Sweet Ice Tea

Sweet Ice Tea

In 2737 B.C. the second emperor of China, Shen Nung, discovers tea when tea leaves blow into his cup of hot water or so the story goes...or so the story begins.
More on the History of Tea here.

There are two traditional iced teas in the United States. The only variation between them is sugar.

Southerners swear by their traditional sweet ice tea and drink it by the gallons. In the South, ice tea is not just a summertime drink, it is served year round with most meals. When people order tea in a Southern restaurant, chances are they will get sweet ice tea.

Outside of the southern states, iced tea is served unsweetened and most people have never even heard of sweet tea.

The oldest sweet tea recipe in print comes from a community cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia, by Marion Cabell Tyree, published in 1879:


It was at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis that iced tea was popularized and commercialized (not invented). Due to the hot summer of 1904, people ignored any hot drinks and went in search of cold drinks, including iced tea. Because of this, it changed the way the rest of Americans thought of tea, thus popularizing iced tea.

My favorite sweet tea recipe is from 1928 published in the southern cookbook, Southern Cooking, by Henrietta Stanley Dull (Mrs. S.R. Dull), Home Ecomonics Editor for the Atlanta Journal, which gives the recipe that remained the standard in the South for decades thereafter. Much like my mom made.


Below are 40 recipes for sweet ice tea. Your sure to find at least one you like. Moonshine mixes well with sweet ice tea.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
1- Anise Iced Tea

5 cups water
2 1/2 teaspoons anise seeds
Sugar, to taste

~Bring water to a boil and add aniseed.
~Remove the pot from the heat and let it steep, covered, for 20 minutes, then strain out the seeds.
~Stir in sugar. The tea can be served at room temperature, ice cold or reheated.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2- Apple Iced Tea recipe

4 tea bags
4 cups boiling water
2 cups apple juice
1 tablespoon lemon juice
Sugar, to taste

~Boil water and pour over tea bags in a heat proof pitcher.
~Steep tea in for 5 to 10 minutes.
~Discard tea bags and add remaining ingredients. Chill.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3- Apple-Honey Iced Tea

3 cups water, boiling
4 tea bags
1/3 cup honey
3 cups apple juice

~Steep tea in hot water for 5 minutes.
~Strain out tea bags, and stir in honey and juice.
~Mix until honey is dissolved. Chill and serve over ice. Serves 6-8
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4- Blackberry Southern Iced Tea

4 cups fresh blackberries
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups granulated sugar
cold water
ice

~Place blackberries in a glass bowl or pitcher(not metal); add vinegar. Cover with plastic wrap or lid; refrigerate for 3 to 4 days.
~Strain mixture into a saucepan, pressing blackberries to extract all liquid.Discard solids then stir in sugar.
~Boil 2 to 3 minutes; remove from heat and let cool.
~Store in a tightly covered jar or pitcher. For each serving, combine 1/4 cup of the blackberry concentrate with 1 cup cold water; pour over ice in glasses.

~Makes enough concentrate for about 12 servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
5- Black Cherry Iced Tea

2 1/2 quarts water
1 pound fresh black cherries, pitted, or two 10-ounce bags frozen pitted black cherries, thawed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 whole star anise
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped
16 green-tea bags
Mint sprigs, for serving

~Bring the water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add the black cherries, sugar, lemon juice, star anise and the vanilla bean with its seeds.
~Simmer the cherries over low heat for 15 minutes, crushing them against the side of the pan with a wooden spoon. Remove the cherries from the heat, cover and let stand for 1 hour.
~Strain the cherry juice through a fine sieve into a clean saucepan, pressing on the solids. Discard the solids.
~Bring the cherry juice to a boil over moderate heat. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags and let steep for 5 minutes.
~Discard the tea bags and let cool to room temperature.
~Transfer the cherry tea to a large pitcher and refrigerate until chilled or for up to 2 days.
~Serve over ice, garnished with mint sprigs.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
6- Bubble Tea

Jar of tapioca balls with sweetened syrup (usually in brown or red)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
Tea - Chinese tea: Oolong or Black, or Japanese Green Tea
3 teaspoons granulated sugar
Pot of boiling water

*For a single serving, use a quarter cup of tapioca balls.
*For servings of two or three, use half the jar.
*Use the entire jar for family servings.

~Pour desired amount from the jar into a strainer so that all the syrup separates from the tapioca balls.
~Bring a pot of water to boil. Once the water starts boiling, put in the tapioca balls.
~Add 3 teaspoons of sugar (so that the tapioca balls have a softer yet chewier texture).
~Let the tapioca balls boil for about 5 minutes. Bring the pot to simmer for 3 minutes. Then drain and rinse in cold water using the strainer. Leave it in the strainer.
~Prepare a pot of tea.
~Open sweetened condensed milk and pour one tablespoon into a 12 ounce glass, for single servings. For larger servings, add to taste.(Refrigerate unused sweetened condensed milk after opening.)
~Add about 8 ounces of tea to the glass with the condensed milk. Mix until the milk has fully dissolved into the tea.
~From the strainer, pour the tapioca balls into the glass of milk and tea. Drink through a large diameter straw.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
7- Refreshing Chamomile Iced Tea

3 chamomile tea bags, or 3 to 4 Tlbs. dried chamomile leaves
2 sprigs fresh Mexican mint marigold, Or 2 sprigs of mint and 2 stalks of lemongrass pieces.
2 cups boiling water
1/2 cup orange juice
1 cup pineapple juice
1/4 cup lime juice
1 cup white grape juice,/li>
2-1/2 cups chilled sparkling water
1 lime, sliced


~In a bowl, pour boiling water over tea and mint marigold (or mint and lemongrass).
~Cover and steep for at least 10 minutes.Strain liquid into a glass pitcher.
~Stir in orange, pineapple, lime, and grape juices. Chill.
~To serve, fill chilled glasses 2/3 full with juice mixture, fill with sparkling water. Add lime slices for garnish.

Makes 6 servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
8- Citrus-Mint Iced Tea

3 cups Boiling water
4 Black Tea Bags
2 Fresh mint sprigs
1 cup Granulated Sugar
¼ cup Lemon juice
5 cups Room Temp. Water
Fresh Mint and slice Lemon, for garnish

~Place tea bags in a heat proof pitcher and pour boiling water over them. Let steep for required time. Remove tea bags.
~Add sugar, lemon juice. 2 fresh mint sprigs, and room temperature water. Let cool.
~Pour tea in tall ice filled glasses and garnish with fresh mint and a slice of lemon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
9- Cranberry Iced Tea

4 to 4 1/2 cups water
12 whole cloves
2 (3-inch) cinnamon sticks
1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 regular tea bags
1 (12 ounce) can frozen cranberry juice concentrate

~Bring water, cloves, cinnamon sticks and sugar to boil in a pan.
~Pour over tea bags; cover and steep for 3 minutes. Remove tea bags and stir in concentrate. Chill and serve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10- Cranberry-Orange Iced Tea

5 cups prepared tea, cooled
1 1/2 cups cranberry juice
1 1/2 cups orange juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
5 teaspoons sugar
4 cups ginger ale, chilled
Thin sliced oranges, garnish

~Combine the tea, cranberry juice, orange juice, lemon juice and sugar. Stir until well mixed. Refrigerate until well chilled.
~Prior to serving, add chilled ginger ale and additional lemon juice or sugar if needed.
~Pour into ice-filled glasses, garnish each with a half orange slice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
11- Fruit Tea Slush Mix

4 cups granulated sugar
1 (6 ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
1 (46 ounce) can pineapple juice
2 cups prepared tea
2 cups water
1/2 cup lemon juice

~Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Heat until sugar is dissolved. ~Add orange juice concentrate, lemon juice, and pineapple juice. ~Fill 6 or 7 ice cube trays with mixture. Freeze until firm.
~Remove cubes from freezer trays and store in plastic bags. Use within 6 months. Makes about 100 small cubes. {Variation: Add 5 to 6 mashed bananas to mixture before freezing.}
~Fruit Slush: Fill a glass with Fruit Slush Mix cubes. Add ginger ale to cover. Let stand 15 minutes and stir and serve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
12- Fruity Iced Tea Cooler recipe

2 quarts iced tea
1 (6 oz.) can frozen cranberry, raspberry, lemon, lime or orange concentrate, partially thawed and undiluted
1 cup orange juice
1/4 cup granulated sugar

~Prepare 2 qts. of tea.
~Add remainder of ingredients to tea in a large pitcher and refrigerate. Serve cold over ice. Garnish with lime slice and enjoy! Serves 8.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
13- Ginger Iced Tea

5 tea bags
1-inch pieces of fresh ginger
Sugar, to taste

~Prepare ginger: Slice ginger root into thin slices and crush.
~Heat 1 quart of water and let tea steep with the ginger over low heat for at least 10 minutes.
~Strain out tea and ginger slices and add sugar. Let cool and serve over ice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
14- Hibiscus Iced Tea

48 ounces water
3 tablespoons hibiscus flowers, organic
2 cinnamon sticks
1/8 cup sugar
1 small orange, sliced
Ice
1 lemon, cut into wedges

~Bring water to light boil, turn off heat.
~Add the hibiscus flowers and cinnamon sticks. Cover and steep for 20 minutes.
~Strain tea into pitcher and add sugar and orange slices. Serve over ice. Garnish each glass with a lemon slice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
15- Honey-Citrus Iced Tea

4 tea bags
2 cups boiling water
3 navel oranges
2 medium lemons
2 cups orange juice
1/4 cup lemon juice
3 tablespoons honey
1 liter ginger ale, chilled

~Place tea bags in a teapot; add boiling water. Cover and steep for 3 minutes; discard tea bags.
~Pour tea into a pitcher. Peel and section two oranges and one lemon; add to tea.
~Stir in the orange juice, lemon juice and honey. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
~Cut remaining orange and lemon into slices; freeze.
~Just before serving, strain and discard fruit from tea. Stir in ginger ale. Serve with frozen fruit slices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
16- Honey-Strawberry Tea Cooler

1 pint fresh strawberries, cleaned
1/4 cup honey
1 (6 ounce) can frozen orange juice concentrate
2 cups brewed green tea, cooled

~In a blender or food processor container, combine strawberries and honey; process until smooth.
~Add orange juice concentrate; process until well blended. Stir into cooled tea. Serve over ice. Makes 4 servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
17- Jasmine Iced Tea

4 cups water, boiling
3 tbs loose jasmine tea
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cups sparkling water

~Dissolve sugar in 3/4 cup of water, and boil gently until a syrup has formed. Set aside and let cool.
~Steep the jasmine tea in the remaining 3 cups of hot water for around 6 minutes. Strain out tea, and let cool slightly.
~In a pitcher, combine syrup and tea. Stir until fully blended. Cool throughly.
~Add sparkling water. Serve over ice.
~Can be served with cinnamon sticks, lemon slices or mint sprigs. Makes 1 quart of iced tea
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
18- Pink Lavender Tea-Lemonade

2 1/2 c Water
1 1/2 c Sugar
1/2 c Frozen or fresh, hulled strawberries
1/4 c Fresh Lavender flowers chopped
2 1/4 c Fresh Lemon juice
1 1/2 c Water
1 cup prepared strong tea
1/2 c Sugar
Fresh Lavender flowers for garnish

~In Medium saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups water, sugar and strawberries. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. ~Reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes to extract pink from strawberries. ~Remove from heat. Stir in lavender. Cover and cool.
~Strain cooled liquid into large pitcher, gently pressing juice from berries. Add remaining 2 1/2 cups water and lemon juice. Stir well. Add 1/2 cup sugar.
~Pour into chilled glasses with ice. Garnish with lavender flowers.
~Yield: 6-8 Servings
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
19- Lavender Mint Tea

1 teaspoon fresh lavender flowers or 1/2 teaspoon dried lavender flowers
1 1/2 to 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves or 2 teaspoons dried mint
2 tea spoons loose leaf tea, black.
1 cup boiling water

~In a teapot, combine the lavender flowers, mint and tea bag.
~Pour boiling water over the mixture; steep 5 minutes. Stain out lavender, mint and tea. Garnish with lavender and/or mint leaves. Yield: 1 cup
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
20- Lavender Syrup for Iced Tea

2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons dried or 1/4 cup fresh lavender blossoms
1 cup water

~Bring all ingredients to a simmer in a saucepan, stirring until sugar dissolves.
~Remove from heat, and cool. Cover and store in refrigerator.
~Lavender Sparkler: Stir 1 to 2 tablespoons Lavender Syrup into a glass of sparkling wine.
~Lavender Iced Tea: Stir 2 tablespoons Lavender Syrup into a 12-ounce glass of iced tea.
~Lavender Lemonade: Stir 2 tablespoons Lavender Syrup into a 12-ounce glass of lemonade.
~Makes 2 cups
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
21- Lemonade Tea

2 family-size tea bags
1 quart water
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
1 10 oz. can frozen lemonade
2 quarts water

~Bring 1 quart water to boil. Add tea bags and turn off heat.
~Steep tea for 10 minutes. Remove tea bags; discard.
~Add remaining ingredients. Mix and refrigerate. To serve, add 1 two-liter bottle ginger ale. Serve over ice.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
22- Sparkling Lemon-Almond Iced Tea

4 cups boiling water
10 tea bags, black
2 lemons, sliced thinly
1 cup sugar
1 tbs almond extract
2 tsp vanilla extract
1- 2 liter bottle of Sprite or Soda water

~Brew tea, steeping for 10 minutes.
~Put lemon slices into a large pitcher, squeezing them slightly to release lemon's juice.
~Add sugar into pitcher. Mix in tea. Add flavorings and soda right before serving.
~If not served immediately, hold off on the extracts and lemon soda until served. Garnish with lemon slices. Serves 12
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
23- Lemon-Pineapple Tea Slush

6 cups Strong Tea
1 can Frozen Lemonade
4 cans water
2 1/2 cups Pineapple juice

~Prepare 6 cups of strong tea. Option: May add sugar to taste. Let cool.
~Mix in frozen lemonade, water, and pineapple juice. Freeze, then serve as a slush.
~Garnish with chunks of pineapples.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
24- Lemon, Ginger and Lavender Iced Tea

2 1/2 c Water
1 1/2 c Sugar
1/4 c Fresh Lavender flowers chopped (or 2 Tb dried Lavender - to taste)
6-8 Servings Ginger-Lemon Tea
1/3 c Fresh Lemon juice or frozen lemonade
Ice
Fresh Lavender stalks for garnish


~In Medium saucepan, combine 2 1/2 cups water and sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes.
~Remove from heat. Stir in lavender. Cover and cool. Strain cooled liquid into large jar.
~Brew Ginger Lemon Tea. Pour into large pitcher, add 1 cup lavender syrup, and blend to taste with lemon juice and ice. Stir well.
~Pour over ice filled glass. Add fresh lavender stalk to each glass. Yield: 6-8 Servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
25- Licorice-Mint Iced Tea

2 1/2 teaspoons dried licorice root
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 cup dried peppermint leaves
1/2 cup raw honey
4 sprigs of fresh mint (optional)

~In a large pot bring 6 cups of water to a boil over high heat. Stir in the licorice and cinnamon; lower to a simmer, partially cover the pot, and simmer for 10 minutes.
~Remove from heat, stir in peppermint, cover, and steep for 10 minutes.
~Meanwhile, place a large strainer lined with cheesecloth or a damp paper towel over another pot or heatproof bowl. Strain tea, pressing on herbs to extract all liquid.
~Stir in honey until dissolved and let cool completely about 1 hour.
~Fill four tall glasses with ice. Pour tea over ice and garnish each glass with a mint sprig, if desired. Serve immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
26- Mango Iced Tea

1 1/2 quarts cold water
6 high quality black tea bags
2 cups mango nectar
Sugar
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
Thinly sliced mango

~Bring water to a boil, turn off heat. Add tea bags and steep until tea is dark, about 5 minutes.
~Remove bags, add mango nectar and add sugar, to taste. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
~Place in pitcher and add mint leaves. Pour over ice and garnish with mango slices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
27- Mint Iced Tea

1 quart water
4 family size tea bags
2 cups sugar
mint leaves
1 lemon, slices for garnish

~In a 1 or 2 quart pan bring the water to a boil. Remove pot from heat, add the tea bags, cover with a lid, and allow tea to steep in water for 20 minutes.
~Take a 1 gallon pitcher and pour the sugar into the jug and cover with hot water. Stir the sugar around to dissolve while the tea is steeping.
~Remove tea bags from tea and pour the tea into the pitcher with the sugar and stir until sugar is dissolves. Fill the jug with cool water to yield 1 gallon.
~To serve, pour each glass of tea and garnish with a slice of lemon and mint leaves.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
28- Orange Chai

1 quart water
1 quart milk
1/3 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons grated orange peel
8 single servings orange pekoe tea bags
2 tablespoons vanilla extract


~In a 3 to 4 quart saucepan over medium high heat, stir the water, milk, brown sugar and orange peel until boiling.
~Add tea bags and vanilla extract, reduce heat, stir gently and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes. Cover, remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.
~Pour liquid through a fine strainer into a large pitcher. Serve hot or cold. Yields about 2 quarts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
29- Peach Tea

2 cups peach nectar
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
4 - 5 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 cinnamon sticks
4 tea bags
4 cups cold water

~In a 1 1/2-quart pan or tea kettle, over high heat, bring cold water to a boil. Pour over tea bags and cinnamon sticks in heat-proof container; stir briefly.
~Allow to steep for 4 to 5 minutes or until desired strength.
~Strain tea into a pitcher. Stir in sugar, lemon juice, and peach nectar; cool.
~To serve, pour into ice-filled glasses. Garnish with lemon wedge or fresh peach wedge. Yields 6 servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
30-Iced Peppermint Tea

2 cups Boiling Water
4 peppermint flavor tea bags
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Ice cubes
Lemon slices

~In a 2-quart heatproof pitcher, pour 2 cups freshly boiled water over tea bags. Let steep 6 minutes; remove and discard tea bags.
~Stir in honey, lemon juice and 2 cups cold water. Add ice cubes and lemon slices. You can add a peppermint stick as garnish too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
31- Pineapple Iced Tea

3 (12 oz.) cans unsweetened pineapple juice concentrate, thawed
1 1/2 cups lemon juice
1 cup granulated sugar
12 cups iced tea

~Mix juice concentrate, lemon juice and sugar in large pitcher until sugar is dissolved. Stir in tea.
~Store covered in refrigerator. Serve over ice in tall glasses.Garnish with pineapple chunks and lemons. Makes 12 servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
32- Raspberry-Lemon Iced Tea

Tea:
5 bags raspberry zinger tea
6 cups water
Lemon Juice, to taste

Sugar Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 pint raspberries
1 lemon, cut into wedges
Fresh Mint sprigs

~Bring water to a boil. Pour over tea bags and allow to steep for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove tea bags and cool. Add lemon juice, to taste.
~In a small saucepan combine the sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil. Simmer briefly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat. Add raspberries. Cool to room temperature.
~Combine the tea and raspberry sugar syrup, to taste. Put ice into 4 tall glasses.
~To each squeeze in a wedge of lemon, pour sugared tea over, and garnish with a sprig of mint.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
33- Sweet Raspberry-Lime Iced Tea

Tea:
5 bags raspberry tea
6 cups water
Lemon Juice, to taste

Sugar Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/2 pint raspberries
1 lime, cut into wedges
Mint sprigs
Ice Cubes

Tea:
~Put the tea bags in a heat safe pitcher. Boil water, pour it over the tea bags. Allow to steep for at least 10 minutes. Cool and remove tea bags.

Sugar Syrup:
~In a small saucepan combine the sugar and 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Simmer briefly until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add raspberries. Cool to room temperature.

~Combine the tea and raspberry sugar syrup, to taste. Pour over ice in tall glasses.Garnish with Lime slices.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
34- Raspberry Tea with Raspberry Ice Cubes

Tea:
2 quarts raspberry tea, room temperature

Ice cubes:
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup water
1 cup fresh raspberries

Preparing the Ice Cubes:
~Place sugar and water in heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. When mixture begins to bubble, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes.
~Turn off heat and stir in raspberries. Cool and spoon mixture into ice cube trays and freeze.

~Place frozen raspberry cubes in tall glasses and pour in raspberry tea. Yields: About 8 glasses of tea
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
35- Cooling Rhubarb Iced Tea with Rhubarb Ice Cubes

Ice Cubes:
10 stalks fresh rhubarb, chopped
2 cups white sugar, or to taste
1 quart water

Tea:
1 quart water
8 black tea bags
1 tablespoon honey
1 cup white sugar

Ice Cubes:
~Place rhubarb into a large pot with the sugar and 1 quart of water. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for about 4 hours, stirring occasionally to prevent burning, until rhubarb becomes a thick paste. Cool, then spoon into ice cube trays and freeze overnight.

Tea:
~Bring 1 quart of water to a boil. Pour into a pitcher over the tea bags. Stir in honey and sugar. Cool, then refrigerate until chilled.
~Make a rhubarb garnish: Cut a stalk of rhubarb tall enoungh to stand about 2 inches above glass. Cut down into end of stalk about 1 to 1 1/2 inch to make very thin strips at end of the stalk. Soak in ice water so they will curl up.
~Serve cold ice tea with rhubarb ice cubes, garnish with rhubarb stalk.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
36- Creamy Spiced Iced Tea

3/4 cup unsweetened instant tea
1 teaspoon finely grated orange peel
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 (14 oz.) can Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk
6 1/3 cups water

~In large saucepan, combine tea, orange peel and spices. Add sweetened condensed milk; mix well.
~Over medium heat, slowly stir in water. Heat thoroughly but do not boil. Refrigerate any leftovers.
~Tip: May be stored in refrigerator up to 5 days. Mix well and reheat before serving. Makes 2 quarts.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
37- Spiced Fruit Iced Tea

1 quart strong tea
1 cup cherry juice
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup orange juice
4 whole cloves
1 stick cinnamon

~Prepare 1 qt of strong tea. Add remaining ingredients. Simmer for about 30 minutes. Let cool.
~Pour over ice and serve. Garnish with marcaino cherries and an orange slice. This makes 4 to 6 servings.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
38- Southern Sweet Tea

3 family sized tea bags
a pinch baking soda (about 1/4 teaspoon)
1 to 1 1/3 cups of sugar

~Bring 3-4 cups of water to a boil. Add a pinch of baking soda to the water and add 3 family sized tea bags.Remove from heat and cover. Allow to sit for at least 10-15 minutes.

~Pour into gallon pitcher and add sugar. Then fill with cold water. Refrigerate.

*Note: the soda takes out the bitterness and darkens the tea....this small amount doesn't change the taste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
39- Syrup Concentrate For Iced Tea

10 tea bags
3 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar

~Bring all ingredients to a boil in a large pot and boil for 10 minutes. Pour into a bottle and keep refrigerated.
~Mix 5 parts of water to one part tea syrup concentrate or to your own taste.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
40- Watermelon-Strawberry Tea Slush

1 cup hulled fresh strawberries
1 1/2 cups cubed, seeded watermelon
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 cup ice cubes made from strong black tea

~Prepare ice cubes made for tea ahead of time.
~Place all ingredients in a blender and process until smooth. Pour into 2 goblets and serve.