Shaken Tea Lemonade

Summer is the season for delicious drinks. I fell in love with Shaken Tea Lemonade when I discovered it at Starbucks. So amazingly good! I was working as a Flight Attendant and you live in airports (and hotels) and Starbucks has a huge airport presence. It was so delicious, but I couldn't afford to keep shelling out almost 5 bucks for one every time I got a craving, so I figured out how to make them on the airplane (for almost free.. I just had to bring the teabags. I don't like them made with the generic black tea that is catered.)

I had figured out how to make lemonade on the plane (for free) when I had been flying pregnant. We had lemons for first class cocktails and there were always a ton left over, so I would put them to use as an anti-morning-sickness drink. I figured I could just add tea to the lemonade and go for it.

I have no idea how much this costs, because prices for lemons change and maybe you will buy some super-expensive tea, but I know it won't cost you close to $5 per serving.

This recipe makes about 5 servings... It really depends on how much you drink at a time!

Reasons why this drink is awesome:

1. It is not too sweet, but you can make it that way. You control the sweetness. You control the sugar.
2. It is the most gorgeous color
3. You can get antioxidants from the tea! Yay!

You will need:

3 tea bags - Something fruity. I used Lipton's Temptation Fruits, but I have used others. Berries or peach go very well with the lemon

3 cups of boiling water

1/2 cup of sugar - You can put more or less depending on how sweet you like this

4 Tablespoons lemon juice - Mine is frozen into cubes 2T each. This is my advice... buy lemons on sale, juice them, and freeze them into cubes. Measure how much goes into each cube and you will always be good to go!

2 cups of ice

First you need to brew your tea. Pour the hot water over the bags. I never steep mine for more than 1 minute. I know everyone is an expert, but I find it gets bitter after that.

Add your sugar. When making lemonade, you use simple syrup. You need to take advantage of the hot water when making the tea so that the sugar melts completely. I also add the lemon juice at this time so it can melt.

Pull out the teabags and add the ice. This will cool the tea down, but it won't be super cold.

Stir!

Pour over ice in a tall glass and enjoy! I advise stirring/mixing/shaking before you pour. Every time.

Now if you are a loner and don't want a whole pitcher to yourself, you can make this for 1. (Like I would do on the plane!)

Tea lemonade for 1:

Brew 1 bag of tea in a half cup of water. Add 1 1/2 T sugar and the juice of half a lemon. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved and pour over a tall glass of ice.


So there you have it. A delicious summer drink! Enjoy!

Jewels

when life sends you lemons

I Love Lemonade.
I really do.
I love real lemonade.. so yummy... made from lemons and water and sugar.
I also love to save money and lemons are not always super cheap... so i kind of made a recipe and a way to make it that saves some money. Yay!



So first... you need to buy lemons when they are on sale. Or maybe you are super lucky and have a lemon tree... even better! Anyway... get them on sale and then get to slicing and squeezing.

So you need to find a way to freeze the juice 1/2 cup at a time. If you have some small resealable containers (tupperware, gladware, yogurt containers with lids) you can just put 1/2 cup in there and put the lid on it. I have tested and found ice cube trays where 5 ice cubes equals 1/2 cup so I pour the juice in the cube tray and freeze. For those who are curious... lemons vary quite a bit in size so I'd say 3-5 lemons can equal 1/2 cup of juice.

So I just pop these in a baggie after they are frozen.
Whatever you do... ice cubes or a container, you should put the recipe on the lid. Just write it on a post-it and stick it on. If you are using a baggie, most freezer ones have a place to write on.

Before I quite get to that I have to talk about simple syrup. Simple syrup is a way to flavor cold beverages with sugar. You see... if you just pour the sugar into something cold it will not fully dissolve and your drink won't be properly sweetened and you will have sugar sludge at the bottom. No bueno. Don't freak out, it is easy to make.

1 part water
1 part sugar
heat

That's really it. You can heat it on the stove on medium heat until the sugar dissolves or you can pop it in the microwave for 1 minute and stir. No biggie.

So here is the recipe:

1/2 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup simple syrup
4 cups ice water

Here is what you should label your lemon juice with:

Lemonade
add: 1/2 cup simple syrup
       4 cups ice water

Or if you have cubes -

Lemonade
Mix 5 cubes with 1/2 cup simple syrup and 4 cups ice water

Make sure you put that this is for lemonade. Why you ask? Well.... I plan on putting up more drink recipes in the future so you will need to differentiate in your freezer! Also you don't want people to accidentally use your lemon juice cubes!

Anyway... it is fantastic lemonade. You can jazz it up by using vanilla sugar or carbonated water, but I always prefer the classic.


BONUS CRAFT IDEA

You will have a bunch of lemon rinds leftover! If you are making lemonade for a party (this recipe is super easy to double, quadruple, etc.) you can make fantastic little candle holders!

Some lemon halves may stand up straight on their own. If not, you can slice off the bottom to create a flat surface.

Pop in a tea light and you are in business! This is a cheap and festive way to light a table or deck rail.


Hope you enjoyed!

Jewels