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By Jee Choe
on May 01, 2023
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There’s nothing more refreshing on a hot summer day than a glass of iced tea. From brisk black teas to fruity green teas, see how to make them perfectly with tips from a Tea Sommelier.
Table of Contents
- Best Iced Tea Recipes
- 3 Ways to Make Iced Tea
- Tea Sommelier’s Tips
- 17 Best Iced Tea Recipes for Summer
- Related
Best Iced Tea Recipes
Summer is no doubt the season of iced tea. Cool and refreshing, a glass of brisk iced tea is perfect for sipping on hot, sweltering days.
Iced tea recipes can go beyond just plain green or black. There are many ways to get creative, like infusing it with dried flower buds or shaking it up with lemonade to make an Arnold Palmer.
3 Ways to Make Iced Tea
Cold brewing takes the longest, hot brewing is the most popular, and ice-chill is the quickest.
Cold Brew
Cold brewing involves putting tea in cold water in the refrigerator for a few hours.
Hot Brew
Hot brewing tea is fairly easy but steeping it incorrectly can lead to a bitter drink. Tea is brewed hot then cooled in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. The tea is then poured over ice.
Ice-Chill
With the ice-chill method, tea is brewed hot, then chilled quickly using a lot of ice.
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Tea Sommelier’s Tips
Use an electric kettle with a temperature setting.
One of the most important things to keep in mind when brewing tea is the temperature and time since it varies by tea variety.
For the most accurate temperature, use an electric kettle with a temperature setting.
Cold brew tea makes a better tasting iced tea.
Cold brew tea takes the longest to make, but produces a smoother, less astringent flavor.
It’s my favorite way to make iced tea.
Use filtered water.
Filtered water produces the best-tasting drink. Make ice using filtered water if possible.
Sweeten iced tea with simple syrup.
The best way to sweeten iced tea is to use simple syrup since it’s already a liquid and easily mixes with cold beverages.
Use flavored simple syrups to sweeten and flavor iced teas.
RELATED: 15 Simple Syrup Recipes
17 Best Iced Tea Recipes for Summer
1. Lemon Iced Tea
There’s nothing quite like sipping on a brisk and refreshing lemon iced tea on a hot summer day.
Making the drink at home means you’ll always get a perfect balance of tart to sweet, along with a bold tea flavor that’s often missing from store-bought mixes.
For a smooth black tea that’s not bitter, it’s important to steep the leaves at the correct temperature for just a few minutes.
Follow my tea brewing tips and you’ll have a glass ready to drink in no time.
Ingredients: Black tea, lemon juice, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
2. Arnold Palmer Drink
If you’re a fan of Arnold Palmer drinks, you MUST try my homemade recipe.
Both the lemonade and the iced tea are made from scratch for the best flavor.
The black tea is made using the cold brew method, which is milder and less astringent. To make the lemonade, you only need lemon juice, sugar, and water.
Pour the lemonade into the glass first, followed by the ice and tea to get a pretty, layered effect.
Ingredients: Black tea, fresh lemon, sugar, water, ice
SEE RECIPE
3. Iced Black Tea
Brewing the perfect cup of iced black tea is easy and quick.
This 4-ingredient recipe takes a handful of minutes to brew and cool.
It uses tea bags for speedy cleanup and you can choose any flavor of black tea, like English Breakfast or Ceylon, that you prefer.
Iced black tea can be enjoyed unsweetened or, as the recipe includes, with a bit of sugar.
If you’re feeling creative, you swap the sugar out for a flavored syrup such as ginger or peach.
Ingredients: Black tea, sugar, water, ice
SEE RECIPE
4. Strawberry Iced Tea
Make the most of strawberry season by turning the ruby-red berries into a syrup for iced tea!
The homemade strawberry syrup adds a delicious fruit flavor to the green tea.
This recipe features a tea that is brewed hot, then cooled down quickly with ice. To make sure it’s not bitter, follow the steeping guide.
Add the strawberry syrup at the very end to sweeten and flavor the iced beverage.
Ingredients: Green tea, strawberry syrup, water, ice
SEE RECIPE
5. Iced Green Tea
Stay cool and energized on warm days with this iced green tea.
The 4-ingredient drink uses an ice-chill method that takes just a few minutes.
Simply brew the tea with hot water, then mix with ice cubes to quickly cool it down.
You can easily scale this recipe up to make a big batch for spring and summer parties or customize it with flavored syrups.
Ingredients: Green tea, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
6. Starbucks Iced Black Tea Lemonade
Save money by making this copycat Starbucks Iced Black Tea Lemonade at home.
This drink is their take on an Arnold Palmer, so it’s a mix of tea with lemonade.
To recreate it, you need 4 ingredients, including Tazo Awake English breakfast tea bags that come closest in flavor to Starbucks black tea, along store-bought lemonade.
Shake it up in a co*cktail shaker as the baristas do to get the tea and lemonade nice and foamy.
Ingredients: English Breakfast tea, lemonade, water, ice
see recipe
7. Peach Iced Tea from Scratch
Skip the flavored tea bags and make peach iced tea from scratch using fresh peaches.
Get sweet ripe peaches to make a syrup that’s combined with a delightful blend of English Breakfast and Earl Grey teas.
If you plan on serving this at a party, get an extra peach to slice as a pretty finishing garnish for each cup.
It’s so tasty and refreshing!
Ingredients: Earl Grey tea, English Breakfast tea, peaches, sugar, water, ice
SEE RECIPE
8. Starbucks Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade
This copycat Starbucks Iced Passion Tango Tea Lemonade is ready in 5 minutes.
The recipe uses a Tazo Passion tea that tastes very similar to the Teavana version that Starbucks uses.
All you have to do it brew it hot and mix it up with lemonade and ice to make the fruity, refreshing drink.
If this is one of your favorite Starbucks beverages, you can make a big batch of the tea ahead of time and store it in the fridge for up to 4 days.
Ingredients: Passion tea, lemonade, water, ice
see recipe
9. Raspberry Iced Tea from Scratch
If you need a big-batch drink for a celebration, look no further than this raspberry iced tea.
The syrup is made with a small box of raspberries, just enough to sweeten a full quart of tea.
Brew the black tea properly and it’ll be brisk, but not bitter. You can use Assam or other varieties like English breakfast tea and Earl Grey.
With its pretty red color, the raspberry iced tea is especially great for bridal showers and graduation parties.
Ingredients: Black tea, raspberries, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
10. Lavender Iced Tea
Full of floral notes, this lavender iced tea is perfect for changing up your regular tea routine.
Just make sure to purchase food-grade lavender that’s safe to consume, not the ones from flower shops.
The buds are steeped in with black tea and lightly sweetened with white sugar, but you can use any sweetener you prefer.
For the best-tasting tea, always use filtered water.
Ingredients: Black tea, dried lavender, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
11. Starbucks Iced Green Tea Lemonade
This copycat Starbucks Iced Green Tea Lemonade recipe is a super refreshing drink.
The sweet-tart drink is made by mixing lemonade, ice, and a green tea concentrate made from Teavana Jade Citrus Mint tea bags.
Always get the tea bags and make your own tea instead of the Tazo boxed brewed concentrated teas which just taste terrible.
Recreating the drink at home allows you to make adjustments based on your preferences, like the amount of ice or additional sweeteners and syrups.
Ingredients: Jade Citrus mint tea, lemonade, water, ice
see recipe
12. Sweet Tea
Sweet tea is a classic Southern drink that only needs a handful of ingredients. It’s simply tea that’s been sweetened with sugar.
Making it from scratch requires finding the perfect ratio of sugar to tea, which you’ll find in this recipe.
No special tools are needed, just a family-sized tea bag that gets simmered in hot water.
It makes 4 cups so this is definitely a great drink for large gathering!
Ingredients: Iced tea bag, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
13. Matcha Lemonade
Instead of black tea, this twist on an Arnold Palmer blends matcha with lemonade.
The sweetness of the lemonade perfectly balances the vegetal bitterness of the matcha, a powdered green tea.
Using the co*cktail shaker technique, you don’t need a whisk in order to make matcha at home.
To form a layered drink, pour the lemonade in the glass first.
Ingredients: Matcha, lemon, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
14. Rose Iced Tea
This rose iced tea has a beautiful floral aroma and brisk, bold tea flavor.
Edible dried rose buds are steeped in any black tea of your choice.
It’s lightly sweetened and you can also top it with a rose cold foam to make it creamy.
If you have remaining rose buds, you can also make a delicious rose bubble tea!
Ingredients: Black tea, dried rose buds, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
15. Iced Watermelon Matcha
Fresh watermelon sweetens this pretty iced matcha drink.
There’s no sugar needed since the summer fruit is already loaded with flavor and natural sweetness.
If you want to create a layered drink, start by filling cups with the watermelon puree, then the matcha.
Top with a tiny slice of watermelon to make it ever prettier!
Ingredients: Watermelon, matcha, water, ice
SEE RECIPE
16. Butterfly Pea Flower Matcha Lemonade
This color-changing drink get its stunning look from butterfly pea flowers.
Native to Southeast Asia, the plant has bright blue flowers that can be steeped in hot water to create a drink.
It reacts with acid so adding an ingredient like lemon will turn it purple.
Butterfly pea flowers have a naturally woody flavor, but it’s not as strong when paired with the matcha and lemonade in this recipe.
This is a pretty drink that’ll definitely get lots of attention!
Ingredients: Butterfly pea flowers, matcha, lemon, sugar, water, ice
see recipe
17. Cold Brew Green Tea with Fresh Mint
Iced green tea is brightened with mint in this cold brew recipe.
Using a cold brew method takes 6 hours to extract full flavor, but it’s super smooth and crisp with no bitterness.
Fresh mint makes it even more refreshing and cool. If you like your iced tea sweet, you can also a homemade simple syrup!
Ingredients: Green tea, mint, water, ice
see recipe
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