Orange Iced Tea

Seems like we are past the peak of the summers.The weather still varies between hot/ dry and hot/humid and I hate the later of the two. Such days requires an extra boost of energy to keep you pumped up. On one such day, we walked into a café – Papa Roti and the Passion Fruit Iced Tea was the much needed refreshing punch we got.

Ever since, I have wanted to try this at home. The only Iced Tea I had tried earlier was the one marketed by Lipton and I stopped having it the moment I learnt about the sugar content that goes into it.

Orange and Lemon with a dash of mint seemed to be the perfect combo for the refreshing Iced Tea and there it was decided.

So here is my recipe for the summers.


Ingredients
(Serves – 4)

1. Water – 3 and ½ cups
2. Tea bags/ tea leaves – 3 bags/ 3 tsp
3. Fresh mint leaves – a handful
4. Orange Juice – ½ cup
5. Lemon juice – 2 tbsp
6. Honey/Sugar – 6 tbsp/ 3 tbsp
7. Ice cubes

Method:

Boil 3 cups of water and add the tea bag or tea leaves. Set aside covered for 3 minutes before removing the tea bags or straining the tea leaves. Let it cool for 15 minutes.

Mix the lemon juice along with orange, the remaining water and honey in a jug. Transfer the tea when cooled into the jug. Stir in well.

Lightly crush the mint leaves with your hands and toss into the jar. Leave it to chill in your refrigerator for about an hour. Serve it with ice cubes which adds to the final boost.

You may also note –

1. Iced Tea retains the freshness up to a day when stored in a refrigerator.
2. You may choose to strain the iced tea or serve along with the orange pulp and the mint leaves as is.
3. You may choose to replace honey with sugar.