Home made iced tea

So I woke up this morning to the surprise of yet another blue skied, sunny day in London. My mum and I used to make iced tea by the bucketload in summer when I was little; it's the perfect summer refreshment when you're out in the sun!

                         

It's simple to make, the only thing you need is patience when waiting for the tea to cool down. I definitely drank hot iced tea this morning. Had a cold shower afterwards so all is fine!

You will need

Water. Obviously.
Tea bags
Lemons,
Fresh mint (your local should have it unless you are blessed with a garden growing it!)
Sugar

It may help to have a bunch of ice cubes at the ready if your patience is wearing thin...

In terms of quantity, it varies every time I make it and is worth playing around with until you perfect it to your tastes!

Boil a kettle or two of water, and pour into a big pirex bowl (or saucepan, or bucket, whatever you wish!) add some tea bags, I used 5. If you then chop up a couple lemons relatively thickly (about 3/4cm thick) and add them too. Once the water isn't steaming, add a generous handful of mint sprigs. If you add these to boiling water they will boil; not ideal. Then mix in sugar to your taste (for me, about 4-5 tbsp).

                      

                     

        

After 5 mins max take the tea bags out, and then around 20 mins lemon & mint. If it tastes too lemony earlier on take them out sooner and vice versa. It's all about tasting it the whole way through. Most of my cooking is. Which explains why my cakes aren't always as big as I thought they'd be. My mums rule has always been "eating food standing up doesn't count". Good rule to go by!

If the tea tastes a bit strong, put a bunch of ice cubes in when it's warm and it'll dilute it slightly. If its perfect then leave to cool to room temp in a jug then put in the fridge when it's ready to go! I put ice cubes in anyways because I'm impatient and get thirsty making it anyways. Enjoy!


Happy summer,
Rainbows & butterflies

Marina