Raspberry & lime iced tea

My initial thought was to make a cocktail for this month’s high tea theme but after much deliberation I decided that I would turn my hand instead to iced tea. I had never made iced tea before, nor had I ever given too much thought to it so I did a little bit of reading on the subject and discovered that iced tea is a drink with its roots deep in the American south. I picture colonial houses with lazy wrap-around balconies whose weather beaten planks play host to a collection of wicker chairs upon which sit ladies in wide brimmed hats and long flowing cotton dresses. In the sticky afternoon heat they utter forth conversations in a slow southern-drawl, ice clinking in tall glasses filled with mint-garnished iced tea. Whilst the picture I paint is more likely to be from the scene of a movie than from the reality of everyday life I still like the feeling it conjures forth. Whilst I don’t have any wicker chairs of my own, I do in fact have a wrap-around balcony out to which, in the next sun-drenched afternoon, I will take myself and a tall glass of this iced-tea. I may even sport a cotton dress for the occasion!

Ingredients

makes 2L

• --
• 2 1/2 tsp earl grey tea
• 3 cups water

• --
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 500g raspberries, I used frozen (equivalent 1 1/2 cups raspberry juice)
• 4 limes, juiced

• --
• Mint leaves and ice to serve.

Method

• --
• 1. Brew the tea then set aside to cool.
• 2. Place the sugar and the remaining 3 cups water in a saucepan and set over a medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
• 3. Place the raspberries into a muslin cloth and squeeze out all the liquid you can. Once you have got out all the juice you can, discard the wee pips.
• 4. Combine the tea, raspberry juice, sugar syrup, lime juice, mint and ice in a large jug and mix well. Serve in tumblers garnished with mint leaves and extra ice is desired.