Summer doesn’t have to be dripping with sugar to be enjoyable. Just grab a nice cold glass of this refreshing blackberry mojito green tea and head outside.
“Summer afternoon—summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.”
― Henry James
Hey Mama! Pull up a chair here on the front porch with me. Can I pour you a jar of iced tea? Why, yes, it is rather exotic looking. It’s from a wonderful recipe that my friend Samantha from AIP Sisterhood put together. Samantha writes about apartment homesteading, simple living, and healing her autoimmune condition through diet and lifestyle. She’s also a wife and a childbirth doula. And she’s here today to share her lovely recipe. Enjoy!
Enter Samantha
Sweetpotatoes and Social Change Samantha
Sun, warmth, long days, gardens filled with vegetables, trees and bushes bending beneath the weight of fresh fruit… this is summer. All throughout the winter I think about relaxing outside on summer days, listening to the birds and feeling the sun. I am definitely a summer girl, but that happy place wouldn’t be complete without a cold refreshing drink. In the South, where I am from, this means a glass of lemonade or sweet tea. Filled with sugar. That’s where my happy thoughts end.
Many common sweet tea brands, such as Lipton, contain Sucralose, a sweetener more commonly referred to as Splenda. According to this article put out by the Natural Institute of Healing, Splenda was recently labeled as a product to use with caution by The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI). Sucralose contains more of the toxic chemical chlorine than aspertame, which has been rated as a product to avoid, and Splenda has been shown to cause headaches, dizziness, and blurred vision. In fact, it is currently being evaluated by the National Toxicity Program as being potentially carcinogenic. Obviously, it is a sweetener to avoid, no matter how hot the summer day.
That being said, you don’t have spend the summer sipping nothing but water. This blackberry mojito green tea is refreshing, exciting, and perfect for summer days. The flavors are not overpowering, and the honey gives it a subtle sweetness that won’t make your teeth feel like they are about the fall out of your head (unlike that Southern sweet tea you’ll find at every summer barbeque and potluck).
Summer doesn’t have to be dripping with sugar to be enjoyable. Just grab a nice cold glass of this tea and head outside.
Blackberry Mojito Green Tea
Takes 15 mins, makes 2 quarts.
Ingredients
- 4-6 bags of organic green tea
- 1 qt boiling filtered water
- 1 qt of cold filtered water
- Approximately 10 fresh mint leaves
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ boiling water
- Juice of 2 limes
- ½ cup fresh blackberries
- Approximately ½ cup of filtered water
Directions
- Boil one quart of water on the stove.
- Add in your tea bags and mint leaves. The amount of tea bags depends on how strong you want your tea.
- In a separate pot, boil ¼ cup of water and add in your honey.
- Stir to combine and then pour the honey mixture into your tea.
- Allow everything to steep for 10 minutes.
- While your tea is steeping, juice your limes.
- Next, put your blackberries and ½ cup of water into your food processor or blender until the juice is thin enough to pour through a strainer, adding more water if necessary.
- When your tea is done steeping, discard the tea bags and mint leaves and pour your cold water into your pitcher followed by your hot tea and honey mixture.
- Add in your lime juice and blackberry juice and stir.
- Finally, pour the tea through a mesh strainer to remove any pulp or blackberry seeds.
- Garnish with lime or mint and enjoy!
How about you?
What are some of your go-to drinks for these splendid summer afternoons? Share with us in the comments below!
