Drinks

Cooling and hydrating Earl Grey iced tea recipe

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From healthy hearts to radiant skin, there’s a host of wellbeing benefits to staying hydrated. Top up your water levels with this thirst-quenching and fragrant Earl Grey iced tea recipe by Rosie Reynolds. It’s the ideal drink for feeling refreshed and keeping cool during the warm summer months.

Earl Grey tea is rich in antioxidants, which help to fight off free radicals that can cause cell damage and disease. Research suggests that bergamot may help to lower cholesterol levels.

We use honey in this iced tea recipe to naturally add some sweetness. Honey – specifically raw honey – is thought to have antioxidant properties, helping to mop up any damaging free radicals that are generated in our cells during metabolism. Antioxidant levels vary from honey to honey (depending on the bees’ floral source and location), but typically the darker the honey means a higher value of antioxidants.

Use agave syrup in place of honey as a vegan alternative. The syrup is made by processing the sap from the agave plant. It’s low in glucose, giving it an average GI value of around 15. This means it takes longer to raise blood sugar levels.

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Ingredients

  • 8 good-quality Earl Grey tea bags
  • 4 bergamots (You can also use limes here if bergamots aren’t available.)
  • 500ml ice-cold filtered or mineral water

To serve

  • Plenty of ice
  • Honey or agave syrup to taste

Method

  1. Put the tea bags into a large jug and top up with a litre of boiling water from the kettle. Juice three bergamots and add the juice to the hot tea, drop the juiced fruit halves into the jug, cover and leave to cool completely.
  2. Strain the tea through a fine sieve into a large serving jug, discard the tea bags and fruit shells. Top the tea up with the ice-cold filtered or mineral water. Fill eight long glasses with ice and a slice of bergamot, pour over the tea and serve with honey to taste.