Good morning, tea friends! We hope that your week if going swimmingly. I hope that you had a lovely time, and if you were in Upstate NY with us, I do hope that you were able to stay cool with all the humidity and dryness that we have been enduring! Today, I wanted to chat with you all about a recent trend that we have seen become especially popular this summer. We have noticed customers have been asking us continually about sparkling teas. Not only are restaurants and food trucks beginning to offer this delicious drink on their menus but beverage companies such as Corona, Tama Tea, Twisted Tea, Sparkling Botanicals, Twelve's Rebel Hard Coffee & Tea, Töst, and various others are coming out with their own versions as well! In this blog post, we will take on this new craze, provide you with an easy recipe for making it at home, and talk about some teas we recommend for you to try with it!
Do you have that one friend who loves their flavored seltzer? They are constantly telling you about which LaCroix flavor is currently their favorite or how Walmart is running their buy one, get one 12-pack sale, and how you should really think about stocking up. I don't know about you, but I could never get on that trend and while I do appreciate a nice, cold glass of Diet Coke, the seltzers just never really did it for me. While I understand that they have their perks of zero calories, zero sugar, and the bubbles are undeniably pleasant, it was the flavors that weren't particularly pleasing to my palette. This made the trend of sparkling teas even more enticing to me as I already know that I love so many of our flavors! Below is the unbelievably easy recipe for making our new refresher, sparkling tea, followed by a few of my recent favorite teas to make it with!
Sparkling Tea
(AKA Carbonated Iced Tea, Bubbly Iced Tea, Iced Tea Sparkler, or Iced Tea Spritzer)
Ingredients:
- 2 teaspoons of the loose leaf tea of your choice
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 teaspoon sweetener of choice
- 1/4 cup sparkling water
- glass filled with ice
- fruit, herbs, and/or garnishes of your choice (optional)
Directions:
1. Heat water to the appropriate temperature for the type of tea you are using.
2. Add your loose leaf tea to a teapot or another steeping vessel and pour in the 1/2 cup hot water. Cover and follow the tea's steeping time.
3. Remove tea leaves. Stir in sweetener (if desired) until dissolved.
4. Fill a glass with ice cubes. If adding any fruit or herbs to the sparkling iced tea, place pieces between ice cubes. Then, pour in the steeped tea. Make sure the glass is not filled all the way.
5. Top with sparkling water, stir and enjoy!
It really is just that easy! You may have noticed though, that this recipe only yields 1 glass at a time and with the high temperatures headed our way, you probably want to prepare and be ready to have these delicacies on hand when you become parched. To quickly remedy this quandary, I highly recommend our
Mist Pitcher. This is one of our best selling tea ware products and there is absolutely no question as to why. This pitcher is the undeniably the easiest and best way to make iced tea and ensures that you always have plenty on hand for you and your guests. To do so, all you need to do is cover the bottom of your pitcher with your favorite tea, fill it up with cool water, stick it in your fridge for 3-6 hours (I leave mine in overnight), and wah-la, you've made yourself a delicious pitcher of iced tea to be used in your sparkling tea later!
In making my own sparkling teas, I have found that I am partial to our tisane teas, especially in the summertime. Tisanes are comprised of dried fruits and herbs that, when brewed, release their vibrant and refreshing flavors. A few that I have found to be particularly delicious, specifically for sparkling tea, include our Bright Orange, Ipanema Clementine Spice, Canandaigua Chill, and Angel Falls Mist. The citrus, fruity, and unique tones to each of these blends make them well suited to the bursting bubbles that will accompany them from the sparkling water. One other tea that I highly recommend for this fun, new trend proves our Citron Green tea. I love this tea in creating a sparkling tea as the sweet, lemon-y notes really shine through, and the flavors become even more evident as each little bubble pops across your tongue. Perhaps, add a bit of lemonade and your own wedge of lemon to the glass for added flare as well!
Try making your own blend of sparkling tea today and let me know what you think! Which tea did you try? Did you add any fun additives? I can't wait to hear what you all create and to try some more experimenting myself! I hope you all have a wonderful weekend! Stay cool with sparkling tea! Happy sipping! - Kaytea :)
P.S. Don't forget about the Main Street Arts Festival happening this weekend in Canandaigua! It will be open Friday (7/15) from 12PM-7PM and both Saturday and Sunday (7/16 and 7/17) from 10AM-5PM! It features over 150 different artists, not to mention awesome food and live music! We can't wait to see you there!
