Name: Strawberry Iced Tea
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 135 min
Ingredients: 6 black tea bags

Strawberry Iced tea — Photo:
Getty Images

Prep Time:

5 mins

Total Time:

2 hrs 15 mins

Servings:

Strawberries and iced tea—if anything signaled sunny summer days, it would be this pairing. We suggest you embrace the season by making our version of strawberry iced tea. It’s quick, only uses three ingredients, and can (and should) be made beforehand. Whether you're throwing a party al fresco, heading to a picnic, or simply relaxing indoors, this refreshing drink hits the spot.

Fresh strawberries are fragrant at farmers markets and farm stands across the country right now, and they are our favorite ingredient to take iced tea to the next level. Their bright, fruity flavor pairs well with a variety of different types of tea, including black teas such as Earl Grey or Assam and green teas such as jasmine and sencha. Try our recipe using your favorite tea. We are pretty sure it will become your drink of summer.

Choosing the Right Kind of Tea

There are a few steps to consider before brewing your strawberry iced tea and enjoying a glass.

Flavor: There are seemingly endless varieties of tea, each with its own distinct flavor. Since strawberries provide a lot of the flavor in this recipe, we shy away from herbal teas (something like hibiscus would overpower the berries). This drink is better made with black or green teas, which have more neutral flavors. There are a plethora of varieties of both black and green tea, so you can choose whatever you have an affinity for. For black tea, we recommend something straightforward like Earl Grey, Darjeeling, or English breakfast. For green tea, stick with something like Japanese sencha or a Moroccan mint blend.
Tea bags or loose leaf: Both bagged and loose tea will work for this recipe. The only real difference is the amount of time it will take to steep (and even then, there’s only a 5-minute difference). Our recipe calls for tea bags, which steep in the boiled water for about 10 minutes. If using loose leaves, lower the steeping time to about 5 minutes.
Pick a caffeine level: Your last choice will be whether you want to use caffeinated or decaffeinated tea. If you’re okay with a boost of energy, caffeinated tea will be your best friend. But if you want to enjoy this iced tea throughout the day and into the evening, consider using decaf.

If your tap water is less than desirable on its own, it’s not the best idea to use it when brewing tea. Opt for filtered or distilled water instead.

Cold Brew Option

You can also make iced tea by brewing with cold water instead of hot. It takes a bit longer but produces a smooth brew:

Combine the water, tea bags, lemon juice, and strawberry purée in a pitcher and refrigerate it, covered, for at least 8 hours (but no more than 12 hours).
Strain the tea through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing against the strawberry pulp and tea bags to extract as much flavor as possible. Return to the pitcher and keep the tea refrigerated until you want to drink it.

Strawberry Arnold Palmer

Make an Arnold Palmer by combining 1 part strawberry iced tea with 1 part lemonade. It sweetens the iced tea and it’s oh-so refreshing.

Ingredients

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled, plus more for serving
4 cups water, divided
1/2 cup tea bags (or 1/2 cup loose tea)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, plus wheels for serving
Ice, for serving

Directions

Blend the strawberries:

Place the strawberries in the bowl of a food processor and blend until smooth.
Brew the tea:

Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from the heat and add the tea bags; let steep for 10 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags, then pour the water into a heatproof bowl. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of water, lemon juice, and strawberry puree. Let the mixture cool completely.
Strain and chill:

Strain the strawberry tea through a fine-mesh sieve, pressing against the strawberry pulp to extract as much juice as possible, then transfer to a pitcher. Chill in the refrigerator until cold, at least 2 hours and up to 2 weeks. Serve over ice with strawberry slices and lemon wheels.

The fresh strawberries add quite a bit of natural sweetness to this iced tea, but if you prefer something even sweeter, we recommend using granulated sugar or honey. Keep in mind that these sweeteners do not dissolve easily into cool liquids, so you’ll need to add the extra sweetener while the tea is still hot.

Storage

Since fresh produce is incorporated into this iced tea recipe, it won’t last quite as long as plain brewed tea. When stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator, you’ll have up to 2 weeks to enjoy this iced tea.

Variations

Other fruits: Don’t stop at strawberries. Summer has so many other delicious fruits to offer! Try this iced tea with other berries like raspberries and blackberries. Other flavorful fruits like peaches, nectarines, apricots, sweet cherries, cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon are also great options. You can even make this iced tea outside of the summer months with fruits such as pomegranates and cranberries.
Citrus: Try other citrus fruits like lime and orange instead of lemon. For even more acidic citrus flavor, let thin slices of the fruit steep in the liquid along with the tea bags.
Fresh herbs: Mint, basil, thyme, and lemon verbena are all delicate herbs that pair well with this strawberry iced tea. They have plenty of flavor, but not so much as to overpower the berries.