a bit of green

If you’ve ever visited Greece in the summer you will probably know how hot it can get here. While going through one of our usual “over 35 degrees Celsius” weeks I discovered a very refreshing drink, Lipton’s lemon flavored Green Ice Tea. It was a very convenient discovery as I am currently trying to reduce my coffee and coke intake, without lowering my caffeine intake too much to cause withdrawal symptoms. However, Lipton’s product is sadly packed with preservatives, loads of sugar and taste enhancers. Not to mention that it costs €1.50 per 0.5 liter bottle.

So, I went out and bought some unflavored organic green tea. I paid €2.83 for a package containing 25 tea bags (there are 26 inside actually, but it says 25 on the package), which sounds pretty reasonable to me. I also used one (organic) lemon, one tablespoon of sugar and one tablespoon of (organic!) honey. Here’s what you need to do:

1. Boil 2 glasses of water.
2. When the water starts boiling, turn the heat off and add 2 tea bags.
3. Add the sugar and honey and stir a bit. They both dissolve a lot better in hot water. Also squeeze the lemon and add the juice.
4. Leave the tea bags in the hot water for no more than 5 minutes, or the tea will start tasting bitter.
5. Pour into a 1 liter container (preferably filled with ice to chill it quicker) and top up with water.
6. Chill the mixture in the fridge for a couple of hours.
7. Enjoy!

As you can see from the picture above, we served it with some basil leaves (and ice, of course) from our own window garden to make it even more refreshing. You can also add some cinnamon sticks to the hot water for an extra taste punch.

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