Make your own iced tea: 6 refreshing thirst quenchers for hot days

Make your own iced tea is perfect for hot summer days! Homemade it is quickly ready and refreshing. Here come delicious iced tea recipes without sugar!

The sun is blazing down from the sky. Now you need some refreshment. Have you ever thought of making your own iced tea?

Traditionally, DIY Ice Tea is made from black tea and flavored with lemon and sugar.

But you can also make your own iced tea in a much more imaginative, creative and, above all, sugar-free way. Teas in combination with fruits and herbs bring flavor to your glasses even without sugar.

Once you've made your own iced tea, you'll never want to drink any from the supermarket again. Especially when I tell you that there are up to 20 sugar cubes in a liter of iced tea!

There is no question of thirst quenchers. Very often they only make us thirstier. But fortunately, that's over now :) It's so easy to make your own iced tea!

Why it is worth making your own iced tea

If homemade iced tea is not sweetened or only lightly sweetened, it saves a large amount of calories. Did you know, for example, that most iced teas from the store contain 15-20 sugar cubes per liter?

In addition, there's a big load of preservatives and artificial flavors in store-bought iced teas.

And not to forget quite a lot Citric acid*. Which in combination with sugar is not good for the teeth at all.

At the latest, this spoils our thirst for ready-made teas. Well, if that does not speak for making your own iced tea? :)

Not only healthy food is important, but also drinks. It is much better to simply make the thirst quenchers yourself.

You can really show off at the next barbecue party. You can prepare the iced tea a day early and save yourself a lot of stress. Your guests will love it. So thirst has no chance :)

Tip: Let the ingredients steep overnight and add a few fresh ingredients just before serving. This can be berries, mint, lemons.

Finally, top with ice cubes and enjoy!

What you can sweeten homemade iced tea with

Does it really have to be that cute? I think not! Try to avoid sugar whenever possible! It harms your teeth, the figure and actually the entire body.

And if you do need sweetness, you should at least switch to semi-healthy alternatives like Birch sugar* to fall back on. Or honey. Heat it in the microwave for 10 seconds - then it is liquid and can be easily stirred into the iced tea.

If you want to sweeten the homemade iced tea, you should dissolve sugar in warm water. It is very difficult to dissolve in cold water. Sugar lumps may remain.

Those who sweeten with stevia should be aware that the sugar herb is 100x as sweet as sugar. So, please use it sparingly.

What teas are the best base for DIY iced tea

Black tea tastes very intense and is particularly suitable as a base for iced tea. But green tea is also super delicious!

Beware when you make iced tea for kids: black and green tea contain caffeine and make you feel frisky.

Did you know? This is how much caffeine is in black tea!

If you prefer fruity, you can use fruit tea. You can also make your own iced tea with herbal tea. In short, you can let off steam :)

From fruity sweet recipes to invigorating iced teas, everything is possible. But the most popular are still lemon and peach with black tea.

The possibilities are virtually unlimited. You can let off steam to your heart's content. To make it a little easier for you, here is a small table that shows which fruit goes with which tea.

Tea variety	Fruits
Black tea	Lime, lemon, peach, mint
Green tea	lime lemon, mango, melon, kiwi, ginger
White tea	Lime, lemon, peach, mango, pineapple
Herbal tea	Lemon, berries, peach
Fruit tea	Apple, pear, berries, melon, pineapple, kiwi

You can also add flavor to your iced tea with herbs. For this you take mint, lemon balm, thyme or lavender. Herbs should always be chopped into small pieces so that they release the aroma.

Note: Mint always fits! :) It brings color to the iced tea and is very refreshing.

You really need to drink that many liters per day!

Why tea quality is so important for making your own iced tea

The basis for a really good DIY iced tea is top quality tea. If you reach for very cheap teas, you'll never get as much flavor in the glass.

That's why you should always use organic quality to make your own iced tea. Who wants chemicals in their soft drink? No thanks!

Also make sure that you do not let it steep too long and that the water temperature fits when preparing. A green tea that is poured over with boiling water, for example, becomes bitter very quickly.

How you get a lot of flavor in the glass

Always use more tea bags and leaves than for a regular tea - the ice cubes will dilute your drink. You should use 4-5 tea bags per liter.

Or you cool the iced tea in the refrigerator and then need less ice cubes

If you've already bought tea in the supermarket that's specifically for cold water, you've fallen victim to good marketing. Because this is just normal tea.

Yummy! Do you already know this DIY strawberry iced tea?

If you love intense flavor, use more tea bags or leaves rather than letting it steep for a long time.

Forgetting the bags or leaves in the iced tea makes it bitter.

How you can prevent cloudy DIY iced tea

Wondering why your homemade iced tea is always cloudy? You can easily prevent that.

Let it cool in the kitchen. Only when it is lukewarm, put it in the refrigerator. If it is cloudy, a little hot water will help. But this is only about the appearance. The taste does not change if the iced tea is cloudy.

If you want to make your own iced tea, make sure you have a good place to refrigerate it. It is best to store it in the refrigerator after it has cooled down and add fresh ice cubes to the cold tea when serving.

6 super refreshing iced tea recipes for hot summer days

And here we go :) Here come super simple recipes with which you can make your own iced tea.

By the way, homemade iced tea keeps in the refrigerator for 2-3 days. The only important thing is that you don't let the fruit and mint float in it for so long. After about 8 hours you should take them out. Before serving, add some fresh fruit and you're done!

Here's what you need to watch out for when drinking on hot days!

Tip: Anyone who likes it particularly fresh can also fill iced tea into bottles and freeze. But be careful - always put the bottles in the freezer without fruit and herbs. And only fill 3/4 full, otherwise they will burst when frozen! When you feel like refreshing, just grab it from the freezer.

1. the pick-me-up: iced tea with green tea and kiwi

Taste: Fruity refreshing

Green is your favorite color and the heat makes you tired? Then the kiwi iced tea is perfect for you!

That's what you need for half a liter:

• 1/2 lemon
• 1 kiwi
• 3 TBSP. Organic honey*
• 600 ml green tea

Here's how:

Wash the lemon and the kiwi. Cut them into thin slices.

Dissolve the honey in the lukewarm green tea.

Put it in a carafe and then in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. Before drinking, fill with ice cubes and add a handful of mint.

Tip: Stir the mint into the cold tea first. Otherwise it will wilt and get a strange taste!

2. make fruity peach iced tea yourself

Taste: Fruity sweet

My favorite iced tea in the supermarket was always peach iced tea. But it has little in common with the homemade version. The DIY iced tea with peach has namely once seen real fruit, in the supermarket tea are only flavors.

The taste is incomparable. Never again I buy peach ice tea!

That's what you need for half a liter:

• 2-3 bags black tea
• 1/2 liter water
• 2 peaches
• Mint

Here's how:

Pour the tea bags with hot water. Let the tea bags steep for 5 minutes and then cool the tea.

When it is lukewarm, you can already add the peaches cut into small pieces and let them infuse together in the refrigerator.

Finally, add lemon and mint. And of course ice cubes :)

3. green tea meets ginger

Taste:

It gets especially exciting with a combination of flowery Long Jing green tea, spicy-smoky thyme and hot ginger.

This is what you need for it:

• 1 green tea
• 1/2 liter water
• 2 tsp ginger grated
• 4 thyme sprigs

Here's how:

Brew a green tea and let it steep.

Crush the thyme sprigs with a mortar. Or pluck them by hand into small pieces.

Put the ginger rub and thyme sprigs in a carafe.

Pour with tea. And let it cool.

Serve the homemade iced tea with lots of ice cubes.

4. lemon iced tea recipe

Taste: Refreshingly tart

It's quite classic but super tasty when you make your own lemon iced tea. With black tea, the thirst quencher can be prepared very quickly. In addition, Assam, Earl Grey and Co make really lively :) Perfect for hot workdays in the office!

That's what you need for half a liter:

• 2-3 bags Assam
• 1/2 liter water
• 2-3 tablespoons honey
• 1-2 lemons

Here's how:

Mix the water and the tea bags.

Take a small coffee cup and put the honey and a little water in the microwave. 15 seconds is enough!

This is the best way to mix the mixture with your iced tea. You can add the lemon to the tea in slices or squeezed. I usually do 50:50.

After that, put your tea in the fridge and let it get really cold. Serve with a fresh slice of lemon and mint.

Does drinking lemon water really help you lose weight?

5. for herb fans: herbal tea with fresh mint

Taste: Refreshing

On hot days, herbs can be very refreshing. Reach best for mixtures with peppermint. That cools from the inside :)

That's what you need for half a liter:

• 2-3 bags peppermint tea
• 1/2 liter water
• 5-10 stalks of mint - very tasty is lemon balm
• Lemon

Here's how:

Prepare the mint tea and let it cool. Chop mint so that it releases the aroma better.

Now let the iced tea steep for at least 30 minutes.

Finally, you taste it with lemon. As a decoration, fresh mint makes quite good!

6. fruits iced tea with fresh berries

Taste: Very fruity

You love it really fruity? The more fruit the better? That's a good attitude! Because there are lots of vitamins in fruits and blueberries are even said to be the healthiest fruit in the world. So we take them to make your own iced tea.

Don't forget to add a spoon to the iced tea. This way you can enjoy spooning out the berries at the end.

That's what you need for half a liter:

• 1/4 liter fruit tea
• 1/4 liter apple juice
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 handful of mixed berries (blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries - whatever you feel like!)

Here's how:

Prepare the fruit tea. For this, take 1/4 liter of water and a tea bag.

Mix fruit tea with apple juice and lemon.

The tea should now be lukewarm. Put it in the refrigerator until it cools down a little more. 30 minutes should be enough.

Then add the washed berries.

Let steep again for about 15 minutes and add ice cubes.

If you like, you can use lemon or mint as decoration.

So easy you can make lemonade yourself!

How to garnish homemade iced tea

In this case, the eye also drinks. However: It has to look pretty, then drinking is much more fun.

Before serving, you can add the finishing touches to homemade iced tea. Especially suitable: Flowers, lemon, lime, berries, pieces of fruit, mint. Colorful straws also do very well!

It's healthy and delicious when you put berries on wooden skewers. Iced tea always looks pretty when you use glasses with handles. You can serve the refreshing drinks with a small wooden box.

Our conclusion

Make your own iced tea to help you drink enough in the summer. If you get tired of regular water, you'll find low-calorie and healthy alternatives to store-bought drinks.

You can't really go wrong with homemade iced tea. Allowed is what tastes good. You can let off steam and mix herbs, lemon, fruits as you like. The thirst quencher is best iced! Cheers! :)

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