The Most Refreshing Summer Tea

During the very hottest portion of the year I get really very sick of lemonade and regular old iced tea. Worse, I find that I can’t actually drink iced tea after noon if it’s been brewed honestly because it has even more caffeine than coffee. Plus, I live in the south where “regular iced tea” comes complete with about a full cup of white sugar per glass. I don’t like my drinks to be sugary, but I get pretty sick of plain old water too, despite having the Planet’s Best Mountain Spring Water right here in the tap.

So I make some cool summer teas from the first plants in the garden and the last to die out in fall - the mints. In fact, cool summer teas are the #1 thing to do with all those exotic mints - like apple mint, pineapple mint, chocolate mint and lemon mint (as well as good ol’ peppermint). To these I like to add a bit of rose hips, just for the tart flavor and excess vitamin C. I harvest those when they turn red in the fall, then freeze them in a jar for later use.

Now, the very name of the mints tells you all you need to know about the specific taste undertones you get out of them. I like to make my tea fresh, as making it of dried herbs requires less material and no simmering (I use the dry for hot wintertime tea). So in the following recipe, use your mint of choice!

Summertime Tea

2 cups mint leaves
1/2 cup rose hips
4 cups cold water

Put the water into a not-aluminum pot on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the rose hips and turn the heat to medium-low to simmer, simmer for 5 minutes. Add the mint and simmer for another 5 minutes to break down the cell walls and release the flavor.

Remove from heat and cover tightly, let steep for about an hour (or more). Strain into a 4-quart pitcher and add cold water to fill. Refrigerate, drink with ice, garnish with a slice of lemon or a sprig of mint.

You could add brewed green tea if you wish, and get green tea benefits too. And you can sweeten this tea if you really want to (yuck!). I use local raw honey in hot tea, but you can heat a half cup of honey in a cup of water, then add that when you’re mixing up the 4-quart pitcher. You can drink this iced mint tea all day long and into the hot night, it’s good for hydrating you (mostly water), is high in vitamin C, and isn’t going to hurt you. It makes for a great “sports drink” at softball games or when you’re cooking out or playing badminton in the yard too! Kids can drink it as often as they like too, and it won’t spoil their appetite or make them fat!

So get out there and trim those mints, make some tea and relax!

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Filed under Cooling, Garden, Health, Recipes, Wild Herbs |