Jul

Hibiscus Mint Iced Tea

My mint beds have gone crazy. In addition to drying some for winter use, I’ve been trying to find as many different ways to use it as possible. I have a couple of other blogging friends who have been busy dealing with their overabundance of mint. Tina over at The Essential Herbal Blog recently wrote about how she dries her mints. Maggie gives several ideas for using mints over at The Renegade Farmer.

My boys like a cold pitcher of plain mint tea kept in the refrigerator, but I prefer something with a little more pizazz. This week’s little heat wave had me brewing up a batch of one of my favorite iced mint tea recipes.

Hibiscus Mint Iced Tea
2-3 cups loosely packed mint leaves (1/2 to 3/4 cup dried mint if you don’t have fresh)
1/4 cup dried hibiscus flowers
Juice of 2 lemons
6 cups boiling water
Honey or agave nectar for sweetening

I brew my tea in a large Pyrex batter bowl, but it could also be done in a pan on the stove.

Place the mint leaves and dried hibiscus in your brewing container. Cover with boiling water and steep for an hour. Place concentrated tea mixture into a pitcher and add lemon juice. Next, top up pitcher with ice cubes and/or cold water. Sweeten to taste.

I try to use sweeteners in moderation and avoid sugar when at all possible. Honey and agave nectar are my sweeteners of choice. If you choose to use sugar, a simple syrup of 1 part sugar to one part water is a good sweetener for cold beverages.