What’s refreshing you this summer? You don’t need to wait in line and spend eight dollars for a great summer drink.
We keep these café style cups in my house and my daughters and I have fun making great summer drinks. Recently, the girls and their friends have enjoyed making drinks instead of baking (I’m not complaining!) And a Mommy day out with her friends starts with homemade drinks in the cup holder. It’s an easy–and delicious–way to stay hydrated!
The Ultimate Iced Tea
Yes, homemade iced tea takes less than a minute and it’s way better than anything in a bottle! I keep strong tea essence in my fridge. Mix some raspberry tea essence with a bit of cold water, ice, a thin slice of lime (or lemon or lemon juice), and Splenda. It’s so delicious and pretty!
How Do You Make a Tea Essence?
To make a single portion, steep a tea bag in a little bit of hot water (about ¼ cup), rather than the amount you’d use to make a full cup of tea. Once the tea essence is ready (the flavor of the tea has seeped into the water), remove the tea bag. Add cold water (to equal a full cup of tea), lemon, and sweetener.
You can also make a bigger batch with a few bags of tea. Once the flavor is infused, remove the tea bags and keep this concentrated tea in the fridge. When you want to make an iced tea, just combine some of the tea essence with cold water, lemon, and Splenda and you have a delicious, homemade iced tea (that’s way better than anything in a bottle).
Kids’ Favorite Slushy Lemonade
6 cups ice
3 cups water
4 Tbsp lemon juice (freshly squeezed lemon juice is always better)
2 Tbsp sugar
2 Tbsp grape juice
Blend all ingredients in the Ninja blender. (Just remind the kids that they should be careful with the blade!)
Lemon Water
Mix water, lemon juice (or a lemon slice) with lots of ice cubes. I keep this in the car while I’m running errands in the summer. Use plenty of ice so it can stay cool for hours.
Smoothies
I throw some milk, frozen strawberries, frozen mango (optional), and sweetener into the Ninja. It’s filling and refreshing!
Ice Coffee for Mommy
I keep high quality cold brew in the fridge, and mix it together with milk, ice and Splenda. It’s the ultimate summer treat–better than ice coffee from a café.
Best Kid’s Ice Coffee
Non coffee-snobs don’t need cold brew. Instant coffee works great. We use the recipe from our all-time favorite cookbook Fresh and Easy or this Coffee Slushie from Between Carpools. Swirl the outside of the cup with chocolate syrup and top it off with whip cream. Your daughter will feel like a million dollars when she takes it to the bus stop!
Thank you so much for all these suggestions, I really enjoyed my Iced tea today!!
Looking forward, thanks!
Tazo passion fruit tea is another great option for iced tea lovers. Same beautiful deep red color and so refreshing. I like to add a drop of sweetener but many of my friends don’t even bother adding it.
I keep an ice coffee concentrate in my fridge during the summer months. My boys will often make an ice coffee using it as they leave for the shacharis bus, and it stays cold for them to drink later if they want. I add equal parts instant coffee and sugar, chocolate pudding mix, and a bit of caramel syrup. Store it in the fridge. When making the ice coffee, add ice to a cafe style coffee cup, then ice coffee syrup and milk in desired quantities.
Top with dairy whip for extra calories. Tastes better than ice coffee from the cafe
That sounds heavenly! How much water do you use to make the concentrate?
My son has been making many of the drinks from Miriam (Pascal) Cohen’s cookbooks this summer. So far they’ve been a hit but we reduce the amount of coffee and use decaf. It’s too strong for a preteen.
For iced tea just put some tea bags into a water bottle and place it in the fridge. No need to boil water. You’ll have cold brew iced yes in no time. Add lemon, sugar, Splenda or just leave it plain. And fruit infused tea bags are fine. I agree the tazo passion fruit is delish. So are the Wissotzky teas.
Your blog is a great resource. Thanks for the valuable content.
Love these options! Thank you !