It's been in the triple digits here for several days. It's supposed to cool down to a mere 93 degrees today, but that's still hot enough to crave some iced tea. I've been drinking a lot of it lately and decided it was time to change it up a bit.
These are not original recipes. These are all recipes I pinned, and links will be provided.
First off, let me say that they were all drinkable. There isn't a single one of these six that I wouldn't drink again. Some of them might need a bit of honey, but they'd all be good once personalized.
Let's start with the Tangerine Raspberry Iced Tea from Good Life Eats.
This was, amazingly, the only one that used fruity herbal tea bags for the fruit flavor. It was also one of the easier ones to make of the 6 here. It was refreshing but tart so definitely plan on using some simple syrup or honey if you make this one.
Moving on to Raspberry Peach Tea from Damn Delicious.
This one used pureed fruit for the actual fruity part of the tea. It was a bit of work to make but not hard. If I made it again I'd double the tea bags used. It was good, but a little watery. I personally prefer a stronger tea flavor. But that's personal preference and you might like it as is.
Next up is Strawberry Jasmine Iced Tea from Eat Boutique.
This one was the most intensive to make. You had to make the jasmine tea and the strawberry simple syrup and strain them both and cool and combine in your own level of desired concoction. Going into the challenge this was the one I thought would win. I love jasmine tea and strawberry simple syrup sounded so worth the effort. In the end it was cool and refreshing, quite drinkable, but not a stand out winner.
Raspberry Lime Iced Tea from Not Enough Cinnamon gets the award for looking most drinkable. It's bright red color just draws you in. My kids were most excited about trying this one.
While beautiful and bright, make sure you follow the directions on the recipe to "sweeten to your liking." I like when a recipe artist lets me determine my own level of sweetness, as I usually need less than the mainstream world, but I had to use a lot. It was quite tart. Next time I make it I will likely use a little less lime just so I don't have to use as much sweetener. I don't want to compromise the lime, but I don't want to use a ton of sweetener either.
You might be wondering who the winner is? There was a tie for first place between the Peach Basil Iced Tea from Dukes and Duchesses and Thai Iced Tea from Happy Body and Mind.
I have to admit, I was quite surprised by these results; but, it was unanimous in my family. They all loved these two. I was really surprised my kids liked tea with basil over fruity strawberry jasmine and the like. And while I've seen the Thai Iced Tea around and everyone raving, I was skeptical as to whether or not iced tea with milk was actually delicious. These two also had the added benefit of being two of the three easiest to make from this showdown.
The peach basil iced tea was just the right amount of sweet for my personal preference, and the basil added so much flavor that complemented it well. It wasn't like drinking an herb and it paired perfectly with the peach. I have since made the peach basil three times. The Thai iced tea was sweet, cold, creamy, and felt like a dessert treat.
So there you have it, the winners of the iced tea showdown, peach basil and Thai iced!
Do you have a great iced tea recipe I should try?
