Last summer I decided to make my own "Tazo passion iced tea lemonade" and it was delicious... until my sister drank the whole pitcher. This summer, I've picked up the habit again, but with almost every tea in the cupboard.
I love drinking tea, but it gets difficult in the summer because there's only so much heat my body can really handle. Iced teas have become my holy grail drink. There are a ton of benefits especially if you're trying to lose weight.
Everyone knows the benefits of teas, especially green tea...
- Reduces risk of cancer
- Prevents heart disease and stroke by helping to lower cholesterol (it can even speed up your recovery after a heart attack)
- Contains antioxidants that fights aging
- Burns fat and boosts metabolism
- Reduces the risk of arthritis
- Promotes healthy bones
- Improves ratio of good and bad cholesterol
- Prevents obesity by stopping the movement of glucose in fat cells (healthy eating and exercise is required to completely prevent obesity)
- Improves lipid and glucose metabolism, prevents sharp increases in blood sugar level and balances your metabolism rate
- Boosts your memory and decreases the likelihood of developing Alzheimers or Parkinson's
- Helps prevent liver failure and high blood pressure
- Kills bacteria that can cause food poisoning
- Boosts your immune system
- Prevents and treats colds and flus
- Reduces the severity of asthma
- Relieves stress, anxiety, and allergies
More information on the benefits of green tea can be found here.
Also, drinking tea is a great way of keeping your body hydrated. If you're like me, water gets a little bland after the second glass and a lemon wedge or tea can really help keep things interesting. It's way better than Crystal Light which contains aspartame which is a carcinogen.
Iced tea has way less sugar than juice and can help kill some cravings if you're trying to eat clean. Next month is June, and I know a lot of people are trying to tone up and drop a few pounds.
If you're looking to make your own cool tasty tea, here's the super easy way how.
(1) Pick a tea
If you're looking to mimic your favourite Starbucks iced tea, they use Tazo brand tea and you can usually purchase a box from Starbucks, Wal-Mart, or your local grocery store. Or you can try your favourite hot tea.
I find there are some teas that I love hot and hate iced and vice versa, so you may have to try a couple before you find one that you really love. My favourite green tea is from Teaopia, called cactus fig, and it isn't my favourite hot, but I absolutely love it cold. My favourite hot tea is vanilla roobios and I hate it iced. It's a process of trial and error.
(2) Brew the tea
Pretend you're brewing tea like usual. Add hot water and dunk the tea around for two minutes or so. Add less water than you usually would. Between half to three quarters of a mug should suffice.
The tea is going to be really strong when you brew it because there is such little water. But that's because it will be diluted once you ice it.
If your tea is loose, use an infuser or a tea maker that you can get from DAVID's TEA, Teavana, or any other specialty tea store. If you do use a tea maker, keep in mind to not fill it completely.
(3) Pour over ice
Remove the tea bag from the mug and pour your tea into a glass full of ice. The ice will melt really quickly and you may have to stop pouring for a little to wait for the ice to melt and make room. You can then choose whether you want your tea infamously "shaken not stirred" or not. Personally, I like to pretend I'm James Bond and shake it up. A lidded cup is obviously recommended for this, but you can also place a plate overtop and work it out. Add a lemon wedge if you'd like to add more taste, and you're done!
If you want to turn your iced tea into an iced tea lemonade, add lemonade. Super easy, and cheap!
Hope this inspires you guys to keep cool this summer. I know making iced tea sounded really daunting to me until I finally tried it. It really takes five minutes and tastes great. Not to mention that the cost of each tea box is comparable to the price of the Starbucks drink. And I don't have to go out and get dressed to drink my favourite iced teas.
Also, I kindly ask you to ignore my dysfunctional chipped black nails in that last picture.
If you want more ways to spice up - or rather, sweeten up - your water, try adding cucumbers, raspberries, strawberries, lemons, limes, or any of your other favourite fruits to infuse your water with your favourite flavours.
