Wednesday, June 1, 2011

Mint Simple Syrup for Iced Tea

Although I've been drinking iced tea here in Georgia for quite a few weeks now, I wanted to honor today's kickoff of National Iced Tea Month by sharing a new simple syrup recipe I tried over the weekend using fresh spearmint leaves.

As every sweet tea-swilling southerner can attest, few things are more annoying than getting to a restaurant, asking for sweet tea, and being told to add a packet of sugar to the glass of cold tea. You end up with unsweet tea with grains of undissolved sugar in the bottom of the glass. Making a simple syrup solves that problem! All you do is heat equal parts granulated sugar and water (I used 1 cup of each) and stir 'til all the sugar is dissolved. That's it! Then, you can keep unsweet tea on hand for the unsweet crowd but still be able to quickly sweeten it for those who like a sweetened drink. After I turned off the heat, I flavored this simple syrup by adding a handful of mint leaves which I left in the cooling syrup for about 30 minutes and then strained off.

I poured some of the simple syrup in this three-inch cream pitcher so it would be easily available, and there's more of the syrup in a plastic container in the fridge. I poured about two tablespoons of it into a glass of unsweetened iced tea and oh my, did the spearmint flavor shine through. Heavenly!

When you strain it, it's perfectly clear, as you can see here. This simple syrup was so easy to make, I may try it again soon with other herbs and perhaps some fresh strawberries and peaches later this summer. It's my little tribute to National Iced Tea Month!

10 comments:

  1. That sounds delicious!!! I love iced tea.

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  2. That must give a refreshing twist to the simple syrup.

    Your green and gold cream jug is very pretty.

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  3. mmmm.....I'm growing chocolate mint in my backyard garden this year and have been looking for a syrup recipe to use this in. Thanks!!

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  4. I LOVE mint in my iced tea! Great idea, thanks.

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  5. I, too, enjoy mint leaves in my tea. And I am excited because the mint I planted late last year is growing like crazy!
    Thanks for the syrup tip.

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  6. This is a great idea. I have a huge mint plant that is out of control and have been trying to come up with ways to use some of it. Thanks!

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  7. I love celebrating National Iced Tea month with my favorite tea Luzianne! I also have a HUGE patch of mint leaves in my garden that I use in my tea maker when I brew it.

    Luzianne is giving away free tea for National Iced Tea Month...

    http://www.facebook.com/luziannetea

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  8. Great plan, Angela! And we're finally gonna hit 80s this weekend!

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  9. With the close to 100 degree days we've had lately this would really hit the spot.

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