Lemon iced tea is black tea cooled down and sharpened with lemon juice, poured over ice. Mint and ginger are the additions in this recipe, and they do most of the work. It takes a few minutes and costs less than the bottled kind, which usually has more sugar and additives than tea in it.
Makes two glasses.
- 2 cups water
- teaspoons black tea leaves
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons honey or sugar
- 4-5 fresh mint leaves
- ½ teaspoon freshly grated ginger
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup ice cubes
- 2 lemon slices, to garnish
- a pinch of black salt, optional
Method:
- Steep the tea. Bring two cups of water to a gentle boil in a saucepan, add the tea leaves, and steep for 3-4 minutes. Boiling it longer draws out bitterness.
- Add the ginger and zest. Stir the grated ginger and lemon zest into the warm tea and leave it for a minute to infuse, then strain into a jug and let it cool.
- Sweeten and sharpen. When the tea has reached room temperature, stir in the lemon juice and honey or sugar until it dissolves. Add the lemon a little at a time and stop where you like it.
- The mint. Crush the mint leaves between your fingers to release the oil, add them to the jug with the black salt, and stir.
- Serve. Fill two glasses with ice, pour the tea over, and garnish with lemon slices and mint.
Tips:
Squeeze the lemons yourself; bottled juice tastes flat. Honey gives a different sweetness from refined sugar. Chill the tea in the fridge first if you would rather not water it down with melting ice. Cucumber slices make a lighter variation. Green tea in place of black tea changes the flavour. Adjust the ginger and mint to taste.
What I change when I make it:
The lemon, mint, and ginger combination is the reason to make this rather than open a bottle, and it needs nothing expensive. I use honey or date syrup instead of sugar. A splash of orange juice or a few crushed strawberries turns it fruity. Doing it yourself also lets you control how much sugar goes in, which is the main argument against the packaged versions.
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