There are some words I really love, and they usually have the letter “v” in them. Violin, olive, lavender. My daughter’s name, Evelyn. They sound soothing and beautiful to me.
Today I have a lavender iced tea for you. It couldn’t be easier. I suppose you can buy lavender at a grocery store or at a farmer’s market, or you could get a plant and put it in a pot or in your garden. Many people already have it in their garden and they would likely be happy to give you a couple of springs.
You can use lavender to make iced tea, lemonade, soaps, or even bake with it. Or you can dry it and put it in a vase to smell nice.
My basic recipe for lavender iced tea is to use any kind of black tea you like. I prefer Earl Grey or English Breakfast. Steep three tea bags in two and a half cups of hot water, add a sprig of lavender, and let it infuse for about twenty minutes. It’s ok if you forget about it and let it go a little longer. If you like sweetened iced tea, you can add a bit of honey or maple syrup at this point.
Remove the tea bags, squeezing out as much flavor as you can. Remove the lavender. Add enough ice to bring the water level up to four cups.
Lavender Iced Tea
Ingredients
3 black tea bags
1 sprig of lavender
Hot filtered water
2 teaspoons of honey or maple syrup, optional
Method
1) Place tea bags and lavender sprig in glass measuring container.
2) Heat water to boiling, then wait a minute so it cools just a little. Pour over tea bags and lavender to reach the 2 1/2 cup mark.
3) Let steep for 20 minutes. Add sweetener if you like.
4) If you plan to serve it right away, fill with enough ice to reach the 4 cup mark. If you plan to save it for later, fill to the 3 1/2 cup mark.
You may enjoy these other lovely lavender posts:
Lavender Cupcakes
Lavender Raisin Buns (This post is from ten years ago…funnily enough, I also talk about how much I like the word lavender)
