- For hot tea, steep a black tea bag in a mug with hot water for 3-4 minutes before stirring in honey and lemon juice.
- For iced tea, brew it hot inside a temperature-proof pitcher with sugar, baking soda, and lemon juice before refrigerating it until cool.
- A slice of lemon makes for a nice garnish on the side of a mug or glass.
Making Hot Honey Lemon Tea
Bring 1 cup (240 mL) of water to a boil and put it into a mug. Put the water into a heatproof mug and microwave it for 30-60 seconds, or use a kettle on the stovetop and then pour the hot water into a mug. Use caution when handling hot liquids—use a dishtowel or oven mitt to protect your hands if needed. Every microwave varies on how long it’ll take to boil 1 cup (240 mL) of water. Start with 30 seconds and test the temperature to see if it’s hot enough. Keep adding 30 seconds to the timer until it gets to the right temperature.
Steep a black tea bag in the hot water for 3-4 minutes. After the tea has steeped, remove the bag from the mug. If you don’t like the taste or don’t want the caffeine from black tea, you can skip this step entirely. Many people enjoy hot honey lemon tea without any actual “tea” in it at all! You could also use green tea, chai tea, or even a lemon-flavored herbal tea.
Stir honey and lemon juice into the hot water. Use 2 tablespoons (30 mL) of honey and 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of lemon juice. If you’re using a fresh lemon, about 1/2 of one will give you 1 tablespoon (15 mL) of liquid. If you don’t have fresh lemons on hand, use bottled lemon juice for the same effect. Make sure to stir the mixture until you can no longer see honey at the bottom of the mug. Tip: If you add the honey to the mug before you pour in the hot water, it’ll dissolve faster.
Add a fresh slice of lemon to the mug for an additional garnish. Use a clean cutting board or knife to cut either a wedge or slice out of a lemon. Squeeze it into the mug or simply drop it into the liquid to add a little extra lemon to your tea. Fresh lemon is an invigorating scent; even just smelling the lemon as you cut into it can instantly boost your spirits.
Enjoy your hot honey lemon tea, but be careful to not burn yourself! Remember that the tea will be hot when you first go to drink it, so be careful to not burn your tongue. Hot honey lemon tea is delicious to enjoy on its own, but it can also be helpful if you have a cold or sore throat. Feel free to add more honey or sugar to your tea if you’d like it to be sweeter.
Brewing Iced Lemon Tea
Boil 4 cups (950 mL) of water and pour them into a heatproof pitcher. You can either boil the water in the microwave or use a kettle on the stovetop. If you use the microwave, it’ll take about 2-3 minutes, but check it before putting it into the pitcher to make sure it’s hot enough to steep tea in. If the water is boiling or steaming, it is hot enough. If you want to use a temperature gauge, aim for about 180 to 200 °F (82 to 93 °C).Warning: Never put boiling water into a cold glass container. The temperature difference will shatter the glass.
Stir the sugar and baking soda into the hot water until they’ve dissolved. Use 1 cup (200 grams) of sugar and 1/4 teaspoon (1.5 grams) of baking soda. Stir the mixture with a long-handled spoon until you don’t see any more sugar granules at the bottom of the pitcher. If you don’t like white sugar, you could also use the same amount of honey. Or, if you want the iced tea to be more or less sweet, just adjust how much sweetener you add at this stage.Did You Know? Black tea has these things in it called tannins, which can give the tea a bitter taste. Baking soda helps neutralize the tannins so that your tea comes out tasting a lot smoother.
Steep 10 black tea bags in the pitcher for 10 minutes. If you’re using regular single-serving tea bags, use 10. If you’re using larger bags meant to make pitchers of iced tea, use 2. Use a long-handled spoon to push the tea bags down so they are completely submerged in the hot water and set a timer. Try doing a half-black and half-green tea mix for a slightly different flavor or add in a few herbal tea bags to the mix to infuse it with a fruity flavor.
Remove the tea bags and squeeze them out over the pitcher. After the 10 minutes have passed, carefully spoon the bags up out of the pitcher. Use a second spoon to squeeze out the liquid from the bags so that you don’t lose any tea. Discard of the bags once you’re done with them. Tea bags can be composted if you don’t want to throw them away in the trash. You can also reuse tea bags around the house.
Juice 6 lemons into the pitcher and stir the tea. If you don’t have fresh lemons, use about ⁄2 to ⁄4 cup (120 to 180 mL) of lemon juice. If you’re worried about the tea being too sour, add a little, test the tea, and keep adding more until it reaches the right flavor. Try adding in the juice of 1-2 oranges along with the lemons for a sweeter citrus flavor. If you accidentally add too much lemon, you could always add more water or more sweetener to combat the flavor.
Add 4 cups (950 mL) of ice and refrigerate the tea until it gets cool. The ice helps cool the tea down quickly, and it’ll also double your recipe once it has melted. About 2-3 hours in the fridge should be long enough to cool it down, but go ahead and serve the tea over additional ice if it’s still a little warm. Try subbing out half of the ice for frozen berries instead.
Garnish a glass with 1-2 slices of lemon, pour the tea, and enjoy! You can keep leftover iced tea in the fridge for 4-5 days. Just make sure to cover the top with a lid or plastic wrap so bugs can’t get into it.
Modifying the Recipe
Grate some fresh ginger into your hot lemon tea for added benefits. About 1 inch (2.5 cm) of fresh ginger should be enough to impart its flavor and give you digestive and soothing benefits, but of course, feel free to modify the amount to your personal tastes. You can use ground ginger, but the taste and health benefits won’t be the same as if you had used fresh ginger. About 1/4 teaspoon (1.75 grams) of ground ginger equals about 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of fresh ginger.
Enjoy a hot toddy by adding whiskey to your hot lemon tea. Add 2 fluid ounces (59 mL) of whiskey to your already-made lemon tea. Stir the mixture with a spoon to disperse the alcohol so it isn't left floating at the top of the mug. Experiment with flavors by subbing out whiskey for scotch, brandy, spiced rum, or a flavored liqueur. You could also spike your iced lemon tea with an infusion of liquor.
Take your tea to the next level by adding a sprinkle of dried spice. Cinnamon, cardamom, clove, star anise, or even chili powder would give your tea an additional warming element. Simply stir a pinch, or about 1/4 teaspoon (.5 grams), of the chosen spice into your tea and enjoy. If you have cinnamon sticks, add 1 to your mug before pouring in the hot water.
Make a flavored simple syrup to infuse your tea with a new essence. Mint or raspberry are great flavors that will complement the lemon in your hot or iced tea. Heat up 1 cup (200 grams) of white sugar and 1 cup (240 mL) of water, and simmer them together until the sugar dissolves, which takes about 5 minutes. Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in either 1 cup (25 grams) of mint leaves or 1 cup (125 grams) of fresh raspberries. Let them steep for 30 minutes, then strain the liquid into a glass jar to use in your tea. Add about 1 to 2 tablespoons (15 to 30 mL) of simple syrup to your cup of tea to sweeten and flavor it all at the same time.
Add soda water to make a sparkling iced tea. Simply fill your glass partially with iced tea and top off the rest with soda water. The more soda water you use, the more carbonated your tea will be. Feel free to use plain soda water or flavored. Soda water is also often called sparkling water, seltzer water, or fizzy water.
Stir in fresh fruit to add a splash of color and invigorating flavor. Orange slices, raspberries, strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, pineapple, and many other fruits are great additions to your iced tea. Add about 1/4 cup (45 grams) of fresh fruit to your glass and pour the iced tea over top of it. The fruit is delicious to eat when you finish drinking your tea. You could even freeze some fruit and use it in your iced tea in place of actual ice.
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