WATERMELON MINT ICED TEA

Happy Saturday!  June came hard and fast, bringing an interesting mix of weather.  We’ve had cold days plus rain, sleet, and hail, and then those freaking HOT days!  The weather in Colorado flip-flops a lot, and here I thought Texas was bad!  Regardless of the crazy weather, it seems to always be hot when we’re doing outdoor projects, and with outdoor projects you naturally want some refreshing summer drinks.

As much as I wish I could drink chilled coffee drinks and wine all day on summer days (#goals right?), I also need to hydrate so I don’t shrivel up like a raisin.  This watermelon mint tea is so light and refreshing, it’s a perfect hydrating summer drink!  I kinda came up with it by accident and I’m excited to share it with you.

I’ve been a longtime fan of mint tea whether it’s hot or cold, and quite often in the summer we have a watermelon sitting on the kitchen counter.  So why not combine them?  Making watermelon juice sounds complicated but I promise it isn’t!  Before juicing the watermelon I suggest you brew the mint tea and let it cool so the ice doesn’t melt too fast and dilute all the great flavors.  You can always make the tea in advance and chill the tea in the refrigerator until you’re ready to use it.

If you haven’t had watermelon juice before you’re in for a real treat, it’s incredibly delicious and hydrating!  Filled with vitamins A, B6, and C, lots of lycopene, antioxidants, and amino acids, it’s also incredibly healthy!

Once the tea is prepared, slice up the watermelon into medium sized chunks and just throw it in a blender or food processor.  You’ll want two cups of strained juice for this recipe so blend and repeat the process until you have at least 3 cups.  Once you strain the watermelon you’ll loose a bit of volume, so you’ll want to account for that.  You can also just juice the entire watermelon, watermelon juice is so delicious I know you’ll want extra!

I find the delicate taste of the watermelon to add the perfect amount of sweetness to the tea, if you prefer sweeter tea feel free to add a little sugar to the tea while it’s still warm.

Strain the pureed watermelon using a mesh strainer over a bowl, you can gently scrape the bottom of the strainer with a spoon to speed this process up.  You’ll know when all the liquid is strained out when the remaining contents in the strainer resemble a thick applesauce.  Combine equal parts of the mint tea and watermelon juice, add ice garnish with a sprig of mint, and you’re good to go!

As long as you strain the watermelon it shouldn’t matter if you use a seedless watermelon or one with seeds.  Find the recipe below.

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Print Recipe

Watermelon Mint Iced Tea

Servings: 2

Equipment

• Blender
• Strainer

Ingredients

• 1 watermelon (to make 2 cups of watermelon juice)
• 2 mint tea bags (we used Tazo)
• 2 cups water
• fresh mint leaves (optional)

Instructions

• Brew the mint tea bags with 2 cups of water, and let cool.
• Meanwhile, prepare the watermelon for juicing. Slice the watermelon into medium sized chunks, filling the blender about 2/3 of the way full. Blend until smooth, adding more watermelon chunks if necessary until you reach at least 3 cups.
• Place a mesh strainer over a bowl and pour the watermelon juice through the strainer, stirring with a spoon to strain.
• Once you've reached 2 cups of strained watermelon juice, combine the juice and tea in a pitcher, and stir to mix.
• When ready to serve, pour into 2 glasses over ice, and garnish with mint if desired.

Warm summer days call for this healthy refreshing drink!  We’re working on our back deck today and tomorrow, I’m hoping we can finish most of it this weekend.  Whether we do or don’t I can guarantee we will be sipping on some watermelon mint iced tea!  If you come up with any watermelon tea variations I’d love to hear them.  Have a great weekend, stay happy and hydrated!