Recipe: Blackberry Iced Tea
Blackberry Iced Tea is a fruity, refreshing, cooling and delicious cold beverage to enjoy during the summers. What I like about this homemade blackberry iced tea is that it is made from fresh blackberries. A versatile recipe, make a big batch of the blackberry sauce or syrup and leave it in the fridge. It stays good for at least a week or two. And the best part is control the amount of sugar you use. Or go for natural sweeteners. I like to add either honey or maple syrup.
Sharing Blackberry Iced Tea With A-Z Challenge
Before I go into my usual story telling mode, I have to explain to you what the A-Z challenge group is all about. Every alternate month the participants make a dish with the relevant letter. The group was started in May 2018 by Jolly Makkar and Vidya Narayan. For July we have to post a recipe with the letter B. I have chosen to use blackberries.
Memories
The past few days in Montreal have been unbearably hot. Hubby and I are visiting our son. Many states towards the Eastern side are experiencing a heat wave where temperatures are rising to 34°C but it feels so much hotter than that. A couple of days ago we went out as I needed sandals (the only pair I had broke). If it were India, we’d comfortably come out to shop in the evening. But here the shops close at 5 p.m. so had no choice but to walk in the heat. Most part of the avenue had trees but no breeze at all. At traffic lights hubby and I were looking for shady spots, till we could cross the road. By the time we got home, I had to take a cold shower to cool down.
Yesterday, I refused to come out of the apartment as the heat was like a blast from the hot oven. Just a few seconds out in the balcony and I thought my skin would burn. In the middle of the night there were thunderstorms and it rained a bit. However, the weather just became more humid. Today turned out to be a much cooler day with temperatures between 18-21°C and a cool breeze too. What a change. Tomorrow and the rest of the week is going to be hot again.
Why I Chose To Make Blackberry Iced Tea
Hot weather means that when my son comes home he is looking for really cold drinks. I sometimes make chaas, sometimes a fresh juice or iced tea. With berries in season, I had to make iced tea using them. I actually had a blueberry squares recipe jotted down to make for letter B, but baking in this hot weather was out of the question. Therefore, today I will be sharing a blackberry Iced Tea recipe with you.
Second reason is that back in Kenya we don’t blueberries, blackberries, raspberries easily. So using blackberries is an opportunity I cannot miss.
Easy to make, I simply love the colour. Blackberries appear black but when pureed or cooked, it turns into a magenta colour – purplish red. Berries and lemon pair pretty well. Adding mint was just to add more flavor to the iced tea.
As this post goes live, nearly 50 people have died in Montreal because of the heatwave. Its been mainly people who are immobile and old.
Some More Refreshing Drinks You May Like To Check Out
A-Z Challenge
A for Apple Crumble Cheesecake
Ingredients Required For Blackberry Iced Tea
Blackberries
Use fresh or frozen blackberries. You can easily replace the blackberries with other berries or a mixture.
Lemon
Best to use fresh lemon as opposed to the bottled lemon juice. We will need the juice and also the zest. Add lemon juice according to your taste. If you like, add some lemon slices when you serve the iced tea.
Tea
Use black or green tea bags. Today I will be using black tea.
Water
We will be needing some hot water to infuse the tea bags, mint leaves and zest. We will need one cup normal tap water to make the blackberry simple syrup or sauce.
Salt
Add a tiny pinch of salt. It brings out the flavours. Add any salt of your choice, table salt, sea salt, pink salt, etc.
Sugar
We need sugar to make the sauce or syrup. If you want a healthier drink then use any sweetener of your choice like stevia, monk fruit, agave. Or use honey or maple syrup. Make the sauce using just the berries and water.
Mint
We need some fresh mint leaves for flavour. Have some extra leaves for garnishing.
Ice Cubes
Need a good quantity of ice cubes depending on the weather.
BLACKBERRY ICED TEA
Ingredients
- 2 cup fresh blackberries
- 1 cup normal tap water
- 4 cup hot water
- 3 tea bags black or green
- 10-12 mint leaves
- 4-6 tbsp sugar
- pinch salt
- 3-4 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp lemon zest grated lemon rind
- plenty ice cubes
Instructions
PREPARE THE TEA
- Add mint leaves, lemon zest, salt and tea bags to the hot water. Cover and let the mixture infused for 5-10 minutes.
- Strain the mixture to remove the mint leaves and tea bags.
- Add the black tea into a big jug/pitcher.
- Refrigerate till required.
- Add blackberries and sugar in a pan. Add 1 cup water.
- Cook the mixture over low to medium heat till the berries become soft and can be mashed easily.
- Pour the mixture into a fine mesh sieve.
- Press the mixture to the sieve to allow the syrup to pass through.
- Refrigerate the syrup till required.
- I leave a bit of the pressed blackberries to add to the tea. The rest you discard as it will be full of seeds.
PREPARE THE BLACKBERRY ICED TEA
- Remove the cold tea mint mixture from the fridge.
- Add the blackberry syrup.
- Add lemon juice. Mix well.
- Add some ice cubes in the glasses and pour the blackberry iced tea over it.
- Serve with some fresh lemon slices and mint leaves.
Notes
- Use berries of your choice.
- Can use frozen berries for this recipe.
- Use any tea of your choice, black or green.
- Use honey, maple syrup or a sweetener of your choice. If that is the case, cook the berries without the sugar.
- The syrup with sugar stays fresh in the fridge for a week.
Pin For Later
A Small Request
If you do try this recipe then please either
- add a comment below,
- send a picture to my email mayuri.ajay.patel62@gmail.com
- tag me as #mayuri_jikoni on Instagram
- or comment on Pinterest @mayuri62