Friday, March 27, 2009
Drinks / Recipe File Spring Awakening: Ginger Lemon Iced Tea
Posted by Lee Stabert on Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 6:03 AM
My favorite (non-alcoholic) drinks are flavorful, low-calorie (I prefer to eat mine) and all natural. This makes me an iced coffee/iced tea fiend--it's amazing how a teaspoon of sugar and a splash of milk can make the former taste like a decadent treat.
Today I want to talk about iced tea. Most of the more interesting commercial varieties have a significant dose of sugar (though I will give a shout-out to Honest Tea's kick-ass Moroccan Mint, sweetened with honey and clocking in at 18 calories per serving) or fake sugar and are pretty expensive, so I've started experimenting with brewing my own. (FYI: The best locally brewed iced tea in town, by a mile, is at Bongo East.)
A couple weeks ago I used some leftover ingredients from Thai cooking to craft a basil-key lime version that I liked quite a bit (even if my man insisted that it was "too basily"). And over the last week I have fallen in love with a super-simple lemon-ginger tea that manages to taste vibrant and sweet with no added sugar (though a bit of honey would probably be pretty good). It has also been a great vehicle for using up a huge box of Lipton decaf that has been gathering dust in my pantry for too long.
Anyone else have any interesting iced tea suggestions?
My recipe is after the jump.
Ginger-Lemon Iced Tea
- Steep 5-6 tea bags (any kind will do) and a finger-sized piece of ginger cut into large slivers in about two cups of boiling water for about an hour (or as long as you want). I usually do this in my 3-cup measuring cup.
- Strain and dump into your pitcher. Squeeze in the juice of half a large lemon or a whole small one. Dump the used halves into the tea as well. Fill the remainder of the pitcher with cold water. Refrigerate and enjoy over ice.
As always, feel free to mess with the proportions to suit your personal taste.
Comments (3)
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How about iced chai? 6 tea bags, five coriander seeds, 5 cardamom seeds, a cinnamon stick and a clove. Boil the water, add the spices and boil 5 mins. Take it off the heat, add the tea bags. Steep as usual, then strain and add milk and sweetener. I wish I had a cup right now.
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I love fruit tea made by adding orange-pineapple juice. I got hooked on it at the Green Fairy's house. I also love Mrs. Pink's iced tea made with half peppermint tea bags—it's feather-light and refreshing.
I like it simple, because I make a pitcher every morning to take to work with me. My favorite is two decaf teabags and one regular, any brand, then 1 or 2 regular teabags of Earl Gray tea. Stash Earl Gray, even though I don't like it hot on its own, is perfect for iced tea, but any strongly flavored Earl Gray works fine. The bergamot gives it a citrus-y flavor that is perfect on a hot day. Or a not hot day. I make about a quart and a half, add enough ice to make about 2 quarts, and 1 package of the pink sweetener (gotta be the pink stuff for iced tea, for some reason), and I'm good for a day at the desk.
