Now for the side kicks of the meal. Potato salad - check. Mixed greens and dressing - check. Soda - no check. It just doesn't do it for us anymore. Not a thirst quencher. Way too sugary. Too un-natural. A better choice, in my humble opinion, is iced tea.
There is a way to make iced tea that is so easy and so delicious, you will not want to bother with the powdered or premade stuff again. I really like flavored teas, and wanted something that would compliment the meat in the meal, so I made cranberry almond iced tea.
4 cups water
8 tea bags, flavored or plain
1/2 cup sugar (more if you like sweeter drinks)
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 tray ice cubes
3 1/2 cups cold water
Bring 4 cups water to a boil. Turn off heat and steep tea for 5 minutes. Get out your nicest pitcher and put the sugar in it. Pour the hot tea over the sugar and stir until dissolved. Stir in the extract. Add the ice cubes and the cold water. Serve!
Plain tea with orange extract would be really nice. Or black tea with licorice. How about getting crazy with a mint tea with some sort of cocao added? You ain't finding stuff like that on the store shelf. Oh the possibilities!
I am a fan of green tea. Nice and mild. Not bitter. Good for you, or so they say. The next batch I have in mind is going to be a peach iced tea. Maybe with a dash of cinnamon extract. Let me know what you make!
The Republic of Tea has a Red tea called Safari Sunset. It makes a seriously good iced tea. Last year I made sweet tea by the gallon, twice a week. Republic Tea is expensive, but worth it. They also have a Ginger Peach herb tea and Orange White tea that make fab iced tea. Their Dragon Well green tea is also very refreshing in the summer.
ReplyDeleteI am definately going to try some of the different brands out there! Thanks for sharing your experiences.
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