Nothing is more refreshing on a hot summer day than some delicious iced tea! This recipe is so simple to make, and can be customized to fit whatever tea and flavors that you like. It’s sure to keep you cool and refreshed all summer long, and goes great with Grilled Vegetable Pesto Sandwiches, Homemade Burgers, or alongside a Fruity Yogurt Pop.

HOME BREWED ICED TEA’ ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS

Purchasing loose leaf tea, herbs, and fruits in bulk cuts down on excess packaging going into landfills or oceans, especially when using Reusable Produce Bags
The sugar industry has a huge impact on the environment, as excessive water and harmful chemicals are often used to grow sugar cane, which leads to habitat loss and environmental contamination and degradation, and this recipe is sugar free
Tea bags are often made of plastic fabrics, which release tons of tiny microplastic particles into your drink and never properly decompose, this recipe recommends using loose leaf tea and a Reusable Cotton Straining Bag

Home Brewed Iced Tea

Prep Time: 5 Minutes
Total Time: 4 Hours
Makes 8 cups

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Loose Leaf Tea (Black or Green)

8 cups Water (~2 Liters)

Optional:

2 sprigs of Mint

1/2 Lemon

½ cup Raspberries

½ inch of Fresh Ginger

Instructions:

1. PREP: Rinse off any fresh fruit or herbs that you’re using to flavor your tea. Cut the lemon, ginger, or additional fruit flavorings into ¼ inch rounds. Herbs like mint or lavender can be removed from the stem.

2. BREW: Scoop 2 Tbsp of your tea of choice into a Reusable Cotton Straining Bag, along with any herbs for flavor. Larger fruits can be placed directly into the pitcher, or into the same straining bag for easy removal. Fill the pitcher with 8 cups of water, and allow the tea to brew at room temperature for at least 4 hours. For a quicker brewing process, place the pitcher in the sun.

3. ENJOY: After brewing, your tea is ready to be enjoyed! You can remove the straining bag and empty the contents into the compost. The tea can be left at room temperature and served over ice, or chilled in the refrigerator.

Notes:

Choosing Your Tea – For cold brewed tea like this iced tea, it’s a good idea to use a strong tea that will have enough flavor once brewed. Herbal and white teas have a much more delicate flavor, and may not be strong enough to impart that flavor into the final product. We’d recommend using a black or green tea with this recipe, but feel free to try it with any teas you may have.

Using Lemon Slices - Lemon is a great addition to this iced tea recipe for a bright, citrusy flavor. However, the rinds can make the tea become quite bitter if left in for too long, so remove any whole lemon slices after brewing to prevent this from happening.

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