Ice Tea Recipe

Traditional Iced Ceylon Tea
We suggest loose leaf black Ceylon tea for best flavor, but of course you can use teabags, substituting one individual bag per each heaping teaspoon of loose leaf tea. Ceylon tea offers a brisk, bright, delicious glass every time.

Preparations: Chill tall glass tumblers in the freezer. When ready to serve, dip the rims of the glasses in sugar, as desired. Cut the tip of strawberries, or slice lemons, lime or oranges and stick one on the rim of each glass for a pretty, and edible, garnish.

Tea: The rich blacks of Gardente™ and other fine blacks from Kardoz. 

Quantity: 1 heaping teaspoon per 8 ounces of water or 4 heaping teaspoons per gallon of water

Brewing Technique: Heat water to boiling, then allow to cool to about 195ºF. Pour water over tea leaves in a heatproof pitcher or bowl. Steep for three to five minutes. Strain leaves through a large strainer or colander into a second bowl or pitcher and cover tightly.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Serving Suggestions: Pour into clear glasses to show off the beauty of the Ceylon tea, garnish with a slice of fruit on the rim of the glass.

Other additions: If you enjoy your iced tea with milk, do not use citrus as it may sour the milk. Regular or skim milk, soy milk or condensed milk all taste delicious in iced tea. Sweeten with sugar to taste.

Chilling With Flavored Cubes
Water is so important to the taste of tea, hot or cold, so use good quality bottled spring water in both the infusion of the tea AND in the ice cubes used to keep the tea cool. To add excitement to water ice cubes, place a small leaf of mint in each compartment. As the ice melts, the mint floats in the tea adding its pleasing bite with each sip. To avoid diluting the tea, use ice cubes made with freshly-brewed tea or juice: orange juice, lemon or lime juice, or other favorite fruit juice to add fruitiness to your favorite iced tea recipe.

Ceylon Tea Sangria
In Spain , one popular summer drink is Sangria named for its blood red color of mixing fruit and red wine. For this Tea Sangria, the burgundy red of a well-processed black Ceylon tea is part of the beauty of this drink, poured over layers of fresh seasonal fruit.

Tea: The fragrant leaves your favorite Ceylon tea just perfect for this recipe

Quantity: 1 heaping teaspoon of tea per 8 ounce serving

Brewing Technique: Heat water to boiling, then allow to cool to about 203-5ºF. Pour water over tea leaves in a heatproof pitcher or bowl. Steep, covered, for three to five minutes. Strain leaves through a large strainer or colander into a second bowl or pitcher and cover tightly.  Refrigerate until serving time.

Serving Suggestions: In an empty glass pitcher, stuff sliced fruit in layers using strawberries, plums, oranges, and other favorites. Then, pour the chilled tea over the fruit. Allow the flavors of the fruit and tea to blend for at least thirty minutes, then serve in chilled clear tumblers. Garnish with sliced fruit.

Iced Ceylon Chai Tea
Chai or more properly, masala chai, is a spice-infused tea that takes well to heat or cold. A fixture in the culture of Northern India, it is frequently made with Assam teas or black breakfast blends, spices, and milk. Ceylon teas, however, make an even more flavorful chai.

Tea: Ceylon blended black tea

Quantity: 1 heaping teaspoon per cup of tea

Brewing Technique: Brew tea and water for several minutes, then add the ground spices and simmer for five to ten minutes longer. Strain tea leaves and spices and add milk, then simmer for five minutes longer. Remove from heat to cool, then place in a covered container in the refrigerator to chill, about one hour or longer.

Special Instructions: Grind whole spices to taste, including peppercorns, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom, and cinnamon or add allspice or star anise to taste. Use the freshest spices possible and grind for each use for the best flavor.

Serving Suggestions: Opt for jaggery sugar, a dark molasses sugar or granulated brown sugar or a Demarara dark sugar. These darker sugars are a nice complement to the spicy quality of chai teas.

Southern “Sweet Tea
Every mama in the U.S. South has her own recipe for sweet tea, and beaux courting daughters have been known to make their decisions for wives based on the quality and taste of sweet tea. Avoid such pressure with this classic recipe, and adjust sweetening to your loved one’s taste, surely no minor concession to a long and happy union. This recipe is not for the tea purist; it is, essentially, sugar syrup flavored with tea.

Tea: Ceylon black tea blend

Quantity: 3 heaping teaspoons or 3 teabags and 2 cups of water

Brewing Technique: Place tea or teabags in water in a mid-size saucepan and bring to a boil. Remove pan from the heat but continue to steep the tea about five minutes. Strain into a heatproof pitcher and add 1 cup of sugar, and stir until the sugar dissolves, about one minute. Add cold water and ice cubes to fill the pitcher to the top.

Serving Suggestions: Add a sprig of mint, as desired.

Refrigerator Tea
This is a great way to prepare tea for large groups; it can be done in advance, in fact it requires twelve hours to brew, and it makes a really fine glass of iced tea.Tea: The finest black Ceylon teas should be used to avoid cloudiness.Quantity: One heaping teaspoon or 1 teabag per cup of water.Brewing Technique: Place tea or teabags in water in a glass pitcher or jar and put it in the refrigerator. That’s it! Leave it in the refrigerator overnight or for twelve hours.Serving Suggestions: Remove tea bags or sieve out leaves. Pour into glasses and serve, adding cubes, fruit, sweetening or garnishes as desired.