Sweet Tea Slushies

As many of you already know, I love sweet tea.  The Monkeys and I are hosting a Southern heritage play group for some of their little friends next week, so I’ve been looking for a fun way to introduce the kids to this very Southern beverage.

It is summer, so at first I planned to make popsicles, since we love them in as many flavors as they come.  But I was afraid that in the hands of a bunch of preschoolers it would all be just a sticky mess, so I decided to do something a little different.

First I made a batch of sweet tea (see recipe below).  Then I poured it into a freezer-safe container and put it in the freezer.  After about an hour and a half, I stirred it, making sure to break up all the ice crystals that were forming.  I did this again in another hour and a half, and so on.

After a few times, the tea turned into — slush!  And it was the most heavenly, sweet, refreshing slush you can imagine.  What a fabulous frozen treat on a hot summer’s day!

(Just be sure to stir again before serving, as the tea tends to settle at bottom when it has been sitting).

Monkey’s assessment: “This tea makes me really frozen!”

Sweet Tea Recipe

I am looking forward to working my way through all of the wonderful sweet tea recipes I collected recently, but to make these slushies I relied on the recipe my mother uses, which is adapted from the Lipton Tea box:

Makes 2 quarts (1/2 gallon)

2 large tea bags (Lipton Iced Tea bags)

4 c. boiling water

4 c. cold water

1 c. sugar

Lemon juice

Put the tea bags in a glass pitcher then add the boiling water.  Make sure the pitcher is made of tempered glass, so it can withstand the heat of the boiling water.

Let steep 3-5 minutes (I used decaf, so I let it steep the full 5 minutes) then remove the tea bags.

Stir in the sugar until it dissolves then add the cold water and lemon juice.

Let sit until it reaches room temperature then chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

Monkey and I have been enjoying our batch of sweet tea slushies and can’t wait to share this new dish with our friends next week.

What new creations are you enjoying this summer?