A hot summer calls for ice cold drinks! It’s important to stay hydrated so why not do that with a delicious iced tea lemonade. This would be great to make a big batch and serve to guests – simply multiply recipe measurements accordingly.

Both items are good on their own but I love the combination of tea and lemonade. For this recipe today, I’ve used passion fruit tea – herbal so it’s caffeine free – but you can use any variety of tea. Some of my favourites are green and earl grey teas. The process is the same no matter the kind of tea being used.

Making iced tea is so simple, and it is a LOT cheaper to make yourself. You don’t have to spend $3-4 to buy one at a café. You can steep a big batch of tea at the beginning of a week and just store it in the fridge for whenever you want a cold drink.

Aside from tea, the other ingredients you will need are lemon juice and simple syrup. I drink a lot of iced coffee in the summer (also homemade) so I always have simple syrup on hand. It is made by combining equal parts water and sugar, then heating the mixture just until the sugar is dissolved. It is a great way to add a little sweetness to cold drinks without having to worry about feeling little granules of sugar.

For the recipe, the measurements written are for my taste. You can always adjust the amount of lemon juice and sugar to make your drink more/less sour or sweet.

**Looking for a spiked variation? Add some vodka to the iced tea lemonade to give an extra kick. I would recommend about 1 shot (1.5oz) per 1 cup of iced tea. Again, you can adjust that to your preferences, but remember to drink responsibly.

However you prepare this drink, you are sure to love it!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup steeped tea* (see below)
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp simple syrup
• Ice

Directions:

1. In glass, combine tea, lemon juice and simple syrup. Top with ice. Serve.

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*Steeped Tea: Fill kettle or large pot with water and bring to a boil. Steep tea bags (1 bag:1 cup water) in the hot water for 10 minutes (Note: if using black tea, I would only steep for 4-5 minutes). Remove tea bags. Cool tea completely before transferring to glass bottles/jars and storing in the fridge.