Iced Tea – a chilled beverage of sweetened tea with high levels of antioxidants and tastes smoother than other teas you are used to.
You should learn how to make iced tea and add it to your diet, especially in the summer months. Instead of having a hot cup of coffee or tea in summer, you can easily make iced tea to have something cooler on scorching summer days.
Iced Tea: The History
The inventor of this delicious and one of the healthiest drinks in the world is Richard Blechyden. He added ice to his hot samples in 1904, and it became one of the most popular and one of the sweetest drinks in the south USA and has not stopped growing since then. The best thing about it is it’s available in many variations, and you can find it on almost every continent.
Now you know what ice tea is and where it came from. Now let’s see how you can easily make one at home without having to go to fancy restaurants.
Once you know how to make basic iced tea, there will be unlimited possibilities and different varieties you can come up with by experimenting with different combinations.
How To Make Iced Tea – A Regular One
A few days ago, my sister decided to make some iced tea, and I thought, hey, why don’t we make a post out of it?! She rolled her eyes because she wasn’t prepared to take a bunch of photos; I broke her peace, but it was worth it as I’m about to show you how we made our iced tea and how it came out!
Let’s start with the ingredients.
Black tea leaves or 6 tea bags
1 Lemon
1 tbsp of sugar or runny honey
Ice (for when you serve)
That’s pretty much it for a simple iced tea drink!
Now we go through the process:
– First, pour the boiling water over the tea bags.
In my case, I just used 2 teaspoons of black tea. Of course, you can use green or black tea. However, black is preferred, especially if you’re looking for some degree of caffeine.
– Add your honey or sugar into the teapot
– Let it sit for 10 minutes
You can keep it a little longer. However, I wouldn’t advise as you might have a bitter taste.
– Remove the tea leaves or tea bags.
– Put the tea into the fridge to chill for a couple of hours
– Add lemon to the tea and serve with ice
You can try lots of other variations of this earthy summer drink!
Now, for the people who are very conscious about their health or trying to lose some weight, Minty Cucumber Iced Tea can be ideal for them.
You can add this to your diet and enjoy this healthy and mouth-watering drink without hanging back.
Let’s go straight to the point with ingredients and instructions on making minty cucumber iced tea.
How To Make Minty Cucumber Iced Tea
Ingredients :
– 4 green tea bags.
– 4 cups of hot water.
– 1 cucumber.
– Mint leaves.
Instructions:
– Start by boiling 4 cups of water in a saucepan and cut the cucumber into slices.
– Once it gets boiled, add tea bags, half of the cucumber, and chopped mint leaves. Cover it for about 10 to 15 minutes and let it sleep for it to be cool.
– Fill a jug with ice, a few slices of cucumber, and mint sprigs.
– Now you can strain the tea into the jug and throw out cucumbers and mint.
– Almost ready to serve! Pour it into a tall glass full of ice cubes.
Ensure to garnish the glass with cucumber and mint sprigs and enjoy this healthy and tasty drink.
This beverage is not just refreshing and mouth-watering; it has many health benefits too. Here are a few points explaining how iced tea is healthy for you.
Iced Tea Health Benefits
Helps with weight loss
When trying to lose weight, you must follow a specific diet and calculate your calories. For example, if you like to drink sodas and other cold drinks which are sugary and high in calories, you can’t have them now as you want to lose weight. Instead, you can go for an unsweetened iced tea which is more than ideal for you.
It is low in calories and sugars and will make you feel refreshed without increasing your daily calorie count.
Bone density
There are lots of drinks in the market which we usually drink without realizing that they can affect our bones negatively.
However, black iced tea is rich in manganese and helps you with tissue damage.
Helps in stabilizing blood sugar
If you are someone who has diabetes concerns but craves sodas or beverages, then unsweetened iced tea is absolute gold for you. It provides a relaxed, smooth drink in hot summer, maintaining sugar levels and fixing your cravings.
Helps to protect your heart
One of the best things about this unsweetened iced tea is that it is rich in antioxidants that help prevent cellular damage and keep your heart in good condition.
Final Words
The healthy alternative to heavy and sugary drinks: In the summer months, most people start craving sodas, beverages, and many drinks which are high not only in calories and sugars, but these drinks contain added chemicals too. These drinks are not suitable for your body and health.
You can easily avoid all these unhealthy drinks by replacing them with iced tea. It is more refreshing and tastes better; most importantly, it is healthy for your body and provides lots of benefits.
