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[1] Basic watermelon iced tea, recipe below (photo courtesy Republic Of Tea).
[2] Watermelon-pomegranate green iced tea. Here’s the recipe from Watermelon.org.
[3] Fresh herbs and watermelon are a delightful pair. Here’s a recipe for Watermelon Basil Iced Tea from The Candid Appetite.
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It’s a magical August day here: lower-than-average temperature, low humidity. It’s the rare type of August day when we—a member of the We Hate The Heat Club—are happy to be outdoors. We’ve made some watermelon iced tea to bring with us
To make your own batch, here are tips and a recipe.
Experiment with different teas: black, black flavored, green, rooibos (the different types of tea).
Consider leaving the sweetener out of the brewed tea, so it can be enjoyed without any, or customized by each person with a choice of sweeteners (agave, honey, noncaloric or table sugar, e.g.).
Consider making watermelon ice cubes, by puréeing seedless watermelon and freezing the purée in ice cube trays.
Alternatively, make tea ice cubes. Make extra tea and freeze it in ice cube trays. It prevents the tea from being diluted regular ice.
Consider muddling the watermelon for more watermelon flavor. We prefer the taste, although it produces a cloudy drink.
ADDING HERBS TO ICED TEA
If you have fresh herbs, by all means use them.
You can infuse them in the boiling water, or use them as a garnish.
Basil and mint are the most familiar pairings, but chervil, lemon thyme, marjoram, mint, sage, sweet cicely and tarragon are also delicious.
You can also experiment with spices, infused into the boiling water: black or pink peppercorns, cinnamon sticks, garam masala, etc.
RECIPE #1: BASIC WATERMELON ICED TEA
This recipe is from the Republic Of Tea, which originally created it as a decaf drink for kids, using a fruit-flavored decaf tea (they sell decaffeinated flavors such as Blackberry Sage, Ginger Peach, Hibiscus, Mango Ceylon, Mint and Vanilla Almond).
Ingredients For 4 Six-Ounce Servings
1 small watermelon, cut into 1″ cubes, or use a cookie cutter to slice watermelon into shapes
3 cups water
5 tea bags of choice
Optional: 1 tablespoon agave nectar or sweetener(s) of choice
Optional spirits: cherry schnapps or liqueur (the difference), white spirits (gin, tequila, vodka)
Preparation
1. PLACE the watermelon cubes on a piece of wax paper and freeze.
2. BOIL 3 cups of water and pour over tea bags into an infuser in a heat-resistant pitcher. Allow to infuse for 5 minutes. Remove the tea bags and stir in agave nectar. Let the tea cool to room temperature and chill.
3. SERVE the tea with frozen watermelon cubes or frozen tea ice cues, and serve
MORE ICED TEA
Have An Iced Tea Party
The History Of Iced Tea
How To Brew Perfect Iced Tea
How To Dissolve Sugar In Cold Drinks
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IS IT ICED TEA OR ICE TEA?
Properly, the drink is iced tea: tea that has been chilled with ice. It is spelled this way in primers on editing and by the line editors* of quality publications.
But, as more and more Americans care less and less about the rules of English, ice tea—tea with added ice—has been making inroads, even among some editors.
There is precedent: Ice water was originally, properly, “iced water.” We presume that editors in that era of transition were equally chagrinned.
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*A line editor is responsible for reviewing each sentence for consistency, grammar, punctuation, spelling and word usage prior to publication. Here’s more.
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