I found an old copy of an Herbal Companion magazine that I had saved for a tea recipe that combined fresh herbs, fruit and tea.
I have tried this tea as in the notes I wrote along the edge of the margin I noted that it needed "a little something more".
I will give you the recipe as it was stated in the book and then tell you what little something I gave it. You can try both and be the judge.
Apple-Mint Iced Tea
To brew 4 - 10 ounce glasses.
1 quart of water
6 teaspoons of black tea or 6 regular tea bags (GASP!)
1 cup of fresh peppermint leaves
2 tablespoons of honey
2 cups of apple juice
More fresh mint sprigs and apple slices for garnish (Optional)
Combine black tea or bags, peppermint leaves and just boiled water in a teapot and steep for 5-10 minutes. Strain, stir in honey and chill.
To serve, combine with the apple juice, pour over ice and garnish with apple slices and sprigs of mint.
Hint: To keep the apple slices from turning brown, spritze with lemon juice on both sides.
THAT was their recipe. I admit it was good, but it seemed kinda flat for a summer cooler tea.
I thought if you are going to add a apple juice to the tea, why not make a spritzer instead?
While the tea is chilling, take 1/2 can of frozen apple juice concentrate and add it to a quart of club soda. You will need to mix this in a large pitcher because it will get fizzy.
Take out your chilled tea add 2 cups of the apple spritzer to it, pour over ice and garnish.
I think you will like both of these teas.
The great thing about the spritzer is there will be enough left over for those who don't want or need tea. The apple juice concentrate and club soda is a delightful drink on its own, add tea and WOW!
I should mention that if you are using a sweetened apple juice for the original recipe, you may want to leave out the honey as it may be too sweet for you.
Fast forward 6 months, it is cold out and you need something warm. Make this tea. Except make it hot and use a culinary grade cinnamon stick for a stirrer. Yum!
See, tea can be very versatile and I love just about everything you can do with it.
Enjoy!
1 comments:
When is the best time to plant the herbs you use in your teas? Which ones woulf you reccommend for a small space. We have a lot of shade, and sadly, not a lot does well. Since I have two dogs and one outside cat now, I try to keep them out of my growing things. I may turn my strawberry bed into a herb garden, since it doesn't grow strawberries well, there is a lot of shade there.
Thanks for teaching us so much,
Abby
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