Summer tea blend DIY

Make your own loose leaf tea with this easy Summer tea blend DIY tutorial! 

DIY summer tea blend for hot or iced tea! Perfect easy summer drink where YOU get to control all the ingredients and really make it taste exactly how you want to.

It sometimes seems as if all we discuss during summer is vacation, ice cream flavors and drinks. Do you feel like that too? As we float through the hot humid days, I can’t help but think about drinks a lot, which is why I am sharing this Summer tea blend DIY.

Admittedly, I drink more water than anything else. 90% of the time I’m a water drinker, it’s how I’ve always been, but I love an occasional cocktail (see example 1 – raspberry granita rosé cocktail, or  2 – Hugo ) or iced tea (as evidenced by this cold brew iced tea recipe, or this apricot tea or this nettle iced tea). And of course iced coffee, but that’s more of a treat and not something I quench my thirst with. 

Summer tea blend DIY tutorial for hot or iced tea! Perfect easy summer drink where YOU get to control all the ingredients and really make it taste exactly how you want to.

So let’s go back to iced tea. Although there are numerous recipes out there, I keep making up new ones and I realize the options are endless. But when I have something stuck in my head, I just can’t let it go. This time it all started with candied pineapple. 

I was really craving something new and I never knew people use candied fruit in tea blends. But they do! I think even Starbucks has something like that going on. Anyway, I went to the grocery store as well as a tea specialty store and I picked up a nice selection of flavors, threw them all together and created this recipe for a summer tea blend. Well, a how-to or DIY for making a blend as this isn’t really a recipe. 

Now, I know there are more tea blends in my future. No doubt about that. But this is my current summer tea blend or maybe we can call it the 2018 summer tea blend. That sounds nice, right? Almost like a Drake song. 

Summer tea blend DIY tutorial for hot or iced tea! Perfect easy summer drink where YOU get to control all the ingredients and really make it taste exactly how you want to.

So what exactly is in this summer tea blend? Well, it’s part fruity part herbal, very much my favorite combination. I make it with a mix of dried hibiscus petals, chamomile flowers and lemon grass. To this I add candied pineapple (which adds some sweetness!), freeze-dried strawberries and blackberries as well as rose petals or buds, when I have those on hand. Or sometimes it’s lavender! Depends entirely on my mood.

The end result is a gorgeous blend that smells like a summer cocktail and fruit salad in one, served alongside a bouquet of wild flowers on a plush blanket laid down under the biggest lemon tree. DREAMY. 

And as you read the recipe instructions you’ll see that I talk a lot about adjusting things to your taste. And you most definitely should! Our personal tastes may differ so take my summer tea blend and change the ratios of ingredients, if needed, to turn it into YOUR summer tea blend. 

Cheers!! 

Summer tea blend DIY tutorial for hot or iced tea! Perfect easy summer drink where YOU get to control all the ingredients and really make it taste exactly how you want to.

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Summer tea blend DIY

Make your own fruity herbal tea blend with this easy DIY!

  • Author: Alice
  • Prep Time: 5 mins
  • Cook Time: 10 mins
  • Total Time: 15 mins
  • Category: Drink

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2 tablespoons dried hibiscus flowers
  • 3 tablespoons dried lemongrass
  • 3 tablespoons dried chamomile flowers
  • about 20g (1/2 cup) dried strawberries, chopped
  • 23 tablespoons dried blackberries
  • a handful (about 1/3 cup) candied pineapple, chopped
  • optional additions: culinary grade rose petals or buds, lavender flowers

Instructions

  1. Put all ingredients in a shallow bowl and stir to combine.
  2. To make tea, bring a pot of water to a boil. Add tea to the water, steep for 10-15 minutes, then strain. For a cup of warm tea, you only need about 2 teaspoons of the tea blend. For an iced tea, make a stronger tea by using 1-2 tablespoons per each cup. Serve over ice with lemon slices.
  3. Keep leftover tea in a tin or jar.

Notes

If you like a sweet tea, use a sweetener of your choice. Simple syrup and rock candy (sugar swizzle) sticks are popular choices, but anything works.

If you can’t find certain loose leaf teas, you can buy tea bags instead and use those along with the mixture.

 

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