This is my new afternoon beverage. As in I have had this drink everyday for the last two weeks. I anticipate it being a staple in the summer, which in Texas, means ‘drink your body weight in fluids to compensate for the ridiculous amount of sweating that occurs when you live on what feels like the face of the sun for 3 months.’
Green Tea Lemonade
It’s got a really long ingredient list. Ready?
- Green Tea (green tea bag + water)
- Lemon
- Sweetener (I use stevia)
- Ice
And a really complicated recipe.
1. Make green tea. Let it cool. (I boil enough water in the morning to make my morning green jasmine tea and my ’lemonade’ tea. I make both cups at the same time and just let the plain green tea sit on the counter {remove tea bag after about 5 minutes of brewing to minimize bitterness} until the afternoon when I’m ready to make my green tea lemonade)
2. Add the juice of 1/2 to 1 lemon, depending on how tart you want your drink.
3. Sweeten to taste.
4. Serve over ice.
It’s refreshing and a perfect afternoon pick me up. Plus green tea is all kinds of good for you so you get bonus nutritional benefits.
The addition of lemon, while adding a nice tartness, may also make this drink even more nutritious. Shout out to the food scientists at Purdue University that determined that adding citrus juice (or straight ascorbic acid) to green tea allows the beneficial antioxidants in green tea to survive the digestion process.
http://news.uns.purdue.edu/x/2007b/071113FerruzziTea.html
(I.came.this.close to getting my food science Master’s degree at Purdue, but my research would have been on black-eyed peas, not green tea) (I chose North Carolina State instead) (And did research on processed cheese) (oh yes I did)
What is your ideal afternoon beverage?
My sister introduced me to iced coffee. I think I had one every afternoon in the summer! Same idea with using extra coffee from the morning
Sweet niblets…I think you’re my new best friend!!!!
I’m making this today!
Even if we don’t get much summer-like weather here, at least I can pretend we do and sip this fantastic-sounding drink. It sounds so refreshing! I really need to plan ahead and make my own iced tea instead of grabbing my beloved unsweetened green iced tea from Starbucks on “summer” afternoons. You are a smart, smart woman.
We are pleasantly warm now, but the miserable is coming. I get Starbucks green iced tea too – sometimes its nice to have someone else make then for you.
The Starbucks closest to us aren’t drive through, though, so I have to really want one to justify strapping both kids in and out if the car for a one -stop errand.
Somehow I think you know exactly what I mean.
Michelle
Sent from my iPhone
Oh yes, I do. Starbucks without a drive-thru is a deal-breaker. No tea for mama.
Yummm. I love mixing lemon tea and green tea, so I’m sure I’d enjoy this as well!
This looks yummy! The fact that you’re educated makes me love your blog that much more…I hate reading these blogs that are all like “eat this soy cheese covered soy block and then drown it in agave nectar” and then they bash on farm fresh free range from your back yard eggs and then they go eat some nasty “natural” lean cuisine thing….just drives me nuts. They know nothing about nutrition!
yum! if you had gone to purdue, you would have lived really close to me! i actually grew up there.
Perfect for smmers!! Would love it if you link it to Piquant Potluck