Raspberry Sweet Tea

[The Z]

Anybody have a good recipe? I love raspberry sweet tea when I get it as restaurants but have never tried it at home.

Can ya hep me?

 

[jkath]

Where is Crewsk when you need her? I bet she has a great reicpe!!!

 

[The Z]

I saw an "instant" variety when I was at the store, but I was hoping to make something with a little greater depth of flavor by brewing it with regular tea bags (like sun tea) and then adding ( ? )

.

 

[jkath]

How about making a simple syrup (just boiling sugar with water) and then adding a strained raspberry puree? (you could even use frozen berries).
Then, you could pour a bit into your pre-brewed sun tea. And, for a good kick, add some chamboard!

 

[The Z]

Oh yeah - - I didn't even think of getting frozen berries. I was kinda thinking I'd need to find nectar or something. Hmmm

I guess the amounts of ingredients would be a bit of a "to taste" experiment, but I was wondering where that berry flavor would come from.

Thanks J. (never had chambord, but it does seem like it would be an interesting addition)

 

[jkath]

Make sure you use at least a 2:1 ratio with sugar and water.
How about 2-3 c. sugar, 1 c. water, boiled to the ratio of 1 full package of pulverized raspberries, strained through cheesecloth (tripled) or a coffee filter if you don't have the cheesecloth.

 

[jkath]

and ice cubes frozen with mint sprigs inside would be a perfect touch!!!

 

[The Z]

Very helpful, J.
Thanks again!

 

[PA Baker]

If you want to do something quicker, you could also try using a raspberry flavored syrup, like Torani brand. You can buy them in a lot of grocery stores these days in the coffee aisle or in coffee shops.

 

[jkath]

Never thought of that, and I have many flavors here in my cupboards (*doh!*)
Great idea!

 

[The Z]

Thanks, PA -

I picked up some Torani raspberry on my way home. I'll make my raspberry sweet sun tea tomorrow. I thought that sounded like an easier solution - - but will keep J's suggestion in mind, too (just in case I don't get the result I'm looking for with the syrup). I just wasn't aware that there was a flavored syrup or what I should look for.
Thanks again

 

[The Z]

Follow up

Well - - I tried the 'Torani' brand syrup to sweeten and flavor my tea. It was pretty good but I found that, in order to get the flavor I wanted, I practically had to double the amount of syrup recommended mixing instructions. That means - - for a 16oz glass of tea I needed to bump it to 280 calories (ouch) .

For the same amount of tea, I find that I can usually get by with about 4 rounded teaspoons of granulated sugar to get an acceptable level of sweetness (about 70-80 calories).

So, NOW, my quest is to find a way to get concentrated raspberry flavor without necessitating the sacrifice of all those calories. I don't want to have to limit myself to one glass of tea per day. I may need to consider having the lower calorie version most of the time and then having my raspberry 'treat' only occasionally.

I'm thinking of getting the frozen berries and reducing them to intensify the flavor (kind of making my own syrup I guess). Not sure how that will work, but seems like it might be worth a shot.

(oh... just thinking) Anybody know if you can get Raspberry Juice Concentrate in the frozen juice section of the supermarket?

 

[licia]

I don't know if this would work or not, but you could try a powdered raspberry mix (like kool aid or similar) and add it to your tea. It just may work. Certainly there must be that kind - I know there is raspberry jello - a few pinches of that may work. I have some raspberry liquid made by Luzianne - the tea people.

 

[The Z]

I guess I'll have to do a little exploring to see what I can come up with... thanks.

 

[PA Baker]

Z, I'm using the Torani Sugar-Free Raspberrry syrup. It's made with Splenda. Maybe you can find that in your stores?

You have me hooked on this! Now I want to find some sugar-free peach syrup!

 

[The Z]

Z, I'm using the Torani Sugar-Free Raspberrry syrup. It's made with Splenda. Maybe you can find that in your stores?

You have me hooked on this! Now I want to find some sugar-free peach syrup!

OHHHHH.... No. I haven't seen that, but will now look for that in my travels, too. Thanks.

 

[jkath]

Torani is generally in "Cost Plus" stores - I think you have them out there, don't you?