Lemonade iced tea made with sun tea

Lemonade and iced tea are the official beverages of summer. Lemonade iced tea combines classic sun tea with lemonade to make a delicious summer drink. Add a homemade strawberry syrup to make it a strawberry Arnold Palmer.

An Arnold Palmer drink or half and half tea is exactly that – half lemonade and half iced tea, or whatever proportions you like. I, like the golfer, prefer more tea than lemonade.

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Lemon iced tea

Citrus tea is so refreshing on a hot summer day. A little tart, a little sweet and so good.

For this lemonade tea, you’ll need to juice a few lemons (please do not use bottled lemon juice for this). This is the electric citrus juicer that I bought a few months back.

It suits my needs – it’s small and comes apart for easy cleaning, plus it’s inexpensive. I’ve used it a handful of times and have no complaints. I also have the hand-held juicer that you squeeze but sometimes my hands hurt and I just can’t do it.

How to make sun tea

I remember the first time I made sun tea as a kid. I was amazed that I could combine tea bags and water, and let it sit outside all afternoon while Mother Nature did the work.

To make sun tea, you’ll need a one gallon glass jar. This is the same jar I have and recommend. It has a screw top lid, so nothing can get inside while it’s sitting outside.

Fill your glass jar with filtered water, add 8 tea bags and put the lid on the jar. Make sure it is screwed on tightly because it will be sitting outside for a few hours.

Place your jar in the sun for 3 hours, keep in mind that as the sun moves, you may have to move your jar.

When the tea has brewed to your liking, bring it inside and add the sugar syrup and lemon juice. I prefer to use a plain jar for brewing and then transfer the tea into a glass pitcher for serving tea.

What you’ll need to make half and half tea

• a 1 quart saucepan to make simple syrup (sugar syrup)
• tall highball glasses for serving tea
• a long spoon for stirring – these spoons are beautiful!
• your favorite tea
• yellow and white striped paper straws
• Mason jars with screw tops lids for storing in the fridge

Lemonade iced tea

While the tea is outside, make a simple syrup from sugar and water.

The reason I make the syrup instead of just adding sugar to the tea is because it takes awhile for the sugar to dissolve. This way, there are no bits of sugar in the bottom of your glass.

When the sugar syrup has cooled, add it to your tea, along with the lemon juice. If you prefer to use a sugar alternative, agave or date syrup is a great option.

We drink a lot of lemonade and iced tea during the summer months, which is basically all year for us. While we love the classic recipes, sometimes we like to switch it up, like this strawberry lemonade or strawberry limeade.

Whether you like a little more lemonade or a little more tea in your drink, this combination is fantastic. To switch it up even more, add herbs like lemon thyme for a twist on the classic.

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