How to Make Blackberry Tea: Easy Refreshing Recipe
Cool down and enjoy berry season with this refreshing blackberry tea! With homemade blackberry syrup and lots of fresh blackberries, this sweet tea is the perfect way to relax on hot summer days.
During the summer months, I’m all about berries. I add them to everything I can: cocktails, smoothies, desserts, and even salads. It seems fitting to have a cool beverage on hot days that is loaded with berries!
This blackberry tea is sweet, flavorful, and insanely refreshing. It is easy to make and with its beautiful pink/purple color, you’ll love drinking it!
Ingredients Needed
Blackberries: Fresh blackberries or frozen; either will work. If you live somewhere that has plentiful blackberries in the summer, this is a perfect way to use some of them up. If fresh blackberries are expensive or out-of-season, frozen will work well too.
Tea: You can use any tea you like, though the recipe calls for black tea. Black tea has a bitterness that tastes delightful with sweet syrup.
Honey: We will be sweetening the blackberry syrup with honey. It adds a rich, delicious flavor and offers natural sweetness without the use of white sugar.
Lemon juice: A splash of fresh lemon juice completes the flavor of the blackberry syrup and makes it pop. You won’t taste the lemon (though you could add more to make this iced blackberry tea more tart).
How to Make Blackberry Tea
Make blackberry syrup: Start by making blackberry syrup to sweeten and flavor the tea. The syrup is made by simmering blackberries with water, and then stirring in honey and lemon juice.
Make the tea: Next, you will want to make a tea with your favorite tea bags. Steep them in boiling water for 3-5 minutes, then remove the tea bags.
Allow it to cool: Leave the tea and syrup on the counter to cool to room temperature for best results.
Mix the blackberry iced tea: In a large pitcher, combine the tea, blackberry syrup, ice, and blackberries. Garnish with a sprig of mint and enjoy.
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What Kind of Tea to Use for Blackberry Iced Tea
For this recipe, we will be using black tea. Black tea is a great option for sweetened teas because the bitterness balances the sweetness. You can use any type of tea you prefer, however.
White tea and green tea have more mild flavors and loads of health benefits. Herbal tea is a great option if you want to avoid caffeine and you can add all sorts of different flavors based on which herbs you use. If you’d like to go the herbal tea route, I would recommend lavender chamomile tea.
Expert Tips
- If you prefer to have hot tea, simply brew a cup of hot black tea with one tea bag and 8-12 ounces of boiling water. Add the blackberry simple syrup to taste and enjoy it immediately.
- Allow your tea to cool to room temperature before icing it for best results. You can add lots of ice to it when it’s hot and cool it that way, but I recommend making an extra-strong tea before doing that. A lot of the ice will melt into the tea, so you don’t want it to taste weak. Follow the recipe as-is, but use only 2 cups of water.
- Feel free to use maple syrup or another sweetener of choice if you don’t want to use honey.
- For the best flavor, don’t oversteep your tea. It is tempting to brew it for a long time to make it stronger, but black and green tea both get very bitter if left in the water for too long. I recommend sticking with the package instructions for your tea and only going a minute or two over if you must.
How to Store Blackberry Tea
Refrigerator
This blackberry tea should be good in the refrigerator for about 3 days. Put the tea in a lidded mason jar and refrigerate. If you’ve already iced it, remove the ice before putting it in the fridge so you don’t get watered-down tea.
Freezer
For longer storage, blackberry tea freezes very well. Put your tea in a mason jar, leaving at least 2 inches of space at the top to prevent breakage. To further prevent breaking as the liquid expands, initially freeze the tea with the lid off. Once it has frozen solid, secure the lid.
When you’re ready to thaw your tea, leave it out on the counter for a few hours or in the fridge overnight for delicious blackberry tea the next day.
Blackberry Leaf Tea
Blackberry leaf tea is another type of blackberry tea that offers lots of health benefits. If you have blackberry bushes and want to use more than just the fruit, you can easily dry the blackberry leaves or use them fresh to make delicious blackberry leaf tea. Blackberry leaf tea can also be purchased online very easily.
To make blackberry leaf tea, use 2 teaspoons of dry blackberry leaves to 8 ounces of boiling water. Steep them in a cloth tea bag or tea steeper for about 5 minutes, then enjoy the tea plain or with honey.
Blackberry Iced Tea
Cool down and enjoy berry season with this refreshing blackberry tea! With homemade blackberry syrup and lots of fresh blackberries, this sweet tea is the perfect way to relax on hot summer days.
Ingredients
For the Blackberry Syrup
- 1 cup whole blackberries, fresh or frozen
- ½ cup local honey
- 1 cup water
- 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
For the Tea
- 4 cups of boiling water
- 4 of your favorite black tea bags
- 1 cup extra blackberries
- Ice
- Fresh mint leaves for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a smaller or medium saucepan, combine blackberries with one cup of cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce to medium heat and simmer. Crush the blackberries with a fork or potato masher to bring out as much of the juice as you can.
- Continue simmering the blackberries for 5-7 minutes, until the juice is dark and the blackberries are broken down.
- Remove the blackberry juice from the heat and stir in the honey and lemon juice. Continue stirring until the honey is completely dissolved.
- Strain the blackberry syrup through a fine mesh strainer, using a spoon to push as much of the pulp through as you can. Discard the seeds. Set the syrup aside to cool.
- Next, make your tea. In a quart jar, combine tea bags and hot water and allow to steep for 3-5 minutes, or according to your tea package.
- Discard tea bags and allow the tea to cool.
- Once the blackberry syrup and the tea have cooled to room temperature, you can assemble your tea.
- Pour tea into a large pitcher and add lots of ice cubes. Stir in ¼ cup of the blackberry syrup and add the extra blackberries. Taste your tea and add more syrup as needed to achieve the right amount of sweetness for your preference.
- Serve in glasses with fresh ice and a mint leaf to garnish.
Notes
Feel free to use a different type of tea, such as green tea or herbal tea.
