Orange Mint Iced Tea
It’s March and you know what that means, right? It’s that magical time of year when citrus season meets iced beverage season—at least here in Texas where the days are already heating up and the navel oranges are at their juciest, piled high at the local grocery.
Nab a few oranges and a bouquet of mint and celebrate the official start of Spring with this lightly sweet and very orangy treat.
Orange Mint Iced Tea
Gather your ingredients
Makes enough iced tea for about 6 cups.
6 tsp loose-leaf black tea of your choice (Assam, Earl Grey, and Orange Pekoe all work great here)
CoffeeSock tea sock or other tea infuser
1 lg or 2 sm navel oranges (enough to make about one cup of juice)
1/2 cup mint simple syrup made with:
1/4 cup mint leaves
1/2 cup of sugar
1/2 cup water
6 cups of water for the tea; keep one cup cold.
Ice to serve
Make the mint simple syrup
Heat 1/2 cup water in a small pan on the stove until simmering.
Run the mint leaves between your palms to very lightly smush them and release the oils.
Once the water is simmering, add 1/2 cup sugar and stir to dissolve.
Once dissolved, add the mint leaves to the pot, stir to combine, remove from heat, and set aside to steep and cool.
Make the orange tea
Add 5 cups of water to a medium-sized pot and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Reserve the last cup of cold water.
Squeeze the oranges to make about one cup of juice. Set aside.
Add the loose tea to a tea sock or infuser and secure.
Once the water is boiling add the tea sock to the pot and remove from the heat.
Allow to steep for 8-10 minutes, depending on your desired strength.
Remove the tea sock and pour the tea into a pitcher. Add the cold water and orange juice and allow to cool to room temperature.
Put it together into orange mint iced tea
Remove the mint leaves from the simple syrup and pour the syrup into the orange tea.
Stir to distribute the syrup.
Add ice to tea glasses or directly to the tea pitcher.
Pour and serve. Garnish with orange twists and mint leaves, if desired.