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As the weather warms up, it’ll be tempting to bee line your way to the nearest bodega, Starbucks or other over-priced, over-plastic packaged beverage retail specialist to sate your parched, oh-so-thirsty needs.
Instead, why not make yourself a delicious, cold iced tea drink that you can enjoy yourself and impress house guests with?
I came up with this idea on a warm weekend day when I was craving something sweeter than water but healthy, too. And I didn’t want to waste money or create waste (cold beverage equals plastic cup, lid and straw) on a sub-par drink from my neighborhood’s cafes.
I took an inventory of all the teas I had on hand and realized I had more miscellaneous tea bags from different flavors and brands cluttering up my cupboard than I had one complete box. Wanting to make an entire pitcher, I decided to mix and match flavors to make a unique-tasting tea. Getting to use up old tea bags that probably wouldn’t have been touched otherwise also felt good!
My largest cooking pot can only fit twelve, 8 oz. cups of water, so this is what the recipe yields.
Mix and Match Iced Tea
- Pick two or more different tea flavors to combine. (I chose eight Strawberry Papaya black tea-flavored bags I had leftover from last summer and combined it with four leftover Celestial Seasonings Lemon Zinger tea bags.)
- Boil twelve, 8 oz. cups of water stovetop in a large pasta pot.
- When the water boils, put in the tea bags. Tie the strings to one of the pot handles so they can bob in the water without the string ends getting in.
- Mix in eight to twelve tablespoons of organic agave syrup. I put in about seven or eight since I like my tea on the sweet but not-too-sweet side.
- Steep according to your taste. I like my tea strong and flavorful so I let the bags soak for about 30-45 minutes.
- Remove tea bags and pour brewed tea into glass pitcher.
- Let the tea cool before putting it into the fridge for energy efficiency’s sake.
- Slice up a few rounds of organic lemon, toss into the pitcher and enjoy!
More on Iced Tea:
Emeril's Rum Spiked Sweet Tea
How to Go Green: Coffee & Tea
Iced Tea on TreeHuger:
Honest Tea: Doing Business Differently
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