Hot summer days are fast approaching; it is important to stay hydrated during those days. Besides drinking lots of water, drinking iced tea will do the trick as well. Isn’t it relaxing and fun – to sip some tasty and nourishing iced tea while sitting at your backyard at one of those quiet summer nights? Not only iced tea is tasty and nourishing, but it is also a guilt-free drink. If you choose to make your iced tea without any sugar, you are consuming lots of nutrients without adding extra calories to your diet.

Traditional iced tea is made from green, black or oolong tea. But there are also tons of option to make your cool summer drink with tisanes – blend of flowers, herbs and fruits. Most of the times, tisanes are also referred to as herbal teas. My personal favorite is Fairytale tisane, which is naturally sweet thanks to its floral and slightly spicy taste.

There are some tricks that you need to know though in order to prepare the best iced tea.

“Canadian Living” Magazine shares the important rules of making iced tea:

“Iced tea is a favourite summer sipper and easy to make from scratch. You probably already have everything you need in your cupboards right now to whip up a tasty pitcher of iced tea. All it takes is a few tea bags, water and a bit of sugar and you are on your way. Making iced tea from scratch also lets you control the amount of sugar you use, or you can skip the sugar altogether and just add lemon for a tart, thirst-quenching drink.

1. Use enough tea bags

When foods are served cold, the flavours become dull. A stronger tea – such as Darjeeling, Jasmine or green teas – is necessary to have a well-flavoured tea served cold. Use two tea bags for every 3 cups of water for best results.

2. Don’t oversteep

If you prefer your tea stronger, use more tea bags rather than lengthening the steeping time. Allowing tea to overstep brings out the tannins in the tea and can make it bitter. For weaker tea, reduce the steeping time rather than taking away tea bags for better flavour.

3. Add sugar to hot water

If you sweeten your tea, add the sugar to the hot tea in order to dissolve the grains. If you prefer to sweeten your tea afterwards as per each persons taste, use a simple syrup rather than granulated sugar which will leave sugar grains in your glass.

4. Cool before refrigerating

Putting hot tea into a cold fridge will make your tea cloudy. Allow your tea to cool before you refrigerate.  If you do end up with cloudy tea, try adding a bit of boiling water to it – it will sometimes do the trick!

5. Keep it real

Don’t use artificial lemon juice. Only use real fresh squeezed lemon juice from fresh lemons for the very best flavour.”

For full article on secrets of the best iced tea click here.

Whether you enjoy quite family time or have a huge summer party at your place, make sure you prepare some iced tea to treat your friends and family.