Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Tea--rrific

I have a new favorite drink that I must share. Here's the "recipe":

Ginger Lavender White Iced Tea

Heat 2 cups of water in a small sauce pan, add 1/4 c brown sugar (packed firm), and 2 teaspoons minced ginger. (I used my favorite go-to ginger) Heat to a simmer or until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add two stems of lavender and 1/4 c white tea leaves -or- 8 tea bags. Steep 15 minutes and strain into a pitcher. Add 2 cups of ice and 4 cups of water. Drink up!

I used lavender because we have it in our garden...mint, basil, cilantro, even citrus could be used instead. White tea is "immature" (you know, it talks back to its parents, thinks it rules the world and is somewhat selfish) green tea...but any mild, unflavored tea will do.

I have to give Ellie Krieger a shout-out for this idea. I saw her make a type of similar tea on her show recently...

This tea reminds me a *lot* of one of my favorite Republic of Tea flavors:By the way, white tea has about half the caffeine of green tea, which generally speaking has half the caffeine of black tea.

***Sweet Pea tip: R loves tea. If you steep any tea for 1 minute, this removes more than 90% of the caffeine. So...whenever I make tea and R asks for some, I just use the leaves or bag from my tea to make his...lots of flavor, next to no caffeine.***

SPC

PS--I am sipping this tea as I type. Can you tell that I am smiling from the tone of my post?

7 comments:

Slacker Mama said...

I'm not a tea person...but I wish there was a decaf trick like that for coffee since A is quite the lover of it!

Deep in the Heart said...

Ahh. I have some Ginger Peach in my pantry. Maybe I'll whip up some iced tea this afternoon. I've got Tess, Jake, Rachel, and our neighbor for ballet class.

Mama in Training said...

You're so cute! Would rather see your smile.

Laura said...

Ummm... I have a question about the lavender... do you use blooming lavender or not? I have a plant that is sitting on my window sill... and it is not blooming and I would like to do something with it.

Sweet Pea Chef said...

Fearless--I would try the lavender leaves for sure...they have the same scent (I did use bloomed flowers), but are a little less fragrant, so perhaps use a few more.

Laura said...

Super! Thanks!

Jennifer Kennedy said...

I made this tea with what I had on hand, so it ended up as Ginger Rosemary Green Tea -- and it was yummy! So yummy, in fact, that it went fast at our family reception and I was worried I wouldn't get to taste it. Thanks for the inspiration.