Cool off with this fruity sparkling iced tea this summer … it’s got all the sensational summer fruit flavors in an herbal iced tea that you can make at home! Thanks to a concentrated brew and a little extra brewing time, you can add sparkle by mixing the tea concentrate with club soda or sparkling water. It’s refreshing, it’s tasty, and it makes you feel good! This tea is exactly what I want to sip on to keep me hydrated when it’s hot outside and I’m craving flavor.
I drink a lot of water (and sparkling water) all year round, but sometimes I just want something with more gusto. Although I also adore mint water (simply crush a sprig of fresh mint leaves into a glass of cold water), sometimes I crave iced tea. Herbal tea is really where it’s at for me because I am super sensitive to caffeine. Any form of caffeine generally keeps me awake at night, even if I drink it early in the morning.
So one day I was craving iced tea and I wandered through the tea aisle at the grocery store looking for something I could actually drink without losing sleep … and I stumbled across a box of strawberry watermelon iced tea bags from Lipton. That sounded REALLY good to me, so I popped it into my shopping cart and off I went, excited to try my new tea flavor.
Iced Tea Concentrate
Iced tea is always delightful and refreshing in the summer. I had read a blog post where they make tea concentrate, which makes it super easy to have iced tea on hand all summer long without taking up lots of space in your fridge. Space is always at a premium in my fridge, so I was super excited about this idea.
It’s quite easy to make iced tea concentrate, too. All you have to do is add extra tea bags and let it brew longer. You don’t even need to add much water. Once the tea has cooled off (which you can do by adding a bit of ice), you can add fruit for an even better flavored tea that’s also infused with antioxidants, like homemade vitamin water in iced tea form.
How to Make Sparkling Iced Tea
But then I thought: who says you have to add just ice or water to your tea concentrate? Why couldn’t you add sparkling water to your tea concentrate? Then you’d have BUBBLES in your tea! I was kind of patting myself on the back when I thought of this brilliant idea and now I was even MORE excited to sip my new iced tea. I have tried some sparkling iced tea seltzers that are quite good (but, caffeine, so yeah, doesn’t work that great for me) and really wanted to replicate that flavor for myself.
So all you do to make SPARKLING iced tea is first make the concentrate and then add sparkling water instead of regular water. So simple, right? Why had this idea never occurred to me before?
You guys, when I first tasted this bubbly iced tea, I couldn’t stop drinking! It tasted so so SO good! I seriously sipped up almost my entire batch in one sitting.
Is Sun Tea Safe?
You might be tempted to make the tea concentrate in a jar in the sun … I’ve made sun tea in the past and never had any problems with it. But is it safe to make your tea concentrate outside in a jar? Well, you can, but there are some health risks posed by brewing tea in the sun. Because the brewing temperature never gets above 102° to 130°–not the 170° to 200° normally needed to steep tea, sun tea creates a breeding ground for bacteria. It’s probably not all that likely to make you sick, but still, who wants bacteria in their tea?
To avoid that dilemma, I started my iced tea concentrate with hot water, let it steep for 15 minutes or so, then added ice and fruit and put it in the fridge to finish. It’s a mix of hot brew and cold brew methods that works beautifully.
Alternatively, you can go all cold brew, just putting the tea bags in water and storing in the fridge for at least 12 hours. This method takes longer, but it results in a smoother tasting iced tea. I store mine in the fridge for at least 12 hours anyway and I leave the tea bags in there, so I probably could skip the hot water, but I find it really satisfying to see that pretty watermelon pink color develop and to smell the lovely scent of the steeping tea bags.
What Tea to Use for Iced Tea?
For my sparkling iced tea, I used both the Lipton Strawberry Watermelon Herbal family sized iced tea bags and the Country Peach Passion from Celestial Seasonings. Both are really nice herbal blends and they don’t cost much either. (Note: I don’t have any affiliation with either company mentioned, but I do very much like these particular teas. If you click on one of the links above and make a purchase, I will receive a small amount that goes towards the costs of maintaining this blog.)
Can you use other flavors of tea? Absolutely! I’ve found that tea makers often quit selling some of my favorite tea flavors, so I have become accustomed to swapping out flavors and it can be quite a fun adventure. Especially when you’re using herbal teas, you can really get some fabulous flavor combinations.
That said, you can also apply this same method to make standard iced tea with green, black or white tea bags with lemon or orange or whatever fruit you want. You can also mix and match black/green/white tea with herbal teas to get the same lovely flavors with a little caffeine boost.
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Sparkling Strawberry Watermelon Peach Iced Tea
Ingredients
- 2 cups very hot (almost boiling) water
- 4 family size strawberry watermelon herbal tea bags
- 4 regular size herbal peach tea bags
- Fresh or frozen strawberries, watermelon, peaches, orange or lemon wedges
- Club soda (or sparkling water)
- Optional: sweetener of choice or simple syrup
Instructions
- In a quart-size (heat safe) jar, add the hot water and tea bags. Let steep for 10 – 15 minutes, then add a bit of ice to cool it off.
- Add a few strawberries, watermelon chunks and/or peach slices. If you like, take a couple wedges of fresh orange or lemon, squeeze in the juices and then put the wedges into the jar. Fill the jar the rest of the way with water.
- Cover and refrigerate for at least an hour or up to several days to let the fruit flavors infuse into the tea concentrate and the tea flavor fully develop.
- When ready to drink, add ice (or frozen watermelon chunks!) to a glass, then fill half way with the tea concentrate and the rest of the way with club soda (or sparkling water). Garnish with fruit and fresh mint (if desired) and sweeten if desired. Enjoy!
Notes
If you are using regular sized tea bags, 1 family size bag of tea = 4 one-cup size tea bags.
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Thirsty for more creative tea recipes?
Tea is one of my favorite beverages! I drink it every day, most often starting out with ginger chai and then moving on to whatever other flavor that strikes my fancy. My youngest and I have quite the collection of various teas, so we have an entire cupboard dedicated just to tea. So yes, I have several great tea recipes for you. Some of them are adult beverages, others are great for all ages.
- Ginger Chai Elixir
- Iced Chai Latte
- Dandelion Flower Iced Tea
- Winter Apple Jack Tea
- Hot Sweet Brandied Citrus Tea
- Vanilla Rose Vodka Iced Tea
