Renewed, with new flavors and frozen, the tea replaces soft drinks as a refreshing and natural option against heat.
The high temperatures cause us to drink more liquid. The body needs it. Here is the dilemma. A soda or flavored water? There are many more options to get out of industrial drinks that are also very refreshing, tasty and healthier. One of them is the iced tea, or in Creole, iced tea. The benefits of tea are many, highlighting above all its antioxidant and diuretic power, among other virtues.
The iced tea, ideal drink for summer
Iced Tea with tangerine. (Argentine Tea School)
What better than to prepare a refreshing, healthy and natural drink? To the base of tea (all are welcome) ice is added and voila! Those who want something a bit more daring can add fruits and sweeteners, and the blender will do the rest.
Inside Tea Connection works as a flavor laboratory. There they try the most played recipes where they include coconut milk, fruit juice, horchata and various sweeteners. “We want to separate ourselves from the traditional tea. People have tea associated with when they are sick or what their grandmother used to drink and that is not the case! Currently consumption of iced tea is a worldwide trend. Everything is valid, take it only with ice or mix it with fruits and enjoy it in another way – says Maggie Bianchi, Inside team. We mix it with super fresh seasonal ingredients and it is ultra healthy. It’s a real cocktail without alcohol.”
An important fact about this drink is that it contains approximately 70% tea. It is a sine qua non condition that is infused in hot so that the strands give off all their properties and flavors. Once the tea is obtained, it has to be cooled. This will be the base of the brew. For the success to be complete, Maggie clarifies that, as it is going to add ice to the preparation, it is necessary to make the tea a little more concentrated than if it were to consume at the time, so that its flavor is not diluted. Data: one gram of tea gives flavor to 100 cc of water, but if we are going to make iced tea the dose should reach 1.5 grams.
While it can be prepared with any variety of tea (it is absolutely a matter of taste), each style of strands has its time and temperature of infusion: green tea is prepared with water at 85° and left to infuse for two minutes while for red and black water temperature rises 10° reaching 9 °, and the contact time of the strands with water should be four minutes. What happens if we spend time or use water at a higher temperature than indicated? The tea becomes astringent and gives a sensation of roughness in the mouth.
This drink is so versatile that it can accompany us at all times of day. Breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner. A good tip is to prepare it early and leave the jug in the refrigerator. It is preserved for 24 hours.
You have the whole weekend ahead and the temperature does not give any respite. Feel a bartender and prepare iced tea for the whole family with Inside Tea Connection recipes. A good way to cool off.
Coco Bongo
Super refreshing, Coco Bongo takes pineapple and coconut milk
Ingredients (for a large bottle)
Orange Oolong strands tea (combines strands of Taiwan red tea with orange curls). 180 cc
Juice of freshly squeezed oranges. 30 cc
Syrup to sweeten. 30 cc
Coconut milk. 15 cc
Pineapple cut into cubes. 80 grams
Ice. 8 cubes
Preparation
Infuse 1.7 grams of tea in strands in 180 cc.
Let stand, strain and cool In a blender to make frozen drinks mix all the ingredients.
Cut ¼ slice of pineapple with peel. Make a small slot with knife on the bottom, to be able to decorate the mouth of the jar.
Cut two pineapples of pineapple and decorate with them up.
Berry Honey
Berry Honey, a specialty of Inside Tea Connection
Ingredients (for a large bottle)
Tea in Blueberry strands (combines strands of black tea with blueberries from Patagonia and orange zest). 180 cc
Juice of red fruits (blackberries, raspberries and blueberries). 90 cc
Orange juice. 1 tablespoon
Lime juice. ½ tablespoon
Honey homemade syrup. (in a saucepan, over low heat, mix equal parts of water and organic honey). 75 cc
Ice. 8 cubes
Preparation:
Infuse 1.7 grams of tea in strands per 180 cc of water.
In a blender to make frozen drinks mix all the ingredients.
Decorate with some red berries and a fresh baby-blue eucalyptus branch.
Lima Thai
Lima thai, the most requested ice tea.
Ingredients (for a large bottle)
Tea in strands Almond Toffee (A very soft black tea, combined with slices of almonds, toasted pistachio seeds and calendula petals). 240 cc
Juice of freshly squeezed oranges. 45 cc
Neutral syrup to sweeten. (Mix over low heat, in a saucepan, equal parts of water and organic sugar). 45 cc
Lime juice. 30 cc
Passion fruit pulp, with seeds! (Do not worry, when liquefying, you have some spectacular pints to the final drink). 30 cc
Ice. 8 cubes
Preparation
Infuse 3.6 grams of tea into strands in 240 cc of water.
In a blender to make frozen drinks mix all the ingredients.
Cut a slice of lime and decorate the jar or glass.
With a zester, grate the lime shell, and create lines in various directions.
Use a wooden stick to hold the segment in the mouth of the jar.