Cherry Lemon Tea
Instead of making traditional and well-loved Southern Sweet Tea, cool down this summer with naturally sweetened Cherry Lemon Tea! Made with water, three of your favorite tea bags, frozen or fresh cherries, agave nectar and freshly squeezed lemon juice, this summertime flavored tea takes little hands-on time and stores beautifully in the refrigerator for days. This bright, slightly sweet and slightly tart iced tea is the perfect refreshment to sip on a hot summer’s day!
I’ve gotta be real with y’all. I was raised in the South and have lived in the South my entire life… but I didn’t like tea until I was reaaaaaaaaaally pregnant.
Even the sweet rendition was disgusting to me.
I vividly remember attending a wedding reception, which involved a sit down dinner, when I was a girl. The only drink option for the kid table was tea. And I was so disgusted because I could not fathom how so many people drank it and enjoyed the nasty stuff. It was bitter and disgusting… and to remedy this, I poured several sugar packets into my glass since that was the only way I thought it might be palatable.
Turns out, drowning tea in sugar didn’t change my tune.
So while my friends always sipped on sweet tea during the hot summer months, I found myself gravitating toward lemonades and limeades.
Then I got pregnant.
(Is it just me, or does that statement mean ‘and then EVERYTHING CHANGED’ always? Because I feel like it was a turning point for me on so many levels.)
It wasn’t until I was overdue that tea started sounding good. In fact, the only reason it was even on my radar was because my doctor told me it could potentially help bring on labor.
And really, at that point, I was willing to try anything if it meant my body went into labor on its own (it didn’t) and I didn’t have to be induced (I did.)
I drank that red raspberry leaf tea, which I jokingly called “labor tea,” like it was going out of style the week between my due date and induction date… and it actually didn’t taste horrible, even though my doctor warned me it was gross.
When my mother was in town a few weeks ago, she requested tea to accompany our lunch. I, of course, didn’t have any made up, but as we started talking about what sounded good, I realized a few things:
- I had some pitted cherries in the freezer that were calling my name.
- Strawberry-infused tea was quite delish last summer.
- Cherry tea with a bit of lemon juice would be tart and slightly sweet and wonderful.
This tea couldn’t be easier, y’all. And I’m so glad because sometimes, we just need a naturally sweet, delicious drink that can be ready to go with very little work.
Bring your water to a boil, then turn off the heat. Throw in the cherries, your tea bags and the agave nectar and let it steep for 30 minutes to an hour. Then strain the tea, add the lemon juice, pop it in the fridge, and enjoy cold!
Or if you’re like us, pour the tea straight into glasses after it steeps, add an ample amount of ice, and drink immediately.
Either way, it’s delightful.
Cherry Lemon Essentials
Get the look!
- Glimmer-Wrapped Old Fashioned Glasses.
- Clara Glass Pitcher.
- Gold glitter tray. (Similar from West Elm and Edie Parker.)
Here’s how you make it:
Cherry Lemon Tea
Ingredients
- 6 cups water
- 2 cups 16 oz. frozen or fresh cherries, pitted
- 3 tea bags
- 3 tablespoons agave nectar
- ¼ cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice
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Instructions
- In a large saucepan, bring the water to a boil.
- Add the cherries and the tea bags. Measure in the agave nectar, and stir until dissolved into the mixture.
- Steep for 30 minutes to an hour.
- Strain the tea, and transfer to a pitcher.
- Pour in the lemon juice.
- Chill in the refrigerator, and enjoy cold!
Nutrition
How do you feel about tea?
What are you using to keep yourself cool this summer?
About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
I am with pre-pregnant you. Tea is not my cup of… well, tea! I want to like tea. I like the idea of tea. Hot tea in the winter sounds like a good idea. A nice iced tea seems refreshing but YUCK! This however, looks good. Maybe I need to easy my way into it starting with more fruit than tea and wean myself off the fruit?!
This post is making me crave iced tea SO BAD! Growing up on the west coast with nothing but unsweetened iced tea, I was floored the first time I tried sweet tea in North Carolina. Such a game changer! Loving this cherry lemon infusion – if I love iced tea now, I’m curious to know how I’ll be when I eventually have kids, ha!
Wow, I love the flavors happening in here! So refreshing and fragrant, I’ll take an entire pitcher because it is like 115″F outside today!
This tea looks incredibly tasty and refreshing.
This is perfect for the summer! I will be having this often I think!
I love adding fresh, crisp fruit flavors to tea! This sounds delicious!
We love sweet iced tea in this house! In fact, there is almost always a pitcher in my fridge. 😉 But this Cherry Lemon Tea sounds delicious! Perfect for summertime.
This tea sounds delicious and I just happen to have a bag of cherries and some lemons that need a good home 😉
So perfect for the summer. Easy and delicious!