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Friday, July 3, 2009

Friday Food for Thought—The Best Iced Tea Ever!

Imagine sipping a delicious cup of tea or drinking a glass of your favorite wine. Now consider combining the best of both worlds into one refreshing summer drink, and what do you have?

Iced tea sangria.

If you’ve never considered turning your favorite tea into an exotic cocktail, think again. The results are quite unbelievable and the possibilities are endless. While I haven’t done a lot of experimenting with this, iced tea sangria is easily my favorite so far. Here’s the recipe:

Iced Tea Sangria

2 teaspoons loose herbal tea
1 cup boiling water
1 cup chilled white grape juice
2 cups chilled Gewurztraminer wine
fruit for garnish (see below)

I use an herbal tea, a refreshing blend of lemongrass, citrus peel, rosehips and lavender blossoms called Philosopher’s Brew. It’s from my favorite tea shop and spa, Silk Road, and it's available through their mail order service.

Pour the boiling water over the loose tea and steep for 10 minutes. Strain and chill.

Combine the chilled tea, white grape juice and wine in a pitcher. Stir.

To serve:

Fill glasses, goblets or flutes with ice and pieces of fruit (i.e., sliced lemons and limes, thinly sliced seedless grapes, strawberries, raspberries, etc.), pour in the sangria, and enjoy a light and refreshing summer drink. Nothing could be simpler, and yet your guests will be so impressed.

For more intoxicating recipes, all developed in-house, visit Silk Road’s website.

For my readers who live on Vancouver Island or those who plan to visit this summer, I’m giving away two free passes to a summer tea tasting at Silk Road, any day of your choice between now and Labor Day.

To be eligible to win a free tea-tasting pass, generously provided by Silk Road, simply leave a comment on today’s blog topic and mention tea tasting. I'll announce the two lucky winners tomorrow.

Until next time,
Lee

6 comments:

Rachel said...

It sounds absolutely divine, Lee. I'm going to give it a try – Friday afternoon on the deck seems about the right time for it!

And just think of all the different tea possibilities! Hm. I sense some experimentation in my future.

Lee McKenzie said...

Have a lovely Friday afternoon, Rachel!

I find that as long as I don't put the fruit in the pitcher, the sangria can be stored, covered, in the fridge for a couple of days.

Anonymous said...

Yum! This is definitely on my "to try" list. Rachel is right. The variations with different teas could be endless.

Sheryll

Lee McKenzie said...

You're right about the endless possibilities, Sheryll. Especially if you experiment with different wines, too.

I plan to try this with a Riesling. I think it's sweet, fruity, flowery flavor will make a wonderful sangria.

Jodie Esch said...

What an interesting idea! I shall have to give it a try.

Is that wine tricky to locate?

Lee McKenzie said...

Jodie, you should be able to find a good-quality Gewurztraminer in at any liquor or wine store.

Enjoy!