Iced Tea Recipe

mskimee
mskimee Posts: 228 Member
edited November 15 in Recipes
I fell in love with Iced Tea last summer, but all the shop bought ones seem to be really high calories and recipes online have loads of sugar or call for special teas etc. Can anyone recommend a good low calorie recipe that uses ordinary black tea? I love Lemon Iced Tea if anyone knows a good recipe for it, but I'd like to try other types too.

Replies

  • clags301
    clags301 Posts: 69 Member
    Go to Davids Tea or browse on line - they have many different flavours made with black tea or other types of tea. They also sell really handy pitchers and travel cups for brewing it and give the easy, fast directions for preparing. Mostly 0 or minimal calories, unless you add sweetener of your choice. I drink it daily, and I don't add sweetener.
  • mskimee
    mskimee Posts: 228 Member
    clags301 wrote: »
    Go to Davids Tea or browse on line - they have many different flavours made with black tea or other types of tea. They also sell really handy pitchers and travel cups for brewing it and give the easy, fast directions for preparing. Mostly 0 or minimal calories, unless you add sweetener of your choice. I drink it daily, and I don't add sweetener.

    Unfortunately they don't seem to ship to Europe. :( Thanks for the suggestion though.
  • vikinglander
    vikinglander Posts: 1,547 Member
    From your avatar photo, I'd say you might have enough daily sun to do this (unless that's you on vacation!):

    Find a really large clear glass jar. The kind that restaurants get mayonnaise in. About 5 gallons if you can find it. With a good tight screw top or Mason top.

    Fill it with water. Add 30 teabags, or 4 to 5 tea balls full of loose tea. Add two oranges and one lemon, cut in round slices. Add 2 cinnamon sticks, 10 whole cloves and a thumb-sized piece of ginger, cut in slices. Lay the jar on its side in direct sunlight for 8 to 12 hours. Sweeten to taste with honey (or Splenda) and refrigerate overnight.

    Best ever...

  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
    Just keep it simple. Having lived some years in the American south, iced tea is a staple. This is from Lipton:
    Pour four cups of boiling water over two teabags into a heat-proof pitcher and leave for three to five minutes. Remove the teabags, and sweeten to taste by adding a little sugar. Stir in six cups of ice cubes until melted, or use four cups of cold water. Add in freshly cut lemon slices for some citrus zing, and keep refrigerated.

    You could skip the sugar, or use your artificial sweetener of choice.
  • mskimee
    mskimee Posts: 228 Member
    vikinglander wrote: »
    From your avatar photo, I'd say you might have enough daily sun to do this (unless that's you on vacation!):

    Find a really large clear glass jar. The kind that restaurants get mayonnaise in. About 5 gallons if you can find it. With a good tight screw top or Mason top.

    Fill it with water. Add 30 teabags, or 4 to 5 tea balls full of loose tea. Add two oranges and one lemon, cut in round slices. Add 2 cinnamon sticks, 10 whole cloves and a thumb-sized piece of ginger, cut in slices. Lay the jar on its side in direct sunlight for 8 to 12 hours. Sweeten to taste with honey (or Splenda) and refrigerate overnight.

    Best ever...

    I wish we had that kind of sun. Think rain....lots of rain.....and then even more rain.....and cloud. :'(
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    I like using a combination of plain and flavored tea bags. For black tea, check out Twinings - they have lemon twist and mixed berry.

    If you use 1 bag of each you would get a good fruity flavor. This would make 20 oz. of iced tea in the U.S. (about 2 medium glasses). Squeezed fruit wedges a bit to give it more flavor. Ginger (@vikinglander posted) is yummy in citrus tea. Brew small ginger pieces right along with the tea.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    I cold brew my iced tea overnight. Depending on the type of tea I'm using, 1-2 tea bags per liter of water steeped in the fridge for 8 hours yields some great tasting iced tea, IMO. I'll sometimes add orange or lemon slices to the pitcher as I'm steeping. For sweetener, I prefer simple syrup because it mixes well, but will use agave or honey in a pinch.
  • laur357
    laur357 Posts: 896 Member
    7-8 black tea bags (I use Lipton or Salada or similar if those are available, Twinings black tea would also be fine - just pricier here)
    1 quart or liter of cold water

    Add tea bags to cold water.
    Turn heat on stove to high until water almost comes to a boil then remove from heat.
    Let bags continue to steep for 30-45 minutes as water cools.
    Pour into a container and refrigerate, serve over ice.

    I usually add 1 tablespoon of sugar or honey while it's heating. It's not enough to make it taste sweet, but takes away any bitterness.

    Variations:
    Add 1/4 Cup of lemon juice and 2-3 tablespoons of sugar as it cools (sugar depends on how tart or bitter the citrus is)
    Muddle fresh berries and mint into the container or your glass, pour tea over
    Add orange slices and torn basil when it's nearly cool
    Use green tea bags, use above variations or just add honey if you'd like
    Use half black tea bags, half herbal or flavored tea of choice
    Add 1 tablespoon of pomegranate, cherry, or cranberry juice to your glass, top with all iced tea or 2 parts tea to one part seltzer/club soda. Add vodka for more fun.
  • dklibert
    dklibert Posts: 1,196 Member
    Jruzer wrote: »
    Just keep it simple. Having lived some years in the American south, iced tea is a staple. This is from Lipton:
    Pour four cups of boiling water over two teabags into a heat-proof pitcher and leave for three to five minutes. Remove the teabags, and sweeten to taste by adding a little sugar. Stir in six cups of ice cubes until melted, or use four cups of cold water. Add in freshly cut lemon slices for some citrus zing, and keep refrigerated.

    You could skip the sugar, or use your artificial sweetener of choice.

    This is exactly what I do too!
  • Treece68
    Treece68 Posts: 780 Member
    edited February 2017
    I make ice tea all the time in the summer. This is what I do. Take your medium sized pot and fill (almost to top) with water put 4-7 tea bags (depending on how strong you like your tea.) Put teabags in pot, bring to a boil, take off burner, cover with lid 10min. Take out tea bags, let cool, poor into pitcher. I drink mine with no sugar sometimes I add 1Tbs of Honey while it is covered. And there you have it Iced tea! If you like lemon cut a lemon and put it in your glass.
  • CarolPre
    CarolPre Posts: 1,866 Member
    It took a while to get used to, but I can drink tea with no sugar or sweetener now.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    CarolPre wrote: »
    It took a while to get used to, but I can drink tea with no sugar or sweetener now.

    To that end, there are some great flavored black teas that don't require any sweetener at all. Republic of Tea's Mango Ceylon is one of my favorites and is great iced.
  • dragginwood
    dragginwood Posts: 2 Member
    I use my drip coffee maker and 8-10 teabags then i add sweetener of choice (i use 1cup splenda) and ice and cold water to make a gallon..
  • Rowan09
    Rowan09 Posts: 35 Member
    I love Turkey Hill diet iced teas if you have them by you. Lots of good flavors.
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