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