I admit to drinking instant tea. It tastes good, and usually no one can tell the difference between instant and fresh brewed iced tea. Brewing your own tea is more affordable, but even I get pressed for time on occasion and there is comfort in the knowledge that instant tea can be made in mere moments before serving dinner. At my house we drink iced tea year round, although we go through it much faster in the heat of summer.
This recipe uses unsweetened fruit-drink-mix, such as kool-aid or it’s more affordable cousin–Flavor-Aid. It tastes like fruit-flavor tea that is available in bottles and cans. A 16-ounce can of prepared fruit-flavored tea costs $1.29. An entire gallon of homemade costs about half that. If you don’t use sugar, you may of course replace it with sucralose or stevia or the low-calorie sweetener of your choice.
Instant Fruit Tea
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup instant tea
- 1 packet unsweetened fruit drink mix—lemon, fruit punch, orange & cherry are all good, use whatever you have the most of
- 2/3 to 1 cup sugar
- Water to make 1-gallon
Directions
Fill a gallon-sized pitcher with water. Add the tea, powdered drink mix and sugar to taste. I like 2/3-cup but you can use more if you prefer it sweeter. Mix well. Serve over ice. This is very refreshing and makes a nice change from plain tea. It’s always very popular at potlucks and picnics. My favorite is lemon, but my kids think cherry is especially tasty.
I once made watermelon flavored (as pictured above) but it tasted pretty bad and I don’t recommend it. Still the picture is pretty, so I kept it (the picture, not the tea, bleck!).
Makes 1-gallon or 8-servings; 2-cups each.
Per 2-cup serving: 68 Calories; 0g Fat (0.0% calories from fat); trace Protein; 17g Carbohydrate; trace Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 6mg Sodium.
Exchanges: 1 Other Carbohydrates. (Assuming 2/3-cup sugar.)