How to Make Iced Tea at Home? 20 Best Iced Tea Recipes You Should Try

Knowing how to make iced tea at home is a perfect way to stay energized on hot summer days.

Iced tea is a versatile drink that you can easily dress up and enjoy in different impressive flavors.

By drinking tea every day, you can reap essential health benefits, as the beverage packs antioxidants and nutrients vital in the body.

What’s more interesting is that most iced tea recipes are easy to make, regardless of the type of tea you use.

Now, if you want to learn how to make iced tea at home like a pro, you have come to the right page.

This article provides the 20 best iced tea recipes that you should try at home:

20 Best Iced Tea Recipes You Should Try

1.  Cucumber Mint Green Iced Tea 

Cucumber mint green iced tea is a refreshing beverage that can enhance digestion, give you a fresh breath, and help you concentrate.

It’s an excellent recipe that you can use to spice your summer garden party or just refresh at home on a hot summer afternoon.

To prepare the cucumber mint green iced tea, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 3 tea bags
• 3 cups of filtered water
• 1 sliced cucumber
• Fresh chopped mint
• Tea sweetener of your choice

Then follow these instructions to make cucumber mint green iced tea:

• Boil 3 cups of clean water in a kettle or a saucepan on the stovetop.
• Put 3 green tea bags in a teapot or a pitcher and add the sliced cucumber and chopped mint.
• Pour the hot water into the pitcher and let the mixture steep for about 3 to 5 minutes.
• Remove the tea bags and add your preferred sweetener before putting the tea mixture in the refrigerator for 3 hours.
• Serve the cucumber mint green iced tea over ice cubes in a glass or tea mug. If you had spared some cucumber slices and mint, you can garnish your tea glasses with them. 

2. Lemon Basil Iced Tea Recipe

Lemon basil iced tea is a very delicious drink that delivers tons of health benefits. It’s a popular beverage enjoyed in many restaurants across the world.

This drink is usually filled with vitamins, antioxidants, and essential minerals that can be very beneficial to your body.

Fortunately, it’s effortless to make a delicious cup of lemon basil iced tea at home, provided you have the required ingredients.

Here is what you need to make lemon basil iced tea:

• 3 green tea bags
• Sliced lemon
• 6 basil leaves
• Clean water

Once you gather the ingredients, you can follow these instructions:

• Bring your clean water to boil in an electric kettle or on the stovetop.
• As the water boils, put the basil leaves, lemon slices, and the green tea bags into a pitcher or teapot.
• When the water boils, remove it from the heat source and pour about three cups into the pitcher.
• Let the mixture steep for about three minutes before removing the tea bags.
• Add three tablespoons of white sugar to sweeten the drink, but you can skip this if you like your tea unsweetened.
• Chill the tea in the refrigerator for about 3 to 4 hours before serving it chilled.
• If you want to drink your tea right after making it, you can pour it over ice cubes in a glass.

3. Orange Rosemary Iced Tea Recipe 

This is a type of tea with unique and soft flavors. It’s loaded with nutrients and makes a perfect pick-me-up on a hot summer day.

To make the Orange Rosemary tea, you will need these ingredients:

• 2 green tea bags
• 2 springs of fresh rosemary
• Clean water
• ½ tablespoon of orange zest
• Sugar or honey (optional)

After gathering the ingredients, you can follow these instructions to make Orange Rosemary Iced tea:

• Boil clean water in an electric kettle.
• Place 2 green tea bags in a teapot, then add 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary and the orange zest. If you don’t have the orange zest, you can use an orange peel and steep it with the tea bags.
•  Add two or three cups of hot water, depending on how strong you want the drink to be.
• Let the mixture steep for about 5 minutes. Then add two tablespoons of honey or sugar to sweeten the drink.
• Refrigerate the tea for three to four hours.
• After refrigerating the tea, serve it chilled and garnish with some orange slices.

4. Raspberry Iced Tea

If you are craving a super refreshing cold drink on a hot day, you may want to try this recipe at home.

You can easily make the raspberry iced tea at home with your favorite tea leaves, and it tastes great, whether sweetened or unsweetened.

You’ll need these ingredients to make the raspberry iced tea:

• Fresh raspberries
• 3 black tea bags
• Clean water
• 1 fresh lemon
• Four tablespoons of white sugar

Then follow these instructions to make the raspberry Iced tea:

• Boil three cups of clean water
• Put 3 black tea bags in a teapot and pour your boiled water.
• Let the tea steep for about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Add three cups of clean water to a saucepan and bring it to a boil.
• Add your fresh raspberries and sugar, and let the mixture boil for a few minutes.
• Reduce the heat and crush the raspberries while still cooking.
• Turn the heat off and strain the mixture through a strainer, cheesecloth any other convenient filter. Discard the berry pieces.
• Combine the raspberry syrup and your steeped tea and squeeze a few drops of lemon juice.
• Serve the raspberry tea over ice cubes and enjoy!

Read More:

Flavored Iced Tea Recipes

5. Watermelon Iced Tea 

Watermelon is one of the most delicious summer fruits packed with a lot of essential nutrients. This explains why the tasty watermelon iced tea is a favorite recipe for many tea enthusiasts.

It’s very easy to make this iced tea at home, and you can use green tea or black tea bags. For the best results, make sure that you use a sweet fresh melon.

You also want to ensure that you have your best brand of high-quality leaves.

Now, if you’re going to make the watermelon iced tea at home, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 2 tea bags
• Tea sweetener of your choice (optional)
• 2 cups of clean water
• A small piece of fresh watermelon
• Mint leaves

Here are the instructions for making the watermelon iced tea:

• Boil 2 cups of clean water in a kettle or any other convenient means.
• Put 2 tea bags in a teapot and add the boiled water.
• Cut a small part of the watermelon and spoon out the red amount. Leave a small portion of the melon for later use.
• Liquify the scooped part of the watermelon in a blender or a food processor.
• Pour the watermelon syrup into a saucepan and add some sugar or your preferred sweetener.
• Bring the syrup to boil and let it cook for about 1 to 2 minutes.
• Remove the syrup from the heat source and leave it to cool for 5 minutes.
• Pour the syrup into a pitcher and add your steeped tea.
• Stir and then chill it in the fridge for about 2 hours.
• Cut the remaining part of the watermelon into small cubes and place them into the glasses.
• Add some ice cubes to the glasses and pour your watermelon tea and enjoy.

6. Thai Iced Tea

Are you craving a creamy, spicy, and re-energizing beverage? You can try this recipe, especially on a hot day, to cool the body.

The recipe offers excellent results when you use whole spices instead of an instant Tai tea mix, which many people use.

To make a tasty Thai iced tea with a bold flavor, you’ll need these ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of black tea loose leaves
• 1 pod star anise
• 2 pods cardamom
• 1 cup of boiling water
• Vanilla extract (optional)
• ½ cinnamon stick
• 1 tablespoon of white sugar
• 1 tablespoon of sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tablespoon of evaporated or coconut milk.

Once you gather the ingredients, follow these steps to make Thai Iced Tea:

• Steep your loose tea leaves, pod star anise, cardamom, and the cinnamon stick in hot water for about 5 minutes.
• Strain the tea and add a few drops of vanilla extract.
• Stir in 1 tablespoon of white sugar and sweetened condensed milk.
• Once the milk and sugar are completely dissolved. Let the tea cool for a few minutes before serving over ice.
• Top the tea with evaporated milk or coconut milk.

7. Peached Orange Tea

If you love oranges, you should try this iced tea recipe at home. The peach orange iced tea is a sweet, great-tasting beverage you can enjoy on hot summer days.

And it’s effortless to prepare it at home with these few ingredients:

• Three tea bags (Earl Gray if possible)
• 1 sliced fresh peach
• ½ tablespoon of white sugar or honey
• 4 cups of boiling water
• 1 orange or clementine

Instructions

• Cut the orange into slices and add a few slices into a pitcher.
• Add the sliced peach, tea bags, and ½ tablespoon of sugar or honey into the pitcher.
• Pour your hot water and stir the mixture before leaving it to steep in the fridge for about 1 hour.
• Remove the tea bags and peach slices with a slotted spoon.
• Serve the tea over ice and enjoy!

8. Lemonade -Mint Iced Tea

Lemonade-mint iced is an interesting combination of two delicious summer drinks. Some people also call it the Arnold Palmer.

It’s easy and straightforward to make this iced tea recipe as long as you have these ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of instant tea powder
• 1 tablespoon of crushed fresh mint leaves
• 4 cups of boiling water
• 3 ounces of frozen lemonade concentrate, liquified

Instructions for making the lemonade-mint iced tea:

• Pour your clean boiling water into a pitcher and the instant tea powder, mint leaves, and sugar. You can also use tea bags instead of instant tea powder.
• Stir the mixture and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
• Mix some lemonade concentrate with cold water, and then stir the mixture into the pitcher with the steeped tea.
• Serve the tea over ice and remove the mint leaves if you wish.

9. Honey-Milk Iced Tea

This is a popular Chinese iced tea recipe prepared in Hong Kong style. It uses sweetened milk and honey as the main sweeteners.

If you like a strong-highly flavored tea you can also add your preferred flavors to enrich the taste. But all in all, this recipe produces a very delicious iced tea.

Ingredients

• 2 tea bags
• 1 cup clean water
• 1 tablespoon of honey
• Two tablespoons of sweetened condensed milk

Here are the instructions for making the honey-milk iced tea at home:

• Boil 1 cup of clean water and pour it into a pitcher or teapot.
• Add your tea bags into the pitcher and stir. If possible, use orange pekoe tea bags as they will give the best flavor for this recipe.
• After steeping the tea for about 5 minutes, remove the tea bags and discard them.
• Let the tea cool for about 10 minutes as you combine ice cubes, honey, and your sweetened condensed milk in a martini or cocktail shaker.
• Pour your tea into the mixture and shake well. If the ice cubes start melting, your tea is probably still hot.
• Add more ice cubes if the mixture isn’t chilled to your liking, then serve and enjoy!

10. Black Iced Tea with Lemon Juice

Black tea is widely loved due to its strong, bruised taste and bold flavor. When chilled with citrus fruits like lemon, it makes a perfect rejuvenating summer drink. 

Here are the ingredients to make this iced tea:

• 3 cups of clean water
• 3 black tea bags
• 4 tablespoons of white sugar (optional)
• ¼ tablespoons of lemon juice

Once you prepare the ingredients, you can follow these instructions:

• Boil 3 cups of clean water in a pitcher and add 3 black tea bags.
• Let the tea steep for about 5 to 10 minutes. If you want a stronger cup of tea with sharp flavors, let the tea bags steep for 20 minutes.
• Remove the tea bags and combine the tea with a ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice.
• Let the lemon tea cool for a few minutes. You can put it in the fridge for faster chilling.
• Serve the beverage in a glass filled with ice cubes and enjoy.

10. Pineapple Iced Tea

It’s not all the time that you want to prepare iced tea with a complicated recipe that is hard to follow. This tea is simple to prepare but has a fantastic sparkly citrus flavor.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of filtered water
• 3 tea bags
• 1 tablespoon of sugar
• ½ cup unsweetened pineapple juice
• 1/6 cup lemon juice

Instructions

• Add the filtered water into the saucepan, heat to boiling, remove from the heat source, add tea bags, pour it into a pitcher, cool slightly and add the fruit juices.
• Put the mixture in the refrigerator overnight before serving over ice. Garnish as you desire

12. Hibiscus Iced Tea

This is a beautiful rosy colored iced tea without caffeine and calories.

Ingredients

• 2 cups of water
• 10 dried hibiscus flowers/ 2 teaspoons of dry crushed hibiscus flowers

Instructions

• Boil the water in a saucepan
• Switch of the heat source
• Add the crushed hibiscus flowers and steep for 5 minutes
• Sieve with a filter and serve in glasses with ice.

13. Smooth Sweet Tea

This iced tea has a smooth taste and less sugar to match all your needs.

Ingredients

• 4 cups of water
• 12 black tea bags
• 14 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup sugar
• 12 cups cold water

Instructions

• Pour the 4 cups of water into the pot and heat it to boil.
• Remove from the heat source and add the tea bags
• Steep for 10 minutes
• Sprinkle the baking soda into a pitcher, add the tea, and add the rest of the cold water.
• Refrigerate the contents until chilled

14. Lemon Lime Almond Iced Tea

The Lemon Lime Almond iced tea is simple to prepare yet tasty and refreshing.

Here how to prepare it:

• 3 cups of water

• ¼ teaspoon
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ and orange sliced
• ½ cup thawed limeade concentrate
• ½ lemon sliced
• 2-1/4 teaspoons of unsweetened instant tea
• ½ medium lime sliced
• ½ teaspoon almond extract
• Ice cubes

Instructions:

• Mix the water, sugar, limeade concentrate, instant tea, and the extracts in a pitcher
• Add the sliced fruits and serve in glasses over ice.

15. Sparkling Jasmine Iced Tea

Jasmine can transform your iced tea into a sparkling beverage provided you know how to make iced tea at home.

Sparkling Jasmine Iced tea offers lovely taste notes and floral aromas that make it an excellent choice for hot summer days.

You can make the Sparkling Jasmine Iced Tea at home with these ingredients:

• 2 cups of filtered water
• Loose jasmine tea leaves
• Teapot and strainer
• Ice cubes
• Your favorite tea sweetener

You can make this recipe with hot or cold water. Here, we’ll use cold water to get a soft and delicate flavor:

• Put two tablespoons of jasmine tea leaves in a pitcher or teapot and add 2 cups of cold filtered water.
• Stir to ensure that all the tea leaves are soaked, and then cover the pitcher.
• Let the tea steep for about 8 to 12 hours on the countertop or in the fridge.
• Strain the tea leaves and add your preferred sweetener. You can serve with or without ice cubes since the tea is already chilled.

16. Cranberry Iced Tea

This iced tea is a sweet, spicy, pleasant aroma and a colorful appearance that will put a smile on your family and guests.

You’ll need these ingredients to prepare cranberry iced tea:

• 16 ounces cranberry juice
• ½ cup thawed lemonade concentrate
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup red-hot candies
• 3 ounces frozen orange juice
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 whole clove

Instructions

• Bring all the ingredients to a boil in a source pan over medium heat for 6-8 minutes. You can stir the mixture occasionally as it boils.
• Separate cloves and cinnamon from the mixture
• Mix this concentrate with water in the ratio of 1 to 2 before serving
• Preserve the remaining concentrate in a refrigerator

17. Coconut Lime Iced Tea

Coconut Lime Iced Tea is a tasty beverage that you don’t want to miss on any summer day. It hydrates your body and improves your overall health.

To prepare the Coconut Lime Iced Tea at home, you’ll need these ingredients:

• A sliced lemon
• 2 black tea bags
• 2 cups of hot coconut water
• 2 tablespoons of white sugar

Steps to make the Coconut Lime Iced Tea:

• Put 2 tea bags in a pitcher or teapot and add a few slices of fresh lemon.
• Add hot coconut water and stir. Leave the mixture to steep for about 5 minutes.
• Remove the tea bags and add two tablespoons of white sugar or honey, if desired.
• Put the tea in the fridge to chill for about three hours.
• Serve chilled and enjoy!

18. Strawberry Jalapeno Iced Tea

You would rarely expect this combination to taste great, but it will definitely please you once you taste it.

The Strawberry Jalapeno Iced Tea is a unique recipe that suits tea drinkers who love some spicy flavor in beverages.

You can easily make it at home with these ingredients:

• Thinly sliced ½ Jalapeno
• ½ cup of chopped strawberries
• 3 cups of hot water
• 2 green tea bags
• White sugar or honey

After gathering the required ingredients, follow these instructions:

• Add 2 green tea bags, chopped strawberries, and thinly sliced Jalapeno into a pitcher.
• Pour 3 cups of hot water into the pitcher and cover to steep for 5 minutes.
• Add 3 tablespoons of sugar or honey and refrigerate for 3 hours.
• Serve the drink chilled and pair it with a sweet snack.

19. Matcha Iced Tea

Matcha Iced Tea is an easy recipe that will take only a few minutes to make. It’s a perfect way to refresh on a hot day while still reaping some essential benefits.

You’ll need these ingredients to prepare the Matcha Iced Tea:

• 1 tablespoon of matcha powder
• 4 tablespoons hot water
• Ice cubes
• ½ lime
• 3 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1 cup cold water

Instructions

• Mix your matcha powder with hot water in a pitcher
• Add crushed ice cubes and fresh mint and mix with a blender.
• Drain the mixture through a sieve and add maple syrup and squeeze some juice from the half lime.
• Serve the drink over ice and garnish with lemon slices and mint leaves.

20. Iced Tea Concentrate

Learning how to make iced tea at home can transform your tea cooking experience. You can prepare ahead a concentrate instead of brewing tea from scratch every morning.

It’s super easy to make iced tea concentrate, provided you have cold or room temperature water and your favorite tea bags or loose leaves.

Here are the instructions for making the Iced Tea Concentrate:

• Pour 2 cups of filtered water in a pitcher and add 12 tea bags or 12 tablespoons of loose tea leaves.
• Stir and let the tea steep for 8 to 12 hours at room temperature. You can also place it outside in the sun and steep for about 6 hours to concentrate.
• Remove the teabags and dilute with cold water using ¼ cup of concentrate for every cup of water.

FAQs

Conclusion

Iced tea has been a favorite drink for most tea lovers, especially in the summertime. There are many ways to flavor iced tea, from mint leaves and lemon to berries to suit your taste.

Making iced tea at home is now incredibly easy, and there are endless recipes you can try at home.

Feel free to try any of the above recipes, and remember to use your favorite tea bags or tea leaves when learning how to make iced tea at home.