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Author:
Franco Salzillo
For a hot summer evening, there’s nothing like a cool glass of iced tea. If you’re not a big fan of the herb-infused, mood-lifting drink, try this one anyway, because green tea is much livelier and more fun than the good old black teas.
Green tea is trending right now, but it’s been quite famous for thousands of years. It’s easy to see why; it’s refreshing and mild. There’s so much greenness in every sip!
And then there are the health benefits, since green tea is up there with the healthiest drinks on earth. The herbal infusion is jam-packed with antioxidants, which bind with scavenging free radicals floating in your bloodstream. These nasty molecules are responsible for all sorts of diseases and premature aging! You might want to keep them in check. How? With green tea, of course!
For this thirst-quenching drink, you need a tea bag for every cup. If it’s whole leaf tea, even better. We’re brewing the tea as we’d normally do, and then we’re letting it sit until it cools down. The biggest mistake when making iced tea is pouring the hot tea over ice — the drink gets diluted instantly and tastes like nothing.
Once you have room-temperature green tea (you can make yourself a large batch of it), you must sweeten it because once you put together your drink, there’s no easy way of dissolving the sugar. Tea must be already sweet before hitting the ice cubes.
Finally, there’s a dash of lemon or lime juice to liven your drink and a mint sprig to add some good looks and aromatics to your summer-perfect drink.
Whenever I’m having friends coming over, and even when I’m alone, I make myself a pitcher of iced green tea and store it in the fridge, always without ice to avoid dilution. That’s the right way of storing tea and the easiest measure to stay hydrated without being tempted to buy a sugared drink at the store.
Drinking tea is a habit and a very healthy one. It’s also a lifestyle — tea helps you stay focused and balanced; it’s not surprising that it’s been part of traditional medicine for centuries. The healthiest drink on the planet, is also super tasty!
In a small pot or teapot, boil the water, remove from heat and steep your green tea bags for about 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in the sugar until dissolved. Let it cool.
In a glass filled with fresh ice, pour your green tea, stir in the lemon juice and garnish with a mint sprig.
