Icing on Your Iced Tea

Studies suggest that iced tea can hydrate just as well as water. If you would like to read more about this, here is a short article: https://www.webmd.com/parenting/features/healthy-beverages.

Iced tea can be both hydrating and lower in sugar and fat than many beverages. Plan to dress up plain tea with an assortment of fresh or frozen berries, fresh or dried herbs and zesty citrus, to name a few. Start with a base properly brewed iced tea and then let your creativity flow!

There is both an art and a science involved in extracting balanced flavors and beneficial nutrients from tea leaves. Take the time to select and brew tea for a rewarding outcome. Many people say that loose tea tends to be fresher, more flavorful and contains whole leaves.

Many tea bags contain crushed leaves of a lesser quality. If teabags work for you, look for whole leaves packaged in roomier satchels, pyramids or pouches, rather than traditional teabags, which allow room for the leaves to expand while steeping. At a note, whole tea leaves have so much flavor they can be steeped twice, so while they’re more expensive, you’ll get more tea for the price.

Use Fresh, Cold Water

Start your tea with cold water, filtered if you have it. Cold and filtered water tend to have less minerals. Minerals can make tea taste metallic or sulfury and can interfere with the fresh taste of tea can be. For each 8-ounce cup of water, add 1 teabag or 1 teaspoon of loose leaf tea. Each tea variety requires a different water temperature and steeping time. Commercial tea bags need slightly less time than loose leaves for extraction since the leaves within the bags are crushed (so there’s more surface area).

Here is a general guide:

Black Teas (English Breakfast, Earl Gray) and herbal infusions: Bring the water to a full-on boil with big bubbles and lots of steam and steep for 5 minutes. Black teas are fully oxidized (or fermented), which lends them a toasty flavor, and like herbal teas, they need more time and temperature to develop.

Green Teas: Bring the water a mild simmer with small bubbles and just a touch of steam and steep for 1 to 3 minutes. Green teas are not oxidized in order to preserve their fresh, grassy flavor and are more delicate.

Oolongs: Bring the water to a mild simmer and steep for around 3 minutes. Oolongs are semi-oxidized and have a floral fragrance.

Here are some ideas for enhancing your tea-time.

Berry Cinnamon Tea

Create a simply syrup by combining equal parts sugar, water and fresh or frozen mixed berries with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon. Bring all of the ingredients to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve or cheese cloth or a paper coffee filter and discard solids. Cool completely, then stir as much syrup as you like into a tall glass of brewed black iced tea. Garnish glasses with fresh berries and cinnamon sticks.

Tea Mojito

Muddle (smush) four fresh lime wedges with tea mint leaves and a teaspoon or two of sugar in a large drinking glass. Pour cooled green or oolong tea over the mint, pack glass with tea and enjoy.

Tomato Tea

Muddle (smush) about five halved cherry tomatoes with five leaves of fresh basil and a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar in a large drinking glass. Pour cooled black tea over the tomatoes, add ice as desired and enjoy.

Sweet and Tangy Cherry Shrub

Shrubs have been a favorite “mocktail” for over two hundred years. Simmer one cup each of tart fresh or frozen cherries, sugar and water for 15 minutes with ten fresh mint leaves, strain and return to the pot. Add 1 cup apple cider vinegar and chill. Use 1 to 2 ounces of the shrub syrup per glass of plain iced tea. Here is an overview of the shrub-making: https://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/altons-cocktail-time-shrubs-0186744.

Updated Arnold Palmer

Two ounces (about 4 tablespoons) of limoncello, the sweet Italian lemon liqueur, poured into a tall glass of black or green iced tea creates a sophisticated Arnold Palmer. If you would like to make your own limoncello, here is a video to get you start: https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/limoncello-recip....

Tea in a Coconut Cup

Cut the top off a fresh young coconut. Empty the coconut water into a large shaker with equal parts green iced tea, ice and a small amount of pineapple juice. Shake vigorously, pour back into the coconut and garnish with pineapple or orange wedges.

Iced Tea Float

Add a scoop of lemon, orange or pineapple sorbet to a large drinking glass. Pour chilled oolong or black tea over sorbet and enjoy!

Frozen Iced Tea

Add a combo of frozen peaches and berries into a large drinking glass. If you have lots of ripe summer fruit, cut into wedges, freeze and use for this. Pour cooled black or green tea over, garnish with fresh mint or basil leaves, and enjoy.

Iced Tea Sangria

Add orange and lemon slices to a large pitcher. Add chunked fresh summer fruit, such as plums or peaches, along with ripe strawberries or raspberries. Pour your favorite chilled white wine into the pitcher, with a small amount of orange liqueur or Triple Sec. Add one cup of chilled, strong black tea. Chill for at least two hours, and then serve over ice.

Slice up a lemon, an orange and a plum. Pour a bottle of white wine such as Pinot Grigio and 1/2 cup of orange liqueur into a large pitcher. Add the sliced fruit, 1 cup of blackberries and 1 cup of cooled, strongly brewed black tea. Chill for at least 4 hours and serve over ice.

Please contact Nancy at foodprof2@gmail.com for nutrition or health questions or for ideas on upcoming columns.