Grown-Up Iced Tea
By: Leah Shannon, FullWell
NO. This is not about those kinds served in Long Island and don’t say “Arizona” and “Iced Tea” in one sentence in my presence. Unless you are actually enduring heat in Arizona, drinking iced tea, and not the kind from a gas station grocery store in a green can with an ersatz dragon on it.
I am actually blog-cheating and reposting this recipe that I originally posted on FullWell. I just have to. The humidity today has turned my AC-less home office into a sauna. This is no exaggeration. Today was the day I weighed the cost-benefit of “less productive” vs. “save energy”. I sweat just moving my fingers to type. I sweated out the requisite 8 glasses of water I drank today. And consumed about 5 more glasses as I had dinner at Salt with two gorgeous women, Leah Helou and Kate Stoltzfus, that left me believing that blondes have a secret humidity force field and never look sweaty.
(I had, BTW, an amazing drink called a Shrub. Kind of like a milder kombucha, as Kate observed. Begs to be replicated. Stay tuned.)
But for now, I post about and long for iced tea. Cold Flavorful Herbal Iced Teas. No, no. KICK-ASS Cold Flavorful Herbal Iced Teas. As in Spiced Kukicha Twig Tea and Green Tea, Apple Cider, Kuzu, Ginger Tea. Is what I’m sayin’.
You don’t need to spend $$ and waste all that packaging by buying pre-bottled iced teas. A lot of iced teas also come unnecessarily loaded with sugar that you definitely don’t need. Its very easy to make your own and its fun to experiment with different flavors! Ginger Peach, Iced Chai, Green Tea Mint (great for a little pick me up during the day), Blackberry Honey, Raspberry Leaf and Burdock Root (great for your skin!), Chamomile Peppermint (calming and helps with digestion, so great with dinner) the possibilities are endless.
I try to start days by brewing three cups of whatever strikes my fancy. If I am not using loose tea that I boil with some spices on the stove, I usually take 3-4 tea bags (mix and match) and a teaspoon or so of honey and steep the concentrate for about half an hour. Then I fill tall glass pitchers with water and add the concentrate in. Chuck that in the fridge and you have your home iced tea. Refreshingly cold and sweetened just right.
If you have a little bit more time, here are a couple of blends I recently learned at Natural Gourmet Institute:
Iced and Spiced Kukicha Twig Tea
* I LOVE Kukicha Twig Tea. It has traditionally been considered a peasant’s tea because Japanese tea farmers would drink this part of the plant (the leaves are sold and made into the black, green and oolong teas that we know). However, it has a myriad of health benefits, most notably, its alkalizing properties. It is very low in caffeine.
3/4 cup loose kukicha twig tea
6 cardamom pods
1 tsp fennel
2-3 cinnamon sticks
6 cloves
1 star anise
Place loose tea and spices in a mesh bag and boil in 2 cups of water for about 5 minutes. Turn off heat and let steep for at least 15 minutes. I usually steep for about half an hour. Dilute to desired strength (I can make about 2-3 quarts of iced tea at a time).
Green Tea, Apple Cider, Kuzu and Ginger Tea
* This was also inspired by a drink I had at Natural Gourmet and walking around Union Square Green Market on a hot day, I just couldn’t resist the apple cider. Kuzu is made from a root and comes in powder or starch form. It is traditionally used in macrobiotic and Chinese Medicine to treat many common conditions. Here, I use it primarily as a digestive. Along with the ginger, its a delicious and potent tea.
2 cups brewed green tea
2 cups apple cider
1 tablespoon kuzu
1 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced
Place apple cider and ginger in a pan and heat it almost but not quite to boil. Dissolve kuzu in a bit of water and add to the apple cider. Stir to avoid lumps and simmer until the mixture turns translucent. Take off heat and strain out the ginger. Add the green tea. Place in fridge or enjoy over ice.
Leah Lizarondo Shannon is an Integrative Nutrition Counselor and Food Educator. She founded FullWell and works with the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine as a Food for Life instructor. More information at www.befullwell.com