Sweet, refreshing raspberry tea is perfect for family picnics, dinner, and after long workouts and jogs around the park. Making it a great raspberry iced tea recipe you’ll love
Hey PBJ’s! I’m back with another delicious, refreshing beverage y’all are gonna love: Raspberry Iced Tea! I told yall Ive been talking baby steps to living a healthier lifestyle….
Now… while this isn’t healthy at all because of the amount of sugar it has in it, it’s still far healthier than a cold can of acidic Soda, which I’ve completely eliminated from my diet for months now.
So I thought, why not share my delicious raspberry tea recipe with them? I love tea, if ya didn’t know, now ya know, ya know… Lol! The flavors I love best are raspberry and strawberry tea.
Anyway, it’s the summer of 2024, and as I promised, I was gonna be posting a lot of beverage and dessert recipes this summer, and so far, I’ve stood on that…
Late night Wawa Runs
So I battle with insomnia; I have for quite some time now, so staying up late was a thing I always did. Even before I had trouble sleeping, I would stay up late because I think I’m a night owl by nature.
And so if I’m up late, you know my sleeping pattern was jacked up and backward. I was sleeping during the day and up most of the night, and when that’s the cause, you find yourself getting hungry and eating late at night.
Now some of you may have never heard of Wawas… it’s a convenient store that can be found all throughout Philadelphia, especially in the county areas.
They’re often a part of gas stations on highways. They sell everything from bubble gum to soda, TV dinners, hot and cold food to soup, coffee, tea, and essential products.
A lot of you may not be familiar with it because it used to be a PA store and a store that can only be found in PA. Now, they have expanded.
They have them on the East Coast now, typically on the side of a road or a gas station on the expressway. But for the most part, they are in the county of Philadephia, mainly the surrounding areas.
And for those of you who don’t know, the name Wawa comes from the name of the location where the company’s first milk plant and headquarters was, and that’s in the Wawa, Pennsylvania area.
That town’s name is derived from the word the Ojibwe word we’we (pronounced “way-way”), which means snow goose. Unfortunately, 8 Wawas have closed in Philadelphia due to excessive crime rates.
Anyways, around 2020 or so, Tina stayed over at my crib and so many people thought she had moved in because she literally never went home. Yall remember Tina from my Lemonade recipe.
Anyway, she and I would catch an Uber to the nearest Wawa, which was usually in the county. We would get a Ceasar wrap, a hot sausage, candy, and ice cream, but what I would always get to drink was raspberry tea.
My love for Raspberry tea became so obvious that Tina would pick me up some if I ever decided to stay in the car and let her go in and pick up some goods for us…
I didn’t even have to tell her what I wanted to drink. She knew to pick me up the raspberry tea. I don’t know, I love tea… hot or cold, and the addition of raspberries just tastes great.
Outback with Lorretta
As I’ve mentioned before, my aunt Lorretta is one of my hang-out buddies, and we always go to Olive Garden, which I shared a funny story about in this post here: Better Than Olive Garden Alfredo Sauce Recipe.
But we always went to several other restaurants, Miller’s Ale, Texas Steakhouse, and Outback Steakhouse. Those were and still are our go-to spots, and many of those restaurants inspired a lot of my recipes.
Whenever we went to one of these spots, I’d always order a raspberry tea with Lemon for a beverage. I remember our last time at Outback Steakhouse, the waiter came out to take our order while I was in the bathroom.
And Lorretta ordered my food and knew to get me a raspberry drink with lemon without me having to tell her. Haha! Just more proof that my love for raspberry tea is well-known. Lol!
Anyway, I’m gonna get straight to talking about how I prepare this recipe with illustrated pictures… and get into all the cooking utensils and ingredients you’re gonna need for this delicious, refreshing raspberry iced tea recipe.
Cookware & Utensils You’ll Need:
Ok, so the cooking utensils and cookware you’re going to need are a Blender to blend the water and fruit, a Large Mixing Bowl to hold the raspberry juice, a Medium Saucepan to boil the raspberry juice and a Big Pot for the tea.
You’re also going to need a Strainer to remove the seeds, a Knife to slice the lemons, a Juicer to extract the lemon juice, and a Big Spoon to stir everything in once you’re done.
Ingredients You’ll Need:
- Lipton Black Tea
- Fresh Raspberries
- Lemons (optional)
- Spring Water
- Sugar
Cleaning the fruit
Ok, so cleaning the fruit is a MUST for me! I have seen and opened many packages of raspberries, and let me just say that they need to be rinsed really well.
Now, some people clean their fruit with all types of products like baking soda, etc etc, but I don’t want all that stuck in my fruit and ruining the taste of my tea. Plus, raspberries are fragile, so yea…
I clean them, but just with a good shake and rinse. So I just place them in a mixing bowl, cover them with cool water, and move them around with my hands as they circle around the bowl. Then, I pour the water out.
Repeat this process until they appear fresh and you don’t see any weird foreign things on them or in the water, which I see a lot of, as you can see in the photo below with the bowl.
Spring water and alternatives
Water is the main ingredient because it’s the base and what’s needed most to make a drink, so you wanna make sure you get some good quality water since that’s going to impact the taste of the tea.
Spigot water is the worst and will reduce the quality of the drink by miles. Using spring water makes a world of difference, and I didn’t notice how much of a difference it makes until I used spigot water.
- Recommended Spring Water: Dasani, Deer Park, Poland Spring, Aquafina, Evian, or Fiji, etc. Use your favorite or whatever spring water you think tastes best.
- Spring water alternative: When I don’t have Spring Water, I just boil spigot water for 30 minutes. There are other, more effective methods for distilling water on YouTube, however. So, just type in how to distill water for video tutorials.
Homemade Raspberry syrup options and alternatives
Ok, so some people like to add syrups to their drinks, and sometimes, raspberry syrup, in particular, can be hard to find at your local grocery store and supermarkets.
So let me get into the most common and simplest way to create raspberry syrup, or any fruit syrup for that matter. The simplest way is to combine sugar and juice extracted from the fruit and boil it until it thickens.
- Option 1: Break down the raspberries with water to create a puree, remove the fuzz and strain the seeds, combine with sugar, and boil it until it thickens into a syrup.
- Option 2: So all the products below can be used to create syrup. All you have to do is put them in a medium-sized saucepan with water, then let it simmer and stir with a whisk until it turns into a loose but thick raspberry syrup.
Let me talk about all 3 (preserve, jam, and jelly) what makes them different, and also which is the best option for homemade syrup, starting with a preserve.
Preserves
Preserve is the best substitution and alternative for syrup and the best option to make syrup with because it’s the least altered form of the fruit and it’s the most preserved.
A preserve is when a fruit is just a little broken down, so it’s still thick, with chunks or pieces of fruit in it and even sometimes seeds. So if you’re using preserve to make a syrup, find a seedless preserve.
When I say preserve is the least altered and broken down, think of fruit placed in a blender and being slightly blended to where there are still whole pieces and chunks of fruit remaining.
This is what makes preserves perfect for syrup because it is the least broken down with the least additives; it’s also the most potent. Preserve is also the thickest of the 3.
Jam
Jam is very similar to preserve. Jam is made with fruit remains and pectin. Pectin is naturally found in and is a carbohydrate in fruits and is used as a settler and thickener to thicken reduced, aka broken down fruit to create jams and jellies.
This can also be used to create a syrup, but it’s less potent than a preserve because of the additional ingredients in it, like the pectin, which is typically used to make Jam.
Jelly
Jelly is fruit broken down to a puree and made with a thickener, such as pectin or gelatin, which thickens the jelly and creates the jello-like texture that it’s known for.
Jelly of all the 3 is the thinnest or most loose. It can also be used to create syrup, but it’s the last one I’d recommend of the 3 since it is the most altered from its original fruit form.
How to make Raspberry syrup (option 1)
If you want to add syrup to this drink for whatever reason, follow these simple instructions, and remember everything mentioned above is only if you don’t have sugar or want to make syrup using a preserve, jam, or jelly.
- Ok, so to make the syrup, you will start from step 6. Instead of pouring all the juice into the pitcher, you will pour 1-1/2 cups of it back into the saucepan.
- Add 3 cups of sugar, and stir over medium heat for about 10 minutes.
- Let it chill for a few minutes to thicken and cool off.
- Pick up and resume the instructions where you left off at step 6 by pouring the tea and the syrup you just made into the pitcher and continue on from there.
Note: If you want to make syrup just to have as a condiment and to keep for other uses or purposes, know that you can always double, triple, or quadruple this recipe if needed.
Sweetener options and Sugar alternatives
White sugar is the best option here, but if you don’t want to use sugar, you can use a little honey. Raspberry iced tea is not a drink that’s typically very sweet anyway, and some people even drink it unsweetened without sugar.
But if you do want it sweet but want to take the healthy route, like I said, honey or raw sugar will suffice and are good sweetener replacements for white sugar.
Add-Ins
Ok, so as y’all have seen plenty of times before, a drink in a pitcher full of a bunch of fruit. The reason for this is to 1. make the drink more appetizing and…
2. enhance the flavor of the drink with the additions. Be mindful that if you add more raspberries and some mint leaves, it will enhance the flavor of the drink.
It would make the raspberry flavor a little stronger over time. I always add a big handful, let’s say about 1/4 cup of raspberries and about 4-5 mint leaves when I’m done stirring in everything.
How to make Raspberry iced tea
1. Making the tea: Ok, so here’s how you make this refreshing drink… you’re first going to start off by boiling your tea.
- I boil it over high heat, and I only boil it until it reaches a rolling boil.
- Then I cut the fire off and just let it sit and marinate until it’s time to mix everything.
2. Clean the raspberries. with a nice rinse and shake.
3. Blend the raspberries with water..
4. Pour raspberry juice into a saucepan, boil, and remove the fuzz until it’s clear.
5. Pour the juice into a mixing bowl through a strainer to remove seeds and discard.
6. Pour the tea and raspberry juice into the pitcher.
7. Slice a lemon and squirt some of the lemon juice into the pitcher.
8. Stir well and add some raspberries and mint leaves if you like.
9. Then place in the refrigerator to chill.
Tips for best results:
- Let the tea bags sit: Let the tea bags sit in the pot of tea until it’s time to add the tea to the pitcher, along with the raspberry juice and or syrup. This will give your tea a stronger, more potent taste.
- When making syrup: Be mindful that sometimes the bubbles may rise and bubble over, so watch this closely and stir… reduce the heat for a bit if it begins to bubble over. Had to mention this because it’s happened to me countless times.
- Make this drink ahead of time: This drink not only takes an hour to make, but it takes at least 5 hours, maybe even longer, like 8, for all the ingredients to marry and for it to taste its best. Drinking it right after is a NO, NO!
Frequently asked questions
- Do you have to add raspberries to the drink? No, but I would. It just makes the drink more appetizing and is for decoration purposes. Over the course of time, meaning hours, the additional raspberries will enhance the raspberry flavor.
That’s it for now yall! If you like this recipe, give it 5 stars, and please share and comment below. To stay in touch, subscribe so you don’t miss any of my new, easy, and delicious recipes coming soon. Love you all, and god bless!
Enjoy, later!
PBJ~
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The Best Raspberry Iced Tea Recipe (Made Easy +Homemade Syrup)
- Prep Time: 1 Hr
- Cook Time: 1 Hr
- Total Time: 1 Hr
- Yield: 14-16
- Category: Beverages
- Method: American
- Cuisine: American
Description
Sweet, refreshing raspberry tea is perfect for family picnics, dinner, and after long workouts and jogs around the park. Making it a great raspberry iced tea recipe you’ll love.
Ingredients
6 Lipton Black Tea Bags
1 gallon water
1 lb Fresh Raspberries
2 Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice
3 Cups White Sugar
Add-ins
1/4 Cup Fresh Raspberries
4-5 Mint Leaves
Instructions
1. Fill a large pot with 3 quarts of water, and add in the lipton tea bags, then boil over high heat until it comes to a rolling boil, about 12 mins; then cut the fire off.
2. Meanwhile, blend the raspberries and the remaing 1 quart of water for 30 seconds, then pour it into a medium saucepan.
3. Place it over high heat, and after about 8 minutes or once it comes to a boil, begin scooping out the fuzz.
4. Once clear, pour the raspberry juice into a large mixing bowl, through a strainer, then discard the seeds.
5. Then pour the tea and raspberry juice into the pitcher.
6. Add the sugar and stir well.
7. Slice a lemon, remove the seeds, then add the lemon juice.
8. For decoration purposes and to enhance the flavor, add 1/4 cup of fresh raspberries and 4-5 mint leaves.
9. Sit in the refrigerator to chill.
Notes
- If you dont like your drinks too sweet, start off using 2-1/2 cups of sugar first, then add an additional 1/2 cup of sugar if you feel it isn’t sweet enough.
- The 1/4 cup of raspberries and 4-5 mint leaves are completely optional. Just want to emphasize that they’re just to make the drink more appetizing and to enhance the flavor a little.
- Let the drink chill in the refrigerator for a few hours, preferably 5+ hrs to allow all the ingredients to marry. It tastes best after allowing it to marinate.
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