RECIPE: Summery Iced Tea

Today is supposed to be the nicest of the weekend so enjoy the sunshine with a refreshing glass of iced tea. This can be made with any tea you have in the house but I prefer a nice fragrant tea like Lady Grey or Ceylon.  For this recipe I used Duchess of Bedford tea as it has a lovely citrus flavour.

Iced Tea (makes 1.5 litres)

• 2 tea bags
• 800ml boiling water
• 700ml cold water
• Sprigs of mint
• Lots of Ice
• Sugar to taste (start with 2 tablespoons and add more if you need to)

1. Put the tea bags and sugar in a large jug and pour the boiling water over.

2. Leave the tea to infuse for about 20 minutes. The longer you leave it the stronger it will be.

3. Remove the tea bags and allow the tea to cool to room temperature. If you put the tea in the fridge too soon then it can go cloudy.

4. Add the cold water. Put the tea in the fridge to chill.

5. Before serving, add plenty of ice to get it nice and cold and add the mint to serve.

I like my tea unsweetened (as they say in The South) but the traditional way to drink it is with loads of sugar.

If you want to add a bit of variety then you could add some chopped apples and pears to make a refreshing summer punch. You could also add the flesh of 4 passion fruit (pass it through a sieve to remove the pips) to make passion fruit iced tea or the juice of 2 peaches for peach tea. Both are equally delicious.