October 6, 2011

Ginger and Honey Iced Tea


"Better to be deprived of food for three days than tea for one.." ~ an ancient Chinese proverb

It was love at first sip. Yep, that is what I would say when I tasted iced tea at Dunkin Donuts for the first time, few years ago. Throughout my masters days in Syracuse , I would drink atleast a tall-sized fresh iced tea, with an order of toasted everything bagel w/ cream cheese & hash browns on the side, every single day! It was much later I realised how good it is to regularly drink a cuppa of green tea.



A little history about our beloved tea -

China is known as the homeland of tea. India and China are probably the first countries to cultivate tea. It is believed that tea shrubs existed in China as early as 5000-6000 years ago. Once when Emperor Shen Nung was sitting under a camellia tree, a few leaves accidentally fell into a cauldron of boiling water. The resulting fragrance tempted the Emperor to sip the brew. This is believed to be the beginning of Chinese tea culture. 

All I would say, thank god for that boiling pot of water, right under the camellia tree. Emperor Shen is one lucky, smart chap. ;-)


Now, coming back to my pitcher full of green tea and why would I make some today...:-)

It is time for free spirit blogging again and this time, it is Deepti who chose the "Cafe Casa" theme. Here is what she says -

Did you know that making the perfect cuppa is more than mixing espresso, milk and sugar in a pot. It involves shots, flavors, steamed milk et. al. In fact, I learnt recently that steaming milk is supposedly an art in itself. Something that many baristas struggle to learn and end up serving dish-washing-detergent-like foam instead of creamy milk froth on top of coffee drinks. Hmm! Lots left to learn for us, indeed!

- Pick any coffee-based drink recipe OR choose your own from anywhere else OR conjour up your own
- Share with us your inspiration for the drink, if its your own or why you choose a certain drink
- Present it the way it would be in a Coffee Shop (Think cinnamon dusting, whipped cream etc.)

Well, you see I am not much of a coffee-person at all. Every morning, it is a cup of masala tea that wakes me up, very unlike of my other family members who polish off atleast few rounds of coffee, by the time I have my breakfast. they are all coffee-lovers - both my mom & dad, sister, my in-laws and my dear husband.

Hence, I took the tea-route and conjured up a "Ginger & Honey Iced tea" for the challenge.

Most of the coffee shops typically use a simple sugar syrup for their iced teas or give you unsweetened  version & provide few sugar sachets on the side. I don't usually favor sugar-laden drinks, hence today's recipe uses honey to sweeten it up. It also has freshly grated ginger, thinly sliced cucumbers and a herby feel from mint leaves. What not to love about it. Isn't it.

Ginger and Honey Iced Tea

Adapted from Real Simple

Ingredients needed:

10 cups of filtered water
8 green tea bags
1/4 cup honey
1-2 tsp freshly grated ginger
sliced cucumbers (optional)
few sprigs of mint leaves (optional)

Credits: Teavana

1. Brew the tea. For this recipe, I chose green tea as I like the taste of it. It all starts with boiling the water and then drop green tea bags into it. Let it seep it for 3-4 minutes. Beware, don't let it stand for more time as it will develop a bitter taste. Follow the chart brewing chart above.

Let it cool to room temperature.

2. Meanwhile grate the ginger and add to brewed tea along with about 1/4 cup of honey. Add more or less honey, based on how sweet you want your iced tea to be. Keep stirring, so that honey is evenly mixed into the water.

3. Add sliced cucumbers and mint leaves.

4. Refrigerate it for few hours and Serve over ice cubes.



It is unbelievably hot during afternoons in Bangalore these days, hence this was a perfect drink to cool the temperatures down, a bit. Just loved it and am having some more as I type this post.

Chao for now and until next time,

18 comments :

  1. I love iced tea and make it regularly but for the first time I am wondering if I am missing the whole point. Never thought there was so much of thinking that went into the cuppa. I use regular tea but now I want to try green tea and cucumber in it. right now since I have been medically advised to lay off mint will give it a miss. Thanks.
    I am hosting Fast Food not Fat Foot event. Do check out my event and send me your entries.

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  2. The pictures of the iced tea look awesome. It was a very informative and good read.

    I love green tea, and I mostly flavor ginger-lemon-honey. Adding Cucumbers and mint is a great idea to make it look appealing.

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  3. Awwww damn tempting. Love the pics.. They make me simply thirsty :)

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  4. I love both the herbs and green tea. Just that have never had it iced:) Very nicely presented that i am very tempted to try with cucumber!

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  5. Wow, the 1 rst pict is well captured Siri. Gal- I feel u ve much improved - great going!
    I was a coffee person but now I stick to my masala tea. The iced tea is always welcome at anytime!
    Happy Dasera!

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  6. These look really refreshing! Perfect for Bangalore afternoons right now!

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  7. Wow yummy looking drink and the pics looks absolutely stunning

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  8. Well presented ginger-honey tea with excellent narration.Superdeliciously clicked.Luv it .

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  9. First time here & found you when I was searching for a recipe.The post I found linked back to you with an event to round up Sri Lankan recipes hosted few years back....As a Sri Lankan,that link invited me to visit this space....:)
    Really nice & attractive,this iced tea looks nice & picture perfect too...

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  10. Tea is just to be enjoyed without much thinking Archana, which I did for many years until I stumbled upon an article which talks about its history and health benefits. you can definitely omit the mint leaves and just enjoy this drink with cucumber. Perfect-o!

    Aren't ginger and lemon such refreshing flavors. Thanks for dropping by Anisha

    Thanks Anu

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  11. Thanks Nithya, a holiday and some darn good light is what I need to get motivated for food photography ;-)

    You should try it iced Lataji.You will be hooked, am sure of it. :D

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  12. wow, that sounds refreshing and I like that chart of yours with all the details.

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  13. Love the pics and never thought that so much precision is needed while making a iced tea, even my day starts with a cuppa of masala tea........

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  14. shall try iced tea for this afternoon... also love ur variation of adding cucumbers to it... different and surprising to know ... thanks for sharing it :))

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  15. This one is absolutely stunning. Both the recipe and most certainly the pictures. Siri, please make this for me when I get to Bangalore. Good heavens, I'm reeling in ecstasy just looking at your post!

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  16. I've been wanting to try green tea since a while, this sounds like a heavenly combination.

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  17. I'd like to invite you to enter this in our green tea blog hop today: http://quickeasycheaphealthy.com/2011/11/fight-the-flu-with-green-tea/

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Siri

 
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