Happy National Iced Tea Day!

As June celebrates National Iced Tea Month, I recently collaborated with Lu Ann from The Cup of Life and Nazanin of Tea Thoughts to create an E-book full of iced tea recipe ideas. Herbal, White, Green, Oolong, Black and Puerh–this little book has recipes to keep you cool all summer long! So how to you download this E-book? Head over to The Cup of Life tea blog to get your copy! My contributions were the Puerh and Herbal iced tea recipes (which you can also find below), but here are the other refreshing recipes that you can expect to find!

Matcha Mojito Mocktail

Iced Persian Rose Black Tea

Breezy Basil Silver Needle

Orange Spiced Oolong

Hawaiian Sunset Iced Tea

Hawaiian Sunset Iced Tea is the booze-free version of those exotic drinks you see everyone enjoying along Waikiki Beach. A base of ripe Puerh tea lends a smooth sweetness to the drink, and complements the tropical flavors of pineapple, guava and passion fruit. Consider this a vacation in a glass–a sunny sip of good vibes when you need it the most!

Ingredients:

2 mini-cakes of ripe Puerh Tuo Cha or 2 Tbsp ripe loose-leaf Puerh 

2 cups hot water, boiling

2 Tbsp brown sugar

2 cups cold water

1 1/4 cups guava juice

1 1/4 cups pineapple juice

1 1/4 cups passion fruit juice

pineapple, lime, and maraschino cherries, to garnish

drink umbrellas

Directions:

Steep the Puerh in 2 cups of hot water. After 5 minutes, pour the tea through a strainer and into a heat proof pitcher. Add the brown sugar and dissolve. Add the cold water and juices. Serve the tea over ice and garnish with slices of pineapple and lime, maraschino cherries and drink umbrellas. Makes 1 large pitcher.

Strawberry Hibiscus Iced Tea

In the summer, nothing beats a big glorious bowl of juicy strawberries for snacking on. This Strawberry Hibiscus Iced Tea is my second favorite way to enjoy strawberries at their peak of perfection. Remember to reserve plenty of extra berries for garnishing the iced tea just before serving.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1 1/2 cup strawberries, stemmed and halved

2 Tbsp hibiscus tea

2 cup hot water, boiling

2 cup cold water

extra strawberries, to garnish

Directions:

Place the sugar, water and berries in a medium saucepan and place over low-medium heat. When the mixture comes to a boil, cook on low for 10 minutes, mixing frequently, until the sugar is dissolved and the berries have broken down. After 10 minutes, strain thefruited sugar syrup through a large sieve and into a heatproof pitcher. Mash the fruit down with a spatula to extract all of the syrup. Only the syrup (not the pulp) will be used in this recipe.

Steep the hibiscus tea leaves in 2 cups of hot water for 5-7 minutes. Strain the tea into the pitcher with the syrup, then add the cold water. Mix well and serve over ice. To garnish the serving glasses, throw chunks of fresh berries into the ice tea and also decorate the rim with cut berries. Makes 1 large pitcher.