Refreshing and tangy, Iced Tea is made with black tea and fresh lemon juice; perfect for beating the summer heat. Iced Tea is simply brewed tea that’s cooled and served cold, often over ice with a splash of lemon or sweetener. This easy Lemon Iced Tea recipe takes just about 10 minutes to make (not counting cooling time) and can be customized with your choice of sweetener or fruit juice.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 5 minutes
  • Cook time: 5 minutes
  • Total time: 10 minutes
  • Yield: 4
  • Category: Beverages
  • Cuisine: World

Ingredients

  • 5.25 cups water
  • 2 tablespoons black tea powder (or black tea leaves or green tea leaves)
  • ½ cup sugar (- can also add ¼ cup to ⅓ cup sugar for a less sweet taste)
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice (- can add less or more as required)
  • ice cubes (as required)
  • lemon slices (- few, for garnish, optional)

Method

Steeping tea

  1. In a pot or saucepan pour water.
  2. Heat the pan on a medium flame and allow the water to come to a boil.
  3. Once the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and add 2 tablespoons black tea powder or tea leaaves
  4. Add sugar. Mix very well.
  5. Let the black tea powder steep in hot water for 4 to 5 minutes. For a lighter flavor, steep it for just 2 to 3 minutes. - If using tea leaves, 2 to 3 minutes is usually enough.- If using green tea, steep for 2 minutes.
  6. After the tea is steeped in the hot water, add 3 tablespoons lemon juice. For a more lemony taste, you can opt to add 4 tablespoons lemon juice.
  7. Stir with a spoon.
  8. Then using a tea strainer, strain the lemon tea in a steel or glass jar. The glass jar should be able to handle the heat.
  9. Let the lemon tea cool at room temperature. Later you can chill it in the fridge.

Making iced tea

  1. While serving, add 4 to 5 ice cubes in a glass or glasses. You can add less or more as per your preference. If using cold iced tea from the refrigerator, then you can skip adding ice cubes.
  2. Also add 1 to 2 lemon slices. Adding lemon slices is optional.
  3. Pour the lemon tea in the glass or glasses.
  4. Garnish with a lemon slice or a sprig of mint leaves.
  5. Serve Lemon Iced Tea immediately. While drinking do stir lemon iced tea with a stirrer or a spoon.

Storage

  1. If you are not planning to serve ice tea on the same day, then keep it in the fridge.
  2. It keeps well for 2 to 3 days when refrigerated. Do not keep it outside as it may start to ferment.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.