Suzanne Askham

Wellbeing notes: iced tea recipe

Melody, the main character in the story I’m writing, was feeling hot and sticky. So, she made iced tea for a friend and herself. As Melody steeped tea bags, sliced lemons, and plucked mint leaves from the garden, I became more and more tempted to make some for myself.

Iced tea always makes me think of rocking chairs on cool verandas in the sunny southern states of America. But it happens to suit England in the summer extremely well. Delicious, cooling and refreshing, the caffeine content brings a reviving kick; and citrus fruit’s health benefits are always welcome. Iced tea is easy and inexpensive to make. Chances are, the few ingredients are already in the kitchen.

This is the recipe that I tend to use. It’s adapted from BBC Good Food’s Easy Iced Tea recipe. 

Ingredients

1.5 litres cold water

2 tbsp golden granulated sugar

1.5 tbsp liquid honey

6 tea bags

2 lemons, one sliced, one juiced

2 oranges, one sliced, one juiced

1 or 2 sprigs fresh mint

Method

Pour the cold water into a large jug. Add sugar and honey; stir to dissolve. 

Add teabags. Steep for ten minutes.

Remove tea bags and discard. Chill in fridge until ready to drink. 

Add lemon slices and juice, orange slices and juice, and mint leaves torn roughly in half. Serve in tall glasses with ice.