Garden-Inspired Iced Tea | How to Make Iced Tea + 3 Recipes

With warm weather just on the horizon, there’s no better way to enjoy the sunshine than a fresh batch of iced tea. 

Picture this: you are enjoying a relaxing moment of calm in your garden, with a refreshing, healthy, and thirst-quenching beverage by your side. What a dream.

This year, get creative with your hydration by using fresh ingredients from your garden to whip up some delicious iced teas. Believe it or not, you can still enjoy what you are drinking, even if there is not a ton of processed sugar in it.

Today, we’ll get into why you should make the switch to iced tea, and how you can customize it just for you.

Why Drink Iced Tea?

If you are looking for an alternative to your favorite soda or sweet tea, iced tea is the perfect option for you. On top of being a cleaner beverage, it is easy to make at home, you can make it just how you like it, and it has several health benefits. Take a look at this list of 8 Health Benefits of Iced Tea from TreeHugger:

• Good Source of Hydration
• Boost of Antioxidants
• Alternative to Sugary Drinks
• Could support Dental Health
• Could fight Cancer
• Great source of Manganese
• Calms Nerves
• Supports Heart Health

What Kind of Tea Works Best?

The great thing about brewing your own iced tea is that you can make it to quench your thirst in whatever way you like best. That said, the teas that retain the most flavor when served over ice are black tea, white tea, oolong tea, and green tea. If you’re interested in learning more about tea & teas be sure to check out our Guide on Herbal Teas! 

How to Make Iced Tea by the Glass

Directions provided by Keeper of the Home.

1. Boil a small amount of water.
2. Add either your tea bag or loose tea of choice (in a tea ball or some other sort of single-serving loose tea steeping device) to a mug and fill it up with hot water.
3. Allow the tea to steep so the brew is on the strong side, and then remove the teabag or herbs.
4. If you want to sweeten your tea, do it now, while you are still working with a hot liquid; if you wait until you have cooled it, the sweetener won’t mix in properly.
5. Keep in mind, if you are using something like green tea, you will want to add extra tea to make it stronger, rather than allowing it more time to steep, which will only make it taste bitter.
6. Fill a large glass 3/4 full (or even totally full) of ice. I like mine around 3/4 full, because it’s still enough to get the tea to a cool temperature, without watering it down too much.
7. Pour the hot, sweetened tea on top of the ice and give it a quick stir. Within a minute or two, much of the ice will have melted, leaving you with a glass of iced tea.

3 Garden Inspired Iced Tea Ideas

If you’re looking to add fresh herbs to your iced tea, you can either muddle them into the bottom of your glass, include them in the brewing process with your tea leaves, or you can use them for a lovely and fragrant garnish. Take a look at these three flavor options for your next iced tea creation.

1. Lemon & Basil Iced Tea: Using fresh squeezed lemon juice and basil leaves, just add them right into your iced tea.
2. Blackberry & Mint: Using a handful of blackberries and fresh mint – same as above. You can muddle your mint, or use it as a garnish.
3. Fresh Sage & Lemon Zest: A perfect reason to use your fresh sage harvest! Take a look at this recipe from The Spruce Eats to learn how.

Making fresh iced tea is the perfect way to get more creative with your fresh Herb Container Garden Kit, as well as your tabletop Merry Mint Container Garden. Both of these gardens are fantastic to have on hand when you’re trying your shot at iced tea mixology.

Get to Gardening

Now is the perfect time to start prepping your spring and summer herb garden so that it provides you with an endless amount of iced tea inspiration. If you need some help getting started, take a look at our Complete Beginner’s Guide to Container Gardening – you can do it!