Lemon Ice tea- 5 ingredients only!

I love drinking different types of cold drink in the summer time. One of my favourite drink is lemon ice tea. I usually buy Nestea from the store however, I find sometimes it can be a little too sweet for me. But….you can make lemon ice tea at home and you only need 5 ingredients to make it!

During the summer, I love drinking fruit drinks because it’s so refreshing. I especially love drinking lemon drinks. I drink a lot of fluids during the summer and I’m constantly looking for new things to make in my kitchen especially new drinks. This lemon ice tea is definitely something I will be making a lot in my kitchen given how easy it is. I also love the fact that I can control the sugar content in the drink so I can customize it to my family’s taste!

Ingredients

For this recipe you will need lemon (large size), loose tea leaves, sugar, salt and water. For the loose tea leaves I’m using Oolong tea but you can also use tea bags. If you are using tea bags then there will be some minor adjustments.

Lemons

For lemons, I’m just using lemons I can buy in grocery store. If you are using other citrus fruits, make sure to adjust the sugar level based on the fruits and how sweet you want the tea to be.

Types of sugar

In terms of sugar, I used regular granulated sugar however if you can find yellow rock sugar (usually sold in Chinese super market), the flavour is better. If you can’t find any, regular sugar works just as well. I’ve made this lemon ice tea many times with regular sugar and it works just as well.

Types of tea

For tea, I like the flavour of Oolong but it can be quite strong for some people. In that case I recommend using English or Irish breakfast tea rather than Earl grey (which have a more fragrance that interfere with lemon flavour).

How to make it

Prep

First you want to scrub the lemons with some salt. This helps to wash off any impurities on the skins since we are using the lemon skin as well. Wash the lemons with water.

Then cut the ends off the lemons, don’t throw it away! We need to use it. Then slice the lemons into 1/8 inch. Remove the seeds as this will make your tea bitter! Place the lemon slices into a bowl.

Then cut the lemon ends into small chunks.

Making the lemon Ice tea

In a pot, add in lemon ends, some sugar and loose tea leaves. If you are using tea bags, don’t add it in now.

Turn the heat onto medium low and start stirring. Once the sugar has slightly been melted, add the water. If you like the sugar to be slightly browned, just a wait for a couple more minutes before adding in water. If you have tea bag, add in the tea bags now.

Let the water come to a simmer. Once you see bubbles appearing on the top add in 1 tsp of salt and sugar, stir. Let it cool to room temp. Then strain out the tea leaves or tea leaves and lemon ends. Add in lemon slices and chill in the fridge for about 1+hour.

Pro-tip

• Remove the seeds in lemon to prevent the bitterness of the tea.
• Heating up the tea with sugar and lemon helps to make the tea more flavourful.
• Always put the heat medium to low as you have control over it.
• You don’t want to boil the ingredients. Black tea can withstand higher temperature but it’s not meant to be boiled for a long time. Once it’s starts to bubble, remove from heat and add in the sugar and salt.