Fruity Summer Iced Teas

Now that summer weather has arrived, I have some suggestions for tasty, fruity iced teas that don't require sugar or other sweetener.

Harney & Sons Raspberry Herbal comes not only in individual sachets and loose tea packages, but  in large bags sized for making 2 quarts of iced tea.  For those who don't like hibiscus, this tea has hibiscus as its first ingredient, but it isn't very noticeable in the flavor.  The longer you steep the tisane, the more intense the flavor.

Adagio Blood Orange Herbal  provides an iced tea brew that is slightly sweet but also tart and tasty.  For iced tea, I let the tisane steep for 10 minutes.

Adagio Berry Blast Herbal is smoother and sweeter than the Blood Orange brew.  Again, I recommend a 8-10 minute brewing time to get the most out of the tisane.

If you can find it, Taylors of Harrogate's Blackberry and Elderflower herbal makes a simply amazing iced tea with a unique combination of flavors.  It seems to have been discontinued, but I was able to buy a box fairly recently, so there are still boxes in circulation.  I used 6 tea bags for 2 quarts of iced tea.  I'm going to be sad when I use up this box.

Blackberry and Elderflower has been replaced by Blackberry and Raspberry, but I haven't yet had occasion to try that.

If you want some caffeine in your iced tea, I highly recommend Republic of Tea's Raspberry Quince.  It's very slightly sweet but different enough from an ordinary raspberry tea.

Republic of Tea has come out with several blends in large pouches for making iced tea.  I've yet to try them, so no recommendations yet!

Alys's Tea Party Blend: Bitty Battle Bard Brew

I haven't had the chance to order and try this one myself, but +Mia Petticord , aka Bitty Battle Bard, sampled her own brew today and was quite pleased with it:

"So my tea came in today and I'm super happy with it. It tastes...cozy is the best word I've got. It tastes like maple oatmeal, and hot chocolate, and an after taste that reminds me of good porter. This is a Good Thing (even though I can see how all those flavors could go Very Wrong together). It's got a rich mouth feel even without cream or milk and just kind of melts into the kind of feeling of having just had oatmeal instead of a cloying weird after feel."

I'm delighted that she's pleased with it.   So far I have way more hits than misses in making blends for my friends, which makes me happy.