Homemade Lemon Iced Tea is an easy, refreshing drink recipe that will get your day off on the right foot all season long!
Doesn’t everyone love being awakened by the warm sunshine peeking through their window and the pleasant sound of birds singing?
Until it hits you — You have One hundred things to check off your to-do list, too many follow up phone calls to count, 5 minutes to get your daughter to her morning lacrosse practice — and OH SHIT! — her uniform is still in the washing machine! This five minute, homemade iced tea recipe will get your morning off on the right foot – I promise!
Yes, those mornings – I have them more often then I would like to admit. I swear I am a planner, but no matter how much I plan – there is ALWAYS that one something (usually the uniform).
No time for breakfast and I definitely need a morning pick me up – Luckily, I have the perfect pit stop to bail me out on mornings like this. Our town favorite, The Country Plaza deli (aka The Million Dollar Deli). It’s such a happy place, where I’m always greeted with a friendly smile, a pleasant conversation, and, most often, a friend or two from town, grabbing their morning coffee or an egg sandwich. The sandwiches, salads, and acai bowls are all AMAZING, but their famous, freshly brewed iced tea – THE BEST!
As many of you know, I have an obsession with tea (hot or cold), and I have tried iced teas from all over Long Island – Trust me, “Million Dollars” is impressive and will have you craving more.
I found myself craving it so often that I had to try and recreate it. It took me months, working every tea on the market (many of which already occupied my pantry shelves and tea draw). Finally, I came up with just the right ratio of tea, lemon, and sweetener to calm my cravings. Thank goodness it is easy enough to whip up — even on those nights that the need hits at 11 pm.
This recipe is so simple it doesn’t even seem fair to call it a recipe. There are only 3 easy steps and then adjust to taste.
- Steep the tea
- Dissolve the sugar while it’s hot, and then pour over ice.
- Adjust to your taste – making it sweeter or less sweet to satisfy your craving.
This recipe is for individual servings, but if you love it as much as we do, you will want to make a gallon pitcher for dinner.
Try pairing our easy homemade iced tea with our Grilled Lemon Chicken Salad for a light Spring/Summer dinner.
Homemade Lemon Iced Tea
Equipment
- 1 16oz ball mason jar
Ingredients
- 2 Bigelow Earl Grey Tea Sachets
- 1/2 Lemon Plus a few slices to garnish
- 1 packet Stevia
- 2-3 cups ice
- 1 sprig fresh mint for garnish
Instructions
- Add your sweetener packet to the bottom of a large mug.
- Carefully fill the mug with hot water and add two tea sachets. Give it a quick stir to make sure the sweetener is fully dissolved. Steep the tea for approximately five minutes.
- While your tea is steeping, fill your mason jar to the top with ice.
- Slice lemon in half and squeeze over the ice in the mason jar. Cut a few additional slices to garnish. My favorite juicer gets every last drop of lemon juice.
- When tea is done steeping (approximately 5 minutes), pour over the ice with lemon and top with garnishing slices. Enjoy!
