Sit back, soak up the sun and sip on glasses of this refreshing watermelon iced tea while you make the most of your summer days. Easy to make and tasty, this drink is crowd pleaser!
It’s been a week of very hot weather in London. And while I can’t give up my cup of morning chai, afternoons are reserved for refreshing, hydrating and cooling beverages. I have already shared some of my favorite non-alcoholic summer drinks and here’s one more. Watermelons are one of the tastiest summer fruits around and as much as we love having it as is, we love juices, salads, desserts etc made of it. So, last afternoon, I combined our love for tea and watermelons and made us a pitcher of my watermelon iced tea. Since we were able to find the juiciest and sweetest melon, the iced tea tasted heavenly on a warm sunny afternoon. This cold drink is a delicious, fruity refresher that you could serve even at your summer parties. You will have your guests asking you for more of it.
Now, if you have seen my other summer beverage recipes you must’ve noticed I love adding a dash of black salt to them. It is not to make the drink taste salty, but give it that smoky flavor that is characteristic of the salt. Likewise, I couldn’t resist adding some to my watermelon iced tea, as well. And we absolutely loved it! However, if you aren’t a fan of it or are not able to find the salt you could leave it aside. Instead even a sprinkling of chaat masala works like magic in this iced tea recipe. Having said all this, if you feel this isn’t for you please feel free to leave them out. You could just proceed to keep your watermelon drink in it’s original form, that also tastes immensely satisfying.
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Black iced tea or green iced tea
The beauty of my amazing watermelon iced tea recipe is that, you could make it with both black and green tea. I have tried both and loved them equally. However, here what you see in the pictures are my iced tea made with black tea. That’s because I made this for later use, hence I did not use green tea. I feel, when green tea is kept for longer, it develops a stronger taste which many don’t usually like. Since my husband is anyway not a fan of green tea, I made mine with black yesterday. No matter which type of tea you use, make sure to completely bring it down to room temperature before proceeding to make the ice tea. Nonetheless, make sure to add your sweetener to the tea while it is still warm.
That’s because, if you are using sugar or jaggery powder, it will not dissolve into your drink when it cools. Also, the amount of sweetener to use will depend on your sweet your watermelon is. In our case, the melon turned out to be quite sweet and juicy which made our drink taste yum. Bland or tasteless melons will not give you the desired fruity flavor in your watermelon iced tea. So, do make sure you pick one up that is going to be nice, sweet and summery! Here is a link that might help you to make the right choice. If you are planning to make this yummy iced tea anytime soon, do let me know how you enjoyed it. You can share your food pictures with me over on Instagram, too. Enjoy the summer and enjoy your drink!
Cheers!
Watermelon iced tea
Equipment
- Sauce pan
Ingredients
- 6 English breakfast tea bags
- 3 cups water
- 3-4 tbsp jaggery powder or sugar
- 3 cups watermelon pulp
- 2 cups watermelon cut into cubes
- 6-8 ice cubes
- 1 tbsp black salt optional
For garnishing
- 8-10 mint leaves
- 8-10 watermelon cubes
- 4 cocktail bamboo sticks
Instructions
- In a saucepan, over medium heat bring the water to boil. Once boiling, turn the flame off, add the jaggery powder/sugar and the tea bags. Cover and let it sit for for 7-8 minutes
- Discard the tea bags, pour the sweetened in a jug or pitcher and let it come to room temperature. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes
To assemble the watermelon iced tea
- In individual high ball glasses, add the ice cubes and pour ½ cup cooled and sweetened tea, followed by ½ cup watermelon pulp. Give it a stir and add in some watermelon cubes, drizzle a touch of black salt (if using)
- Thread a mint leaf with two watermelon cubes in your cocktail skewers and add them to the iced tea glasses. Serve immediately and enjoy your watermelon iced tea. Cheers!
Notes
- If you wish you could replace black salt with a touch of chaat masala as well, or leave them both out, altogether
- You can even add honey or any sweetener of your choice to your watermelon iced tea
- The amount of sweetener to be added needs to adjusted with the sweetness of your melon. If your fruit is quite sweet you could go easy on your sweetener
- You will achieve the best tasting iced tea only when your watermelon is sweet and juicy. If it is bland or tasteless your iced tea will not taste the same
- Even green tea works well in this recipe
- 1 cup = 250 millilitres
- tbsp - tablespoon
minty minty cool cool! Next get together I am going to make this refreshing drink for sure.
Yayyy I am so happy to hear that maa x Thank you!