It's #EasterBrunchWeek and this week, we're sharing loads of Easter recipes and celebrating the upcoming holiday with an amazing giveaway, sponsored by Eggland's Best, GROSCHE International, Hamilton Beach, Nordic Ware, Rhodes Bread, Silpat, Stonyfield and Wewalka.
I have a lot of fun making drinks. I think it's because they don't take a lot of time to make and sometimes I get bored of plain old water or iced tea. There are so many different versions of coffee, water, tea, and cocktails that you can make so I figure why not try as many as I can? Usually I just grab a single cup or glass and go from there but this time I did things a little differently.
I recently received the GROSCHE Rio Sangria Pitcher & Water Infuser Carafe. This thing is beautiful. It is a hand-blown glass carafe that holds 1 liter of liquid and is great for infusing water, making sangria, or adding flavor to any cold beverage. I thought it would be fun to make a beverage that I could share at book club because the carafe is perfect for setting on a table and allowing guests to serve themselves.
I want to take a quick second and talk about GROSCHE Safe Water Project. For every product sold, GROSCHE provides 50+ days of safe drinking water through people in need. So not only did I get a pretty carafe, I felt good about helping people in need around the globe!
So I decided I wanted to make a flavored iced tea. I'm big in to flavored teas because the possibilities are endless. What I don't like is going to a restaurant, ordering a flavored tea, and having it taste like candy because of the amount of sugar in the beverage. There is no need for iced tea to be that sweet. I like to add a little bit of honey so that it is lightly sweetened but it lets the natural flavor of the fruits really shine through.
The tea I made was a Strawberry Hibiscus Iced Tea. I used hibiscus tea mixed with strawberries, lemon, mint, and honey. Those are the only ingredients and it looked so pretty all mixed up in the carafe! It was a pretty deep red color but had the red strawberries, yellow lemons, and flecks of green mint floating in it.
I poured the tea over glasses of ice and then served them with a slice or two of lemon and strawberries on the side. I like doing that better because the fruit that sits in the tea gets really soggy and I like my fruit to look good when serving it in a beverage. It would be easy enough to just put out a bowl of lemon and strawberry slices along side the carafe so guests can serve themselves.
- 3 hibiscus tea bag
- 3 c. water
- ¼ c. honey
- ½ c. strawberries, sliced
- 1 lemon, cut in half then into slices
- 3 T. fresh mint, roughly chopped
- Extra strawberry slices, lemon slices, and mint sprigs for garnish
- Boil water and pour 3 cups of hot water into a bowl. Place the 3 hibiscus tea bags in the bowl with the hot water and steep 10 minutes.
- Remove the tea bags and add in the honey. Mix well. Allow the mixture to cool completely.
- Pour the hibiscus tea into an infuser pitcher or carafe. (I used the GROSCHE Rio Sangria Pitcher because there is no need to strain out the fruit.)
- Add in the strawberries, lemon slices, and mint. Mix well.
- Refrigerate for at least 4 hour before serving.
- Pour the mixture over glasses of ice and top with sliced lemons, strawberries, and sprigs of fresh mint. Enjoy!
Annette
I make desserts and lets make the main meal. My favorite to make is Red Velvet Cake.