Tea Time

"Sure, you could travel to an exotic island paradise once a year. Or, you could put that exotic island paradise into a glass and enjoy it any time. This sweet, icy drink infused with hibiscus, exotic herbs and natural tropical flavors may not have all the advantages of a week on a beach. On the other hand, it’s significantly more available. Invigorating hibiscus, subtle citrus, tart rose hips, juicy mango, sweet passion fruit, tangy lemon juice and ice."


Just the description makes my mouth water. Then, the barista hands you this beautiful, hot pink concoction.

starbucks.com

This is starbuck's tazo shaken iced passion tea lemonade. Oh yummy.

The first time I tasted it, I knew I had to figure out how to duplicate it.  First of all, the nearest starbucks is 25 minutes from our house.  And secondly, I can't justify paying  three dollars for twelve ounces of tea as often as I'd like to.  So, I have experimented and come up with something very, very close to starbuck's delicious creation.  I've been making this like crazy the past few weeks, so I thought I would share!

First, you'll need a microwave-safe mug filled with 4-6 oz of water.  I just fill it up about halfway.  Microwave for 30 seconds.

Then comes the tea.  I use one bag.  Place in the mug of hot water.

Let the tea sit 3-5 min.  Remove the tea bag.  And now it's time to sweeten things up a bit.

I use one packet of splenda, or whatever artificial sweetner I have on hand.  I always order mine at starbucks with half the sweetner... so you might want to add a little more splenda here if you like things sweet.  Now, give the tea a good stir to get all the sweetner dissolved.

Get a glass of ice ready.

And pour tea from the mug into the glass, right over all that ice.  Now see how that only filled my glass about 3/4 of the way?  Fill it up the rest of the way with cold water.

Add about a tablespoon of lemon juice -- freshly-squeezed or bottled -- into the tea.  Again, this is something that is completely customizable to your taste.  If you like it more tart, add some more!  If you're wanting something more mellow, add a little less!  Now, give it a good stir.

And there's the finished product.

Check out that color!  And it tastes as good as it looks.  Enjoy!