After posting photos on Instagram of all the beautiful lemons I’ve picked from my nana’s lemon tree (which she’d thought was on its last legs – it must have heard that ’cause it’s gone NUTS this season!) I finally got around to recreating the delicious iced lemon tea we drank daily while on holiday in Singapore this year. It took a few attempts before I got the balance quite right. Just normal “gumboot” tea (as my Kassie refers to it as) is too strong, while I didn’t want to use Earl Grey because I know too much of that can give you a tummy ache. (Earl Grey tea contains the essential oil Bergamot, which is very strong acting while not tasting too overwhelming). After much examining of the tea area at the local supermarket, I spotted Lady Grey tea, which is flavoured with real lemon and orange peel. It sounded ideal, and it really is! The next step was getting the balance of sweetness right. Singaporeans love sweet drinks, and given the steamy heat they live in I honestly believe their drinks act like electrolytes. I know the day I ended up with sunstroke (one of those days where the distance on the map looked easy, the reality – not so much…) the two glasses of Bandung (rose syrup & milk/soy milk) Glenn managed to convince me to drink actually pulled me around quicker than I expected. Which was much appreciated!
Here in NZ, however, we don’t have that steamy heat. We have sharp, vivid (you’ll never see skies as blue as NZ/Aussie skies) heat that BURNS, so excessive sweetness in a drink can be unpleasant (or so I find). I started with a cup of sugar, and we’ve whittled it down to 1/2 cup, although I did think 2/3 cup was that nice level of “treat”. The most important part though? The glorious fresh lemon juice! I can’t get over how delicious it smells, and the gorgeous yellow colour. 1 cup per 2 litre jug makes this iced tea just sing. We did quickly discover that this tea only tastes good cold. So if you are crazy impatient to taste it, fill your glass with ice cubes and pour it over then let it sit for 5 mins. Otherwise do what I do and make it up the night before so the jug has plenty of time to chill.
Grab your own beautiful printable of this recipe HERE at my Book Geek Chic store. Just use the code FREEBIE at the checkout. And please let me know if you try it! Or if you have your own favourite recipe of iced tea do share it!
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