MAPLE MINT ICED TEA

Cold-brewed for the smoothest flavor

If there’s one five-minute task you can do today to improve tomorrow, it’s making yourself cold-brewed iced tea. I’ve shared my method for an instant fruity iced tea in Third Culture Cooking–a great back-pocket recipe when you’re in a time crunch. But I write this while sipping on a Hibiscus Mango Maple Mint Iced Tea (!!!), and despite the gloomy weather, I’m sitting in the sun—the tea’s vibrant, translucent hue and pleasant, fruity flavor do that for me. And the best part? No matter what flavor combination I’ve tried this with, there hasn’t been even a hint of the astringency you might get from a tea bag brewed in boiling water.

This is a very flexible recipe, and it can—and should—be tailored to your liking once you’ve gotten comfortable with the technique. So, some technical things to consider:

1. I haven’t marked a substitution for the maple syrup—it can, of course, be swapped out for honey or even simple syrup, but the maple offers a deep, earthy sweetness that contrasts and thereby concentrates, the already fruity, floral flavor of the tea and the refreshing flavor of the herbs.

2. I opted for tea bags for accessibility and ease, just pull them straight out and you can either strain out the fruit bits, or drink the tea with a boba straw to catch them in every sip.

3. It’s a small-batch recipe designed to work in a quart container, but it will work just as well scaled up for a larger pitcher.

4. The fruit + tea combinations are endless, and it’s really down to preference. Peaches + black tea is classic for a reason; strawberry + green tea is another fantastic option, but my favorite to date is hibiscus + mango (pictured).

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Before we get into the recipe, a quick note: I hope to keep this newsletter free for as long as possible, so it would mean so much to me if you supported my work by ordering my cookbook, Third Culture Cooking, which features 100+ flavorful recipes that reflect my third culture perspective. Find signed copies here.

2-3 SERVINGS / 5 MINUTES + CHILLING

INGREDIENTS

1 cup soft, fleshy fresh fruit like stone fruit, berries, or pineapple, chopped, optional

1 cup fresh mint*, roughly torn, plus more for serving

3 black, green, oolong, or herbal tea bags*

2 tablespoons of maple syrup

3-3 ½ cups of water

Ice, for serving

Lemon or lime wedges/wheels, optional, for serving

*Instead of..

Mint, use basil, or 1 teaspoon loose mint tea leaves or 1 mint tea bag in place of 1 tea bag

Tea bags, use 1 tablespoon loose tea leaves

METHOD

Add fruit, mint, tea bags, and maple syrup to a quart-sized container. Cover with water, stir, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours.

Remove tea bags from the container and strain out fruit bits if desired.

Fill a glass with ice and pour over the tea. Serve with more fresh mint and lemon or lime wedges/wheels, if desired.