When the temperature in southern New England hits the 90s you'll hear a lot of complaining. The heat becomes the main topic of conversation throughout the town and finding ways to cool down becomes a focus. One way to keep cool is with cold drinks and iced teas are a particular favorite.
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| My Spearmint Plant |
I'm a fan of green tea. I like it hot most of the year, but in the heat of summer iced green tea is a refreshing cool drink alternative. I grow a spearmint plant on my deck each summer, mainly because it is an essential component of two favorite summer drinks,
mojitos and iced tea.
Iced Mint Green Tea
Makes 8 cups
- 2 quarts of cool water
- 10 green tea bags, your favorite
- 8 large spearmint leaves
- sweetener, optional
Directions
Pour 8 cups of cool water into a 3 quart saucepan. Add 10 tea bags. You are going to want your tea to be a bit stronger than if you were drinking it hot because it will be diluted by the ice. Add 8 large fresh spearmint leaves to the pot. Heat the pot of tea over medium heat until it is simmering, but not boiling. Remove the pot from the burner and allow to steep for 30 minutes.
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| Allow Tea to Steep |
If you are going to sweeten your tea with sugar you'll want to make a simple syrup by mixing equal parts of water and sugar together. Heat the mixture to boiling and then remove from the heat to cool. Store your simple syrup in a glass container in the refrigerator and use to sweeten drinks.
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| Tea and Simple Syrup |
Remove the tea bags and the mint leaves. Pour the tea into a glass container. Cool to room temperature and then refrigerate to chill. To serve fill a tall glass with ice, add the tea and a sprig of mint per glass. Sweeten as preferred and enjoy.
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| Cooling Off with Iced Mint Green Tea |
Keeping cool,
I feel cooler just looking at the pictures.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Allie!
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