Red Zinger Iced Tea

My family was living in Boulder, CO back in the '70s when Celestial Seasonings first released their Red Zinger herbal tea. My mom made an iced tea using honey and orange juice that we practically grew up on. Well, as so many things, for reasons we don't always quite remember, we stopped drinking it. Last year, I was feeling nostalgic and wanted to recreate this tea, but my mom couldn't remember the proportions she used. So I set out to figure it out... one batch of tea at time. Eventually, I came up with this recipe which I like very much. This tea is reminiscent of fruit juice, but without all those calories. A great drink for the whole family. (Just remember that children under one shouldn't be given honey).

Red Zinger Iced Tea

3 cups almost boiling water
8 Red Zinger tea bags (available in my aStore)
1/4 cup honey
4 cups water
1 cup no pulp orange juice

Makes 1/2 gallon of tea.

I heat the water in a 4 cup Pyrex measuring cup until it's got bubbles but is not actually boiling. Add tea bags, stir, and then cover with a plate to steep for 5 minutes. Remove tea bags, add honey and stir. Add 4 cups of cool or cold water. Then add orange juice and stir. I prefer no pulp OJ for this recipe despite really liking pulpy OJ. It just makes a cleaner, prettier tea, but it certainly doesn't hurt it to have pulp in there!