Almond Iced Tea

Here’s the perfect recipe to kick off the first day of summer!  Though we drink this year-round, it is especially satisfying and refreshing on a hot summer day.  We served this iced tea in the concession stand at our big school-wide 400-mile yard sale and everyone that tried it really enjoyed it.  I had lots of requests for the recipe, so here it is for all to enjoy!

Ingredients:

3 family-sized tea bags

water

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon almond extract

1  2-liter bottle ginger ale

Directions:

Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a saucepan, then turn off heat and add three family-sized tea bags and allow to steep for 5 minutes or so.

Remove bags, and pour tea into a pitcher.

Add sugar, and stir to dissolve.

Add 1/2 cup lemon juice, vanilla extract and almond extract.

You now have a concentrated tea that can be mixed with ginger ale by the glass, or if you are serving a crowd, you can go ahead and mix it all by adding the entire 2 liter ginger ale to the tea blend and serving it from a pitcher.

If you mix by the glass, use 1/2 cup tea concentrate to 1 cup ginger ale (or any amount mixed 1 part tea concentrate to 2 parts ginger ale).  Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint for a summery treat!