West Coast Sweet Tea
A California cold-brew sweet tea: steeped cold, sweetened light with honey, and brightened with Meyer lemon, orange, and mint. Southern sweet tea, gone West Coast.
Southern sweet tea runs on a hot brew and a lot of white sugar. The West Coast version flips both: California sun does the brewing, and honey does the sweetening, light, so it refreshes instead of coats.
Cold brew is the move. A jar of tea and water steeped slowly in the fridge comes out smooth, never turns bitter, and tastes like a California afternoon. The old set-it-in-the-sun jar is retired for a reason: sun tea never gets hot enough to kill bacteria and sits in the danger zone for hours, so brew it cold instead. Meyer lemon and a little orange, both coast citrus, keep it bright, and mint from the garden finishes it.
Cold and barely sweet, it drinks all afternoon next to the smoke and char of the tri tip. It is the cookout tea for anyone who finds the Southern version too sweet.
Ingredients
- 6 black tea bags (or a black-and-green blend)
- 8 cups water
- 1/4 cup honey or light agave, gently warmed
- 1/4 cup fresh Meyer lemon juice
- Juice of 1/2 orange (about 1/4 cup)
- A handful of fresh mint
- Meyer lemon and orange slices, plus ice, to serve
Instructions
- 1
Cold-brew it: combine the tea bags and water in a large glass jar, cover, and refrigerate for 6 to 12 hours, until amber and fragrant. Skip the old set-it-in-the-sun method; brewing in warm sun holds the tea in the bacterial danger zone.
Short on time? Steep the bags 5 minutes in hot water and cool it down. Cold brew and hot brew both stay smooth; a warm windowsill is the one method to skip.
- 2
Pull the tea bags. Stir the warmed honey into the tea until it dissolves, then add the Meyer lemon juice, orange juice, and mint.
Honey instead of white sugar is the West Coast move, with a lighter hand than Southern sweet tea. It should refresh, not coat.
- 3
Chill hard and serve over a tall glass of ice with Meyer lemon and orange slices.
Serve it colder than you think you need to. Sweet tea lives and dies on temperature.
Nutrition Facts
Per serving
- Calories
- 35
- Protein
- 0 g
- Fat
- 0 g
- Sat. Fat
- 0 g
- Carbs
- 9 g
- Fiber
- 0 g
- Sodium
- 5 mg
- Cholesterol
- 0 mg
Values are estimates based on standard ingredients and serving sizes.
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