Recipe--Orange-Mint Tea

A couple of weeks ago, we were suffering through a week of temperatures in the 90’s almost every day. I was thinking that something cool and refreshing was in order, but the standard lemonade didn’t seem quite right. I remembered a recipe that I had jotted down last summer while visiting with friends. We were enjoying a warm summer afternoon on their front porch, and I had been paging through some of their cookbooks. I came upon a recipe for Orange-Mint Tea and jotted it down with an orange marker on a tiny sheet of paper from my Mom’s memo pad.

That slip of paper sat in my recipe folder for nearly a year before I remembered it. Since my mint plants were thriving and we had all the other ingredients, I gave it a try. At first, I couldn’t quite decide whether I liked it or not. But we’ve made it 3 times now, and I’ve sipped my way through several quarts of the refreshing tea. J It’s definitely a keeper!

Orange-Mint Tea

3 Cups water

5-6 springs fresh mint (I used cuttings from my chocolate mint plant)

1/3 Cup sugar

2 Cups orange juice

½ Cup lemon juice

Ice

Boil water. Add mint. Remove from heat and steep for 15-25 minutes depending on how strong of a mint flavor you want. Dissolve the sugar into the water. Combine orange and lemon juices in a ½ gallon pitcher. Add mint concentrate and ice to fill. Chill.