Hi everyone and happy first official day of summer! I don't know about you, but it has already been feeling like summer for the last couple of months. It Has. Been. Hot.
Today I wanted to share with y'all my go-to summer drink. It's refreshing, healthy, easy to make, and a great cheap Starbucks dupe! Basically, it's the perfect drink to beat the intense summer heat!
Starbucks makes a green tea lemonade that is just fabulous if you're in the mood for something non-coffee. It's always hard for me to go in to Starbucks and not order a latte, but on hot summer days sometimes I'm just not going for a warm cup of joe. So, I give in and order an overpriced grande cup of iced tea.
Lately I've been in a Pinteresty/DIYing mood and so I started to think about how easy it would be to replicate Starbucks' recipe. I tried it and I was correct. Way easy and so much cheaper than the $3.25 I cough up at Starbucks.
This drink hardly needs a recipe, but in case you're a. absolutely clueless, b. a complete disaster in the kitchen, c. too lazy to figure it out for yourself, or d. just really like reading my blog (😉) I wrote mine up for you!
Green Tea Lemonade
Today I wanted to share with y'all my go-to summer drink. It's refreshing, healthy, easy to make, and a great cheap Starbucks dupe! Basically, it's the perfect drink to beat the intense summer heat!
Starbucks makes a green tea lemonade that is just fabulous if you're in the mood for something non-coffee. It's always hard for me to go in to Starbucks and not order a latte, but on hot summer days sometimes I'm just not going for a warm cup of joe. So, I give in and order an overpriced grande cup of iced tea.
Lately I've been in a Pinteresty/DIYing mood and so I started to think about how easy it would be to replicate Starbucks' recipe. I tried it and I was correct. Way easy and so much cheaper than the $3.25 I cough up at Starbucks.
This drink hardly needs a recipe, but in case you're a. absolutely clueless, b. a complete disaster in the kitchen, c. too lazy to figure it out for yourself, or d. just really like reading my blog (😉) I wrote mine up for you!
Green Tea Lemonade
1. Get yo' stuff.
2. Tea time!
- Really, you don't need anything special!
- 1 cup of water
- 2 green tea bags (these are a generic brand from a local grocery store and though they work great for this drink, I previously had the Tazo ones and those were delish)
- 6-8 ounces of lemonade (depending on how sweet and tea-ish you like your drinks)
- Ice
- Optional: 1/8 cup frozen raspberries
- Option for people who want to be cutesy/hipster: a mason jar and a fun straw
2. Tea time!
- Time to brew up your tea!
- Boil one cup of water in a microwave safe container or your adorable mason jar. You can use your stove of course, but ain't nobody got time for that!
- I just stick that sucker in the microwave on the beverage setting. #lazylyfe
- Now, take your two tea bags, open them up, and plop them into your boiling water.
- Let your tea bags steep for 3+ minutes.
- Honestly, I usually forget about them and leave them steeping for several hours or even overnight.
3. Chill out.
- Leave your tea in the fridge or covered on the counter to cool.
- Hot tea lemonade is not something I would personally recommend so....
- Once cool, you're ready to rock step #4!
4. Pucker up.
- Add your lemonade!
- My personal favorites are either Newman's Own or Simply Lemonade (this brand has a delicious mango flavored lemonade that is just perfect with the green tea).
- I use 6 ounces and have found that to be a good ratio, but you can add more or less to get the level of sweetness you like!
5. Ice, ice baby.
6. Slurp it up.
- Dump in your ice.
- I looooooove chilled drinks (especially in the heat of summer) so I always add a ton.
- At this point, I would recommend that you add your (optional) frozen raspberries to the drink. This contributes a little bit more cold to your tea and a bit of fruity flavor!
6. Slurp it up.
- Add a cute straw and start sipping!
- It's the perfect drink to bring along with you to all of your summer adventures or to enjoy drinking while reading a book in bed. Healthy, refreshing, cool, tasty, Starbucks-like goodness.