How To Make Healthier Iced Green Tea
Author:
Efrain Bender
A good iced green tea is one of life\'s little treats for most people. Not only do they taste amazing but even though your wallet may be $5 lighter you can console yourself that the polyphenols are helping you to stay trim! You may even have read that green tea catechins (GTC) offer stronger antioxidant protection than either vitamin C or vitamin E. Before you pat yourself on the back, though, do you know how much sugar is in your iced green tea?
Almost all store-brought iced green teas have considerable amounts of sugar – Starbucks puts not one but four pumps of syrup into one of their iced green teas. I\'m sorry but there\'s no way you\'re helping your body with all that sugar. Let\'s quickly look at the ways you can make your own healthy iced green tea.
Choose Your Green Tea Carefully
You can buy the exact same tea that Starbucks uses online, it\'s called Tazo green tea. If you the full antioxidant benefits of green tea, though, try brewing your own loose leaf tea like Long Jing green tea. Head online to score serious discounts and you\'ll discover how unique premium green tea is. The leaves are actually hand-picked when they are still young and the unique manufacturing process gives you two distinct flavours; it\'s sweet with a hint of mung bean. Alternatively, you can also find simple green tea teabags which are geared towards convenience without compromising quality.
Make Your Own Flavoured Iced Green Tea
The trick to making your own iced green tea is to remember that pouring normal hot brewed green tea over ice can dilute the flavour notes and weaken the tea. You should always brew your tea at a stronger concentration before adding it to ice in a cocktail shaker. Starbucks adds half brewed tea, half water or lemonade, syrup, then ice and then they shake it. What does this mean for you?
Almost all store-brought iced green teas have considerable amounts of sugar – Starbucks puts not one but four pumps of syrup into one of their iced green teas. I\'m sorry but there\'s no way you\'re helping your body with all that sugar. Let\'s quickly look at the ways you can make your own healthy iced green tea.
Choose Your Green Tea Carefully
You can buy the exact same tea that Starbucks uses online, it\'s called Tazo green tea. If you the full antioxidant benefits of green tea, though, try brewing your own loose leaf tea like Long Jing green tea. Head online to score serious discounts and you\'ll discover how unique premium green tea is. The leaves are actually hand-picked when they are still young and the unique manufacturing process gives you two distinct flavours; it\'s sweet with a hint of mung bean. Alternatively, you can also find simple green tea teabags which are geared towards convenience without compromising quality.
Make Your Own Flavoured Iced Green Tea
The trick to making your own iced green tea is to remember that pouring normal hot brewed green tea over ice can dilute the flavour notes and weaken the tea. You should always brew your tea at a stronger concentration before adding it to ice in a cocktail shaker. Starbucks adds half brewed tea, half water or lemonade, syrup, then ice and then they shake it. What does this mean for you?
- If you use Tazo then simply use a double-measure.
- If you brew loose-leaf tea you could add a double-measure to the pot, or use a standard measure and then add a flavoured tea teabag to create concentrated tea.
- If you use green tea teabags, add two to one cup, or use one green tea teabag and one flavoured tea teabag to make you concentrate.
Where Does The Sweetness Come From?
However you get the green tea, most iced green tea recipes call for the use of sugar. You can either stir in granulated sugar to taste or use syrup such as maple syrup. You can also use a sugar alternative like Splenda to cut down on calories. Even if you just add one pump of syrup instead of four, you\'re still be making a far healthier glass of iced tea than you\'d otherwise be able to buy. You must add the sugar, syrup or sweetener to the cup of hot tea before adding it to the ice in the shaker.
How To Cut Down On Your Sugar
As mentioned above, premium loose leaf green tea is naturally sweeter so you\'ll need less sugar! We\'ve also mentioned how you can add a teabag of flavoured tea to give your green tea some unique flavours without adding any sugar at all. You could omit the sugar or syrup completely and add a drop of lemon, lime or mint if you want. A few slices of orange work well too. Tazo Zen Green Tea is also available in yummy spearmint and lemongrass flavour too. Don\'t forget that Starbucks or your favourite coffee shop will go easy on the sugar or syrup too – just ask!
However you get the green tea, most iced green tea recipes call for the use of sugar. You can either stir in granulated sugar to taste or use syrup such as maple syrup. You can also use a sugar alternative like Splenda to cut down on calories. Even if you just add one pump of syrup instead of four, you\'re still be making a far healthier glass of iced tea than you\'d otherwise be able to buy. You must add the sugar, syrup or sweetener to the cup of hot tea before adding it to the ice in the shaker.
How To Cut Down On Your Sugar
As mentioned above, premium loose leaf green tea is naturally sweeter so you\'ll need less sugar! We\'ve also mentioned how you can add a teabag of flavoured tea to give your green tea some unique flavours without adding any sugar at all. You could omit the sugar or syrup completely and add a drop of lemon, lime or mint if you want. A few slices of orange work well too. Tazo Zen Green Tea is also available in yummy spearmint and lemongrass flavour too. Don\'t forget that Starbucks or your favourite coffee shop will go easy on the sugar or syrup too – just ask!
Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/drinks-articles/how-to-make-healthier-iced-green-tea-6635367.html
About the Author
Green tea has been used as a medicine for thousands of years. This beverage has a multitude of uses from lowering blood pressure to preventing cancer. Looking to buy online tea? Refer this link for more information.
