Making your own iced tea, syrup or refreshing non-alcoholic cocktail is very simple – just try it the following recipes.
Sweet lemonades are a thing of the past
The drinking regime is all the more important in hot weather. But what should you drink? Sweetened industrially manufactured beverages are not healthy, and instead of quenching the thirst, they make you want to drink even more. Highly carbonated drinks make you belch, and may cause faux pas in certain situations.
If you don’t want to drink anything special, chilled fruit tea sweetened with pure apple juice (the ratio depends on your taste) or cold water with a slice of organic lemon or lime may be the best. If you are more demanding, you can try the following recipes.
Fruit tea bowl
Are you expecting guests and don’t want to or cannot drink alcohol? This will impress them: Ingredients: 4 bags of fruit tea, 200g seedless grape wine, 500g honey melon, 2 organic lemons, 200ml of red grape juice, 1.4l of boiling water Directions: Make tea in about 1.4l of boiling water. Cut the grapes in halves, scoop little balls out of the melon or cut it into small cubes, and cut the lemon into thin slices. Remove the infused tea bags, and add grape juice and the sliced fruit. Keep in the refrigerator for about an hour and serve cold with ice. You can also use various berries. To make a gently sparkling bowl, replace a fifth of the tea with mineral water.
Iced tea with lemon and basil
You’ll love the delicious combination of bitter lemon and sweet basil on hot days because it’s incredibly refreshing. Iced tea can be also made in large glass jars and kept in the refrigerator: Ingredients: 2 bags of green tea, 0.75l of hot water, ½ organic lemon, 6 leaves of basil, honey (optional) Directions: Put thin lemon slices, basil leaves and green tea into a clean (sealable) one-litre jar. Pour over hot water and let steep for 15 minutes. Take out the tea and add honey to taste. Keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours for a perfect mixing of flavours.
Coconut iced tea
This recipe uses naturally sweet coconut water, which is available in health food stores and on the Internet. Combined with the distinctive lime, it will give you a lot of nutrients and vitamins: Ingredients: 2 bags of black tea, 0.75l of hot coconut water, ½ lime, honey (optional) Directions: Use a one-litre sealable jar. Put lime slices and tea into the jar, pour over hot coconut water, and let steep for fifteen minutes. Take the tea out, and keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 hours.
Cocktail Cassis Fruits des bois
Have you tried Cassis, Hercule Poirot’s favourite drink of? The delicious liqueur is made from black currant syrup and brandy. When you combine it with champagne, you get the delicious Kir Royal. It tastes great also with red wine, vodka, and rum: Ingredients: 1kg of black currant, 1l of red wine; for 1l of the drink: 800g sugar, 4dl of potable alcohol, 1dl of rum Directions: Mash the currant, add wine, and leave in cold for a day. Then strain the syrup through a cloth or fine sieve. Add sugar according to the amount of syrup, and let pass by boiling. After cooling, add potable alcohol (such as vodka) and rum, and store in sealed bottles.
