Refreshing Strawberry Iced Tea
Prep Time:
15 mins.
Yield:
2 quarts
Is it strawberry season yet? Fresh, sweet strawberries are a tasty addition to strong, lemony sweet iced tea. Nothing better on a hot day.
Ingredients
- 1 large lemon
- 16 ounces fresh strawberries, leafy stems removed
- 1 cup sugar
- 5 cups cold water, divided
- 2 Luzianne® Family Size Iced Tea bags*
- 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Sliced strawberries for garnish, optional
Directions
- Using a vegetable peeler remove the zest from one lemon. Set aside. Reserve the lemon for another use.
- Prepare strawberry syrup: Puree the strawberries, sugar, and 1 cup water in a blender. Add the puree to a small saucepot. Add the reserved lemon zest, bring to a boil and cook until sugar is dissolved, about 90 seconds. Set aside to steep for 20 minutes. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the solids from the liquid, pressing on the solids with the back of a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Place syrup in refrigerator to cool.
- While the syrup is cooling make a strong tea. In a pitcher, steep 2 tea bags in 2 cups boiling water for 10 minutes.* Remove and discard tea bags. Add the 2 remaining cups of water, the lemon juice, and the chilled strawberry puree.
- Serve over ice and garnish with sliced strawberries, if desired.
Try other in-season berries such as blackberries, blueberries or raspberries in place of the strawberries. To make a festive cocktail punch, replace the 2 cups of cold water at the end of the recipe with 2 cups of spiced rum.
*Alternatively, steep 2 bags of Luzianne® Cold Brew Iced Tea in 2 cups cold water for 10 minutes.
