The warm weather is upon us and outdoor living is about to commence. This week, I want to introduce you to an amazingly delicious and easy way to create herbal tea from fresh fruit. You’ll love the combination of fruit sweetness and your favorite herbs, and your guests at any event will be wow’d by the fragrance, color, and flavor as well. If you’ve never experience the herb and fruit combination before – this is a must try for you this season!
Supplies
You only need a few simple things to make the magic happen…
- Glass jars with lids – I use canning jars.
- Your herbs.
- A selection of fresh fruit – berries work best.
- Space in your refrigerator for however many jars of tea you decide to make.
- A mesh wire strainer, infuser screen, or anything else you can use to separate the herbs and fruit from the water once steeping is complete.
Get Your Steep On!
Measure out 2 teaspoons of dried herbs in total per 8-10 ounces of water. We’re brewing a little on the strong side because your tea will get watered down with ice cubes, and cold steeped teas tend to be less intense than hot steeped tea.
Lemon balm, ginger, lemon grass, lemon verbena, hibiscus, jasmine, green, lavender, rooibos, and rose all make great iced tea herbs.
Chop up your berries, and mash a few of them up. About 1/8 of a cup of berries per 8-10 ounce serving should be great.
Blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, lemon, lime, grapefruit, and watermelon all make great fresh fruit additions.
Add all of this to your jar and top off with clean water.
Seal the lid and place in the fridge for 6-8 hours. Feel free to take sips along the way to figure out when the brew is perfect.
Once your steeping is done, separate the fruit and herbs from the water by pouring it all through a mesh screen, kitchen sieve, or mesh infuser bowl.
Put the tea in a new oversize jar and add ice cubes. Garnish with a piece of the fruit and a fresh sprig of mint or sage if you have it on hand.
There is really no right or wrong way to make your fresh fruit iced herbal tea. You can play with various herb to fruit ratios, and herb strengths. Some people may prefer a really strong iced herbal tea in which case a full tablespoon or more of herbs may be used. Stick to herbs that can be used safely in these quantities so that you have room to play with the recipes.
Pretty simple, right?
If you have guests or just want to have tons of iced herbal tea on hand, you can use a large pickle jar, sun tea jar, water pitcher, or other container. Just figure out the ounces to herbs and fruit ratio to make it all work and lean towards stronger instead of weaker with your brew.
Iced herbal tea made with fresh fruit will usually last up to 72 hours in the fridge, but it is best consumed the day it’s made if at all possible. If the color, scent, or taste of your iced tea changes, it’s time to return it to the earth and have fun making a new batch!
Make your iced herbal tea even better with these delicious and beautiful herbal tea ice cubes!
Enjoy!
New healing iced herbal tea recipes and how-tos are being added all the time. Click the image below to see them all…
