Cherry Lemon Iced Tea

As summer ends, raise the flavor level by pairing Ghirardelli Intense Dark chocolate with this hydrating and thirsty-quenching
Cherry Lemon Iced Tea!

Course beverage

Cuisine American

Prep Time 5

Cook Time 35

Resting time 1

Servings people

Calories 70.63kcal

Author Priya Lakshminarayan

Equipment

Ingredients

To make Black Tea

4 cups water
4-5 black peppercorns
½ teaspoon fennel seeds
⅛ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoon tea leaves
½ cup sugar
7-8 mint leaves

To make the Cherry Syrup

2 cups water
18-20 red cherries
1 star anise
4-5 mint leaves
2 tablespoon sugar
¼ cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon extract or vanilla extract

To Make Cherry Flavored Lemon Iced Tea

8-10 mint leaves
1 teaspoon sugar
ice cubes

Instructions

To make Black Tea

In a saucepan, add water, black peppercorns, fennel seeds, stem of mint leaves, and salt. Bring it to a boil. Once you see the water beginning to boil, add the tea leaves. Mix. This could take 10-12 minutes on medium flame.
Bring it to a rolling boil, then add the sugar. Cook till the sugar dissolves. Take the pan off the flame. Transfer to a bowl.

To make Cherry Syrup

Wash the cherries well, discard the stems and chop them. Throw away the seeds.
Rinse the same pan in which you made tea, add fresh water, cherries, sugar, star anise, mint leaves, lemon extract, and lemon juice. Bring it to a boil. Then lower the flame and cook for 15 minutes.
Mash the cherries while cooking. Take it off the flame.
Mix it with the Black Tea. Do not strain it yet. Let it sit on the counter for an hour, covered.
Then strain liquid through a fine mesh sieve, mashing the cherries with a wooden spoon to extract more liquid.
This measurement yields upto 5 cups of iced tea. Keep it in the fridge till its time to serve.

To Make Cherry Flavored Lemon Iced Tea

In a serving glass, add ice cubes. Pour lemon juice, mint leaves, and sugar.
Pour the brewed Cherry Lemon Tea mixture. Garnish with mint leaves, serve chilled.

Notes

You can use loose tea or tea bags to make Iced Tea. I tried making it with both and ended up liking the tea bag version more.

For basic iced tea, calculate one tea bag per one cup water.

Use filtered or bottled cold water to begin with.

You can use agave nectar or simple syrup instead of sugar.

Do not steep the tea for longer time. If you brew longer, the tea will develop a bitter flavor or become too strong. Steep for 5-8 minutes and then taste every 30 seconds to ensure your desired flavor.

Don’t add raw sugar into a chilled iced tea. Always add the sweetener while the tea is still steaming so it dissolves fully.

For added indulgence, add a dollop of vanilla ice cream to each glass before pouring the iced tea on top.

Add ice to the tea right before serving.

Nutrition