Berry TasTEA

I concocted this recipe this afternoon for the "grand opening" of this new blog, which will hopefully be the first of many "tea of the month" recipes. Anyone who knows me well will know of my love for sweet iced tea. By making this recipe, I'm straying from my tried-and-true Lipton/sugar water recipe, but I think you'll find it refreshing.

Berry TasTEA (my brother will appreciate this play on words)

Ingredients:
1 Tazo Tea Bag ("Berryblossom White" flavor)
Handful (10-15) Raspberries / Blueberries
3/4 Cups Water
4 Tbsp. Sugar
Ice



1. Put a handful of blueberries and raspberries into a small sauce pan. Add to that 2 Tbsp. of sugar and 1/4 cup water. Mash berries with a wooden spoon and bring to a boil, while stirring continually (this will take between 5-10 minutes).

2. Remove pot from heat and strain mixture to remove the seeds (I used a tea ball, but a fine sieve or cheesecloth would work, too). The berry juice that is left will go into the tea. The remaining berry mixture would make a great sweet topping for ice cream!

3. Get your tea bag ready! The box shown contains 20 tea bags. I found this tea at Sprouts, but Target and Starbucks also carry it.

4. Boil 1/2 cup water with 2 Tbsp. sugar to make a simple syrup. Stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add tea bag. Allow to steep for 5 minutes.

In a tall glass filled with ice, add tea and berry juice and stir thoroughly. You may want to add a little more cold water to the glass if the mixture doesn't come to the top (depending on the size of your glass). Don't water it down too much, though, because then you'll need to add more sugar. Garnish with more berries, if desired.

This recipe serves 1, but batch can be doubled as needed to serve more.