fruit to add a burst of color to your drink. Like, for example, you’ll be surprised to see that the iced tea turns into the prettiest pink color after a day or two in the refrigerator if you add strawberries, and looks like strawberry milk tea.
Fruited Herbal Iced Tea
Some Favorite Combinations:
Chamomile Tea + Raspberries and Kiwi + Lime + Thyme.
Since it’s a herbal tea, it has no caffeine in it. Use the same instructions as above to make this tea. Simple!
Where Can I Get Ready-Made Fruited Iced Tea?
Dunkin’ Donuts offers two types of Fruited Iced Teas, Mango Pineapple and Strawberry. For just $2, you can get a medium-sized fruited iced tea made from freshly-brewed Black Tea or Rainforest Alliance Certified Green Tea, mixed with real fruit.
For more information, click here.
