Celebrate National Iced Tea Month with a new twist on the beverage.

The taste of summer, in our mind, has always included the following trio: corn on the cob, watermelon and iced tea. We curled up with a warm cup of tea when we told you about National Hot Tea Month in January, and now we’re ready to cool down with one of our favorite summer beverages in June, which is National Iced Tea Month.

Though iced tea was available in the 19th century, it was popularized during the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, MO. More than a century later, research has uncovered the possible health benefits of tea, including prevention of cancer and cardiovascular disease — the two leading causes of death for American women — as well as improving bone health.

While there are plenty of bottled iced tea options from AriZona, Honest Tea, Lipton, Snapple and Tazo, we love brewing our own — plus it allows us to mix in various ingredients and adjust the amount of sweetener and fruit flavors. We’re planning to make Lipton’s Green Tea Pear Twist and Bigelow’s Pomegranate Blueberry Iced Tea, as well as the following recipe from Emeril Lagasse’s Emeril Green show on the Discovery Network’s Planet Green. We love the addition of peaches, ginger and mint, which is abundant in gardens this time of year. Plus using local honey is a good way to support area beekeepers and possibly help with the plight of the honeybees.

Emeril’s Ginger Peach Green Tea Cooler
6 cups cold water
6 green tea bags, decaffeinated
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, thinly sliced into rounds
1/3 cup honey
2 cups sliced peaches, fresh or frozen
2 lemons, halved
Fresh mint, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, bring 6 cups water to 190° F (just short of boiling). Add tea bags and steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags and set the brewed tea aside to cool slightly. In the meantime, in a large glass jar with a lid, add the ginger, honey and peaches. Squeeze the juice from the lemon halves into the jar, add the lemons and cover the mixture with the steeped tea. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. To serve, fill tall glasses with ice, place a few chilled peach slices in each glass, pour 
chilled tea over the peaches and top with a sprig of mint.

Serves 6

NUTRITION SCORE (per serving)
76 calories
1% fat
Fat 0.1 g
Carbs 20 g
Protein 0.5 g
Fiber 0.8 g
Calcium 4 mg
Iron 0.2 mg
Sodium 0.7 mg

What tastes do you associate with summer?

Recipe credit: This recipe originally appeared on Emeril Green, Lagasse’s original series on Planet Green network, courtesy Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

Photo credit: From Emeril at the Grill, (HarperStudio, 2009), courtesy Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Inc.

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