Mint and Lime Iced Tea Recipe
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Our sweet Southern-style iced tea gives lemonade a run for its money as the official hot-weather drink.
This recipe was featured as part of both our Mother’s Day Picnic menu and our Picnic Recipes photo gallery.
INGREDIENTS
For the tea:
- 8 cups (2 quarts) water
- 8 green tea bags
- 1 bunch fresh mint
- 1 1/2 cups superfine or granulated sugar
To serve:
- 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 4 medium limes)
- Ice
- 6 fresh mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
- 1 medium lime, cut into sixths, for garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
For the tea:
- Place the water in a medium pot and bring to a simmer over high heat. Remove from heat, add the tea bags and mint, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Once the tea has steeped, discard the tea bags, add the sugar, and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator to cool completely, about 2 hours.
To serve:
- Once the tea is cold, remove the mint and stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust with more lime juice or sugar as desired. Serve over ice with a sprig of mint and a wedge of lime (if using).
brew Market spice tea, from Pikes market , Seattle. The orange, lemon , black tea, several tablespoons , steeped in 2cups boiling water. Strain tea leaves and fruit , into a pitcher and add ice cubes for a refreshing iced tea.
If you cut down the sugar -- which I, like other commenters, prefer -- definitely don't steep 10 min and don't overheat the water by bringing to full boil. Better cooler (150-degrees-ish) than too hot. I prefer about 165 F. (I use a candy thermometer.) Boiling and then letting the water cool back down starves some of the oxygen which blooms the flavor. But still better than steeping at full boiled temp.
I prefer around 3 min of steeping but 5-min for Gunpowder Green works, too. There's less sugar to compensate for the astringent bitterness of poorly brewed tea.
Pour like the Moroccans do -- in a narrow stream up above the cup -- as far as you can get without splashing all over. It oxygenates the tea, improving the flavor. It also foams the tea a little and improves mouthfeel.
This recipe is good. Lime makes a nice variation to an (iced) Moroccan Mint Tea, which is what this recipe basically is. For clearer tea, definitely don't press down on the tea and follow instructions to let cool to room temp before refrigerating.
I recommend using about 8 tsp (~16 grams) of Gunpowder Green tea, lowering sugar to about 1 cup per 8 cups of water heated only to 150-170 degrees F. Steeping for about 3-6 minutes, depending on your taste. You'll get a cleaner and much less grassy-bitter flavor than using the bagged green tea and prep recommended in the recipe. Just pour thru a strainer into a pitcher that holds the sugar, stir till dissolved, and cool.
Nice thing about Gunpowder Green is that you can save the leaves you strain from the first batch and use again on a second batch, steeping a little longer the second time. The second batch isn't as luxurious as the first -- less essential oil -- if you taste them side by side. But it should still taste MUCH better than using commercial bagged teas. Mix batches together to make about 1 gal of sweet tea, enough for a party. Very economical!
IMHO needs less sugar, maybe half should be enough for me. Having said that, the less sweet version will take a place in my rotation.
I love this recipe--though I use agave nectar, usually a scant cup, and even then serve over plenty of ice. Sometimes switch it up with black tea and lemons. In which case bourbon is an excellent addition.
For tea bags, I like Trader Joe's variety. For this, the organic green tea bags would be perfect. If you're going loose (which has many advantages), I like Peet's Summer House iced tea.
I'd substitute the 1.5 cups of white sugar for agave syrup. If I'm going to consume refined sugar, let it be a sinful dessert. Otherwise, this sounds so refreshing!
I usually use one cup. Also, any recommendation for green tea bags?
"The Splendid Table" talked about cold brewed tea. The tea expert said it was particularly good for green tea, as green tea becomes bitter if over steeped or if the water gets too hot. You simply pour water over tea leaves and put in the fridge over night. I don't remember the ratio, but TST website has the info.
I tried this when it was first published and have become addicted. Even the younger members of my family find it delicious and refreshing. And, it 's a great way to use of some of the mint that is invading my garden. However, I, too, had to cut down on the sugar to 1 cup, and sometimes I use 1/2 sweetener.
If you want to skip the sugar overload in this recipe, freeze a tray of ice cubes topped with a drizzle of honey over each cube and once rock hard add the cubes to the Iced Tea recipe. You won't miss the sugar!
I thought 10 minutes would make it very bitter too. I steep mine for what, 3 minutes? Sometimes less.
And I have to say, although it's good you know what you put in, that's a lot of sugar. I think if I try this, I'll try it a cup at a time.
Honey makes coffee and hot tea delicious. It might be a good substitute for sugar in this iced mint tea as well...what say you?
Substitute agave nectar (Whole Foods & Trader Joe's have it) for the sugar. It's low glycemic and natural. Who wants to put chemicals in it (Splenda) or all that sugar? By the way, the green tea should only steep for 2-3 minutes. 10 minutes will make it bitter.
It's time to toss those industrial bags of tea away and use the real thing. Tea is made from the leaves of a plant-- It's really not that difficult to strain the leaves from the water and the rewards are flavour, increased health benefits and less waste. (Good quality leaves can be steeped 5 or 6 times with each steeping revealing different qualities in the tea. I used them as mulch for potted plants after.) Be warned: Some green teas can get bitter if steeped too long.
I think this recipe would be great with an oolong tea as well. And surely any sort of mint would do.
It would be extra cool to make tea ice cubes to float in the drinks.
I have some mint growing on a windowsill right now so I have to try this. I think I have green tea somewhere - I hope you don't have to use decaffeinated tea because one of the perks of tea is "the perk" of caffeine. I guess this recipe will work in the sun-tea recipe (brewing it outside in sun, adding the rest of the stuff when it's brewed). Gotta try it now - will post back & let y'all know!
Spearmint is better, in answer to majorette.
I made this last weekend and really liked it, though I think I will reduce the amount of sugar next time.
I love this it is so simple to make and its not something you neeed to keep going to the recipe to go check aha
really great for family parties that have kids who arent allowed to drink hehe
Add bourbon and you are set. I concocted a drink called the Southern Picnic using this recipe - http://www.chow.com/recipes/11826
When a tea recipe like this calls for mint, does it mean spearmint or peppermint?
This is really soooooooooo fabulous! I used key lime and replaced most of the sugar with Splenda using only 1/2 cup of real sugar. It's one of the best tasting drinks I've had this summer. The mint and lime taste so good together. Just made it and have already almost finished the whole pitcher myself. And I'm not a "mint person." Almost passed on it because of that. Glad I tried it. A Lovely drink!
Yup. Southern style sweet tea is very very sweet! But delicious, and meant to be served over a big cup of ice.
Wow, that's a lot of sugar! Even assuming 6 servings, that's a quarter cup of sugar per serving. Yikes! Looks great otherwise.
Really, so amazing.