Tweak Your Tea With A Healthy Twist On Summer Drinks!

The Friday before the long weekend in May seems like the perfect day to talk about healthy summer drinks don’t you think? I know a lot of my clients find summer a difficult time to stay healthy, with so many barbecues, campfires and get togethers it certainly can be a time where we all get derailed.

One of the fastest ways to fall down a rabbit hole of unhealthy habits is to dive head first into all the sugar-filled soda, juice and cocktail options that seem even more plentiful in the hot summer months than during the winter.

I get it – there isn’t much better than a nice delicious cold beverage on a hot day! But you don’t have to rely on unhealthy options to cool down. Iced tea is the perfect option for those looking for something delicious and healthy. But I’m not talking about the iced tea you are thinking of – that stuff is scarcely better than soda!, I’m talking about real iced tea.

All my friends know I’m a tea addict. Hot in the winter, iced in the summer – I just love it! But while I like to make mine from loose tea leaves when I have the chance, I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea (har de har har), and it can be a bit inconvenient when you are out on the go. That’s why I like Pure Leaf Unsweetened tea. It comes pre-made in the bottle, is brewed from real tea leaves picked at their freshest to deliver a genuine tea experience. And because it is unsweetened and brewed from real tea leaves, it has no sugar, artificial sweeteners, zero calories and zero compromises!

That’s what make Pure Leaf the perfect partner if you’re looking to lighten up this summer without sacrificing flavour. It’s the perfect beverage to go with lunch, brunch, dinner, cocktails, get togethers with your friends, post-workout rehydration – whatever your beverage needs.

Pure Leaf comes in three great flavours: Unsweetened Black Tea, Unsweetened Lemon Tea and Unsweetened Green Tea, and the best part about using real iced tea is that you get to tweak your tea to suit your tastes!

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Tweaking your tea is all about adding flavour combinations you love to your Pure Leaf tea to make it even more delicious! The best part? You can add your ingredients right into the bottle and let them sit so you have no extra dishes to do!

Is it really that easy? Yes, it absolutely is! Today I want to share with you three of my favourite combinations for tweaking my tea – hopefully they will inspire you to try a few combinations of your own!

My absolute favourite is raspberry-lime iced tea. To make this flavour all you have to do is add some raspberries (I crushed mine before I added them, but you don’t have to), and the juice from one lime into a bottle of Unsweetened Lemon Tea and let it set for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours mingle.

A slice of lime on the glass and some fresh raspberries on the straw are fun touches to help let everyone know what flavours to expect when they sip!

I’m also a sucker for berries and basil so another of my favourites is strawberry-basil iced tea. This time I sliced frozen strawberries and tossed those along with a few fresh basil leaves into a bottle of Unsweetened Black Tea and let it sit again for at least 30 minutes (noticing a trend there?). In an effort to make this one feel a bit more like a cocktail I rimmed a martini glass with berry basil rim trimmer from Epicure.

If you want to be extra fancy you can add a sprig of fresh basil as a garnish! Enjoying a nice iced tea outside while reading a book in the summer – what could be better!?

And the final combo you got a little sneak peek of up above – mango ginger green iced tea! Frozen sliced mango and grated ginger helps give the natural Unsweetened Green Tea a nice sweetness with a little kick. While you can also use fresh fruit, I enjoy adding frozen when I have it as it adds flavour while helping the drink to stay cooler longer.

I hope you’ll agree that enjoying healthy drinks doesn’t have to be boring or tasteless. These tweaked iced teas really are flavourful, fun and let’s face it – pretty fabulous. I doubt anyone will miss those sugary sodas if you serve iced tea at your next get together!

Disclosure: This is a sponsored post on behalf of Pure Leaf Unsweetened Tea, all opinions expressed are entirely my own.