#10 STRAWBERRY SWEET TEA

INGREDIENTS / SHOPPING LIST

• Water
• Black tea bags
• Baking soda: A little bit of baking soda reduces the bitterness of the tea and gives it a much smoother taste.
• Strawberries: Fresh strawberries are needed to make the simple syrup and what turns this from regular sweet tea to strawberry sweet tea.
• Granulated sugar: Any grain of sugar can be used, but refined is best – it’s smaller and will dissolve in the hot tea faster.

 

SUBSTITUTIONS AND ADDITIONS

• Berries: If you don’t have enough fresh strawberries, you could add some other soft fruits such as raspberries or blackberries. 
• Make it Boozy: If you want grown up tea in the form of a cocktail, add a shot of rum, vodka, gin, or bourbon (about 2 ounces per glass is the general rule). Personally, I love a shot of Malibu coconut rum!
• Sugar: I recommend using refined granulated sugar for this recipe because it will give you optimal results. However, brown sugar can be used, but keep in mind it will give the tea a completely different flavor. Honey is another option–if you do decide to use honey, mix it with some warm water before adding it to the tea, which makes it dissolve easily when you stir, and not end up in clumps.
• Control the strength: For stronger tea, simply add an extra tea bag or two and steep for an additional five minutes. Alternatively, if you prefer your tea to be light in color and flavor, use less tea bags and add in extra water.

 

HOW TO MAKE THE RECIPE

It is so easy to cool off with the best of summer’s fruit with this sweet ice tea that’s loaded with strawberry flavor. Perfectly refreshing for picnics, BBQs, and more!

• Add tea bags to boiling water and let it steep for 5 minutes.
• Remove your tea bags and pour the tea into a pitcher.
• Add water and baking soda to the pitcher and set aside.
• Simmer water, strawberries, and sugar for 20 minutes to make a simple syrup. Remove the saucepan from the heat and allow the syrup to cool.
• Strain the strawberries, pressing the juice out of the berries.
• Stir the simple syrup into the pitcher of tea. Add ice to a glass, pour, and sip!

 

TIPS

• This is SWEET tea, however, you can reduce the sugar by half and taste a fruitier flavor. Add lemon juice for some zest.

 

• For the most intense strawberry flavor, this recipe tastes best with very ripe strawberries. While you can enjoy it all year round, strawberry sweet tea is best in the summer when strawberries are in season and at their juiciest.
• Start with cold water. Tannins are released when you boil warm or room temperature water and can make your tea cloudy.
• Don’t skip the steeping. The steep time extracts the best flavor from the tea bags. But don’t steep too long, or you’ll end up with bitter tea.
• Add ice to each glass, not the pitcher. Adding ice to the pitcher can water down the tea before you serve it, so put the ice in each individual glass instead.