I have been playing around with making homemade green iced tea for a while and feel that I have finally come close to finishing my recipe testing to create a healing elixir.
I almost-fill a pitcher with cold water and add 3 green tea bags and 3 decaf black tea bags. I have found that green tea in the international foods section is better quality and cheaper than what you get in the tea and coffee section. A LOT cheaper.
I have been worried about the caffeine in green tea but so far I have not had any headaches which is amazing because it is so much more powerful and healthier than the decaf version. I just hope I can keep drinking it.
I prefer to slow brew my iced tea. I put it in the fridge for quite a few hours. Sometimes I leave it overnight.
As great as it was to add a can of lemonade concentrate into the pitcher I wanted to see if I could make my own lemon syrup. I juiced and zested half a lemon.
To make the syrup I brought half a cup of water and half a cup of sugar to a boil and let simmer for 5 minutes. Lately I have been cutting back a little on the sugar and added a couple of tbsp of honey instead to make it more natural and healing.
Then I added the zest and juice of the lemon and let it sit for quite a while, at least half an hour. Strain and stir into the pitcher after removing tea bags.
Summer may be coming to an end next week but we can still enjoy its flavours. With the temperatures cooling down I am thinking next time I might also add a coin of ginger to the syrup to add some additional healing powers.
I have had some health issues come up and am doing my best to add super foods, herbs and supplements to my regime and this drink really fits the bill. I love it when medicine tastes delicious. My journey with food started because of health issues but I have learned that our bodies resonate with flavours it enjoys.
For those who are interested, it is our 11 year anniversary today and we are celebrating over here. Feel free to raise a class to the happy couple!
Hey Happy Anniversary,
Looks good, I was playing around with iced green tea this summer, and I used Lime, and San Pellegrino. I like the fizz.
This makes me think of those two elderly sisters on The Waltons who made moonshine and always called it “medicine,” LOL! Cheers to you on your anniversary!
Oh how I could’ve used some of this today, got slammed with a migraine.
I recently tried making Aarti Sequiera’s “Kuwaiti Cinnamon-Orange Iced Tea.” It was wonderful and it has fresh ginger in it as well. You could definitely go decaf with it. The recipe is on Foodnetwork.com, I think you would really enjoy it.
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/aarti-sequeira/kuwaiti-cinnamon-orange-iced-tea-recipe/index.html