Blueberry Mint Iced Tea

If you remember from my last post, Scott and I went blueberry picking and now have approximately 6 lbs. of blueberries sitting in our freezer to use up. Not too bad, considering we started out with 11 lbs...

We made this cool, fresh, fruity iced tea the day we picked the blueberries and man! What a great finish to a hot and sweaty morning of blueberry picking!

What you need for a 2-qt. pitcher:
4 cups water, boiling
4 cups water, room temp. OR several handfuls of ice (if you don't have time to refrigerate the tea before serving)
4-5 bags of black tea (we use Lipton)
1/2 cup of sugar
10-12 fresh mint leaves
Pinch of baking soda
2 handfuls of fresh blueberries

What to do:
Pour the sugar into the bottom of the pitcher.
Place the mint leaves in the pitcher with the sugar and crush with the end of a wooden spoon to release the fragrant oils.
Pour boiling water into the pitcher and place the tea bags in the water to steep for at least 10-20 minutes.
Remove the tea bags and fill the rest of the pitcher with room temperature water (or put enough ice in the pitcher so the liquid reaches the top, if you don't have time to refrigerate the tea prior to serving).
Stir the sugar with a large spoon until it dissolves completely.
Add a pinch of baking soda and stir until dissolved. This will remove the bitter after taste that results from the tannin released from the tea.
Crush the blueberries in your hand to release the juices and place them into the pitcher. Stir until well combined with the tea.
Allow to rest for approximately 10 more minutes.
Serve over ice in big, 1990s era glasses - or Mason jars. Whatever suits your fancy ;)


Happy sipping,

HK