Iced Green Tea is a perfect summer libation. The trouble with most of the consumer-made green tea that they sell at the supermarket is that it’s mostly sugar (oh! and that it’s fairly expensive.) Sugar adds unneccessary calories to this drink and tends to make you more thirsty! I like the clean, simple, taste of green tea and (if it’s made right) it’s a perfect summertime thirst quencher. I don’t want the empty calories of the excess sugar (and cost) of the supermarket stuff, so I make my own.
I buy bulk green tea bags from the store. In 2 Qts. boiling H2O I steep 8 bags of tea [I tie the bags to a chopstick to hang in the H2O] for about 5 minutes in a heat-proof container. Remove bags and compost. Before the tea cools I stir in about 1-1/2 Tblsp. each of honey and lemon juice and cool. Add ice cubes or have straight. Simple, cheap, flavorful, healthy, and best of all: very little sugar!
Try variations: add some herbal tea bags for a more complex flavor. Japanese make “mugicha” or a roasted barley tea that has no caffeine, served chilled. They do not add any sugar to this tea. An interesting variation to any tea recipe is to steep (in cool H2O) the tea, in a large, clear, covered, container all day long in the sun. Add honey and lemon, then cool. This is “sun” tea. Kids enjoy making this as a summertime activity and enjoyment. It’s like drinking liquid sunshine!
