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The Frozen Tea Popsicle Experiment
Aug. 6th, 2011 07:06 amWe've been having some really hot days and I wanted a no-calorie frozen treat. Well, try finding that in the stores! A friend who has been working at a tea shop mentioned that she had wanted to make tea pops. Apparently this is something her mom did when she was young! I thought this was a great idea but I wanted something decaffeinated and remembered that I had a little Gevalia Lemon Berry tea left. Since my daughter is now 25 and long past the age when I would have been making these for her, I had to buy popsicle molds at the dollar store for this. You could just use small plastic containers covered with plastic wrap and poke a stick (skewer?) through the plastic.
I used 3 teabags to two cups of water (since tea is supposed to be brewed by 6 oz cup, this would make it just a little stronger than a cup of tea). I boiled the water and poured it over the tea bags and let it steep for about five minutes (For herbal teas, it's okay to steep longer. For black or green tea you wouldn't want to steep for more than 4 minutes or it will acquire a bitter note.). Then I removed and discarded the tea bags (you can compost these --I do) and added two packets of Purevia. You can use any sweetener that you want in similar quantity (about two teaspoons of sugar sweetness). And then I let the tea cool down to close to room temperature and poured it into the molds and put it in the freezer to freeze. I'm really happy with the results. The tea pop is just the right flavor and sweetness for me as I find many treats like this to be too sweet. I now have a nice cool tea pop to eat anytime I need something to refresh me in this heat!
I may also try freezing water flavored with the 4c Totally Light To Go drink mixes that I have. But that will be another blog post. ;-)
If I plan to make these more frequently, I am going to invest in better popsicle molds. The molds from the dollar store are smaller so 2 cups of liquid filled all eight popsicle molds. Three of the sticks were pushed out by the freezing liquid so I now have several tea ice cubes. I might use these to cool some diet ginger ale or maybe just club soda. But for an experiment, it was worth the $1.00 that the molds cost. (Well, $1.07 with sales tax.)
I used 3 teabags to two cups of water (since tea is supposed to be brewed by 6 oz cup, this would make it just a little stronger than a cup of tea). I boiled the water and poured it over the tea bags and let it steep for about five minutes (For herbal teas, it's okay to steep longer. For black or green tea you wouldn't want to steep for more than 4 minutes or it will acquire a bitter note.). Then I removed and discarded the tea bags (you can compost these --I do) and added two packets of Purevia. You can use any sweetener that you want in similar quantity (about two teaspoons of sugar sweetness). And then I let the tea cool down to close to room temperature and poured it into the molds and put it in the freezer to freeze. I'm really happy with the results. The tea pop is just the right flavor and sweetness for me as I find many treats like this to be too sweet. I now have a nice cool tea pop to eat anytime I need something to refresh me in this heat!
I may also try freezing water flavored with the 4c Totally Light To Go drink mixes that I have. But that will be another blog post. ;-)
If I plan to make these more frequently, I am going to invest in better popsicle molds. The molds from the dollar store are smaller so 2 cups of liquid filled all eight popsicle molds. Three of the sticks were pushed out by the freezing liquid so I now have several tea ice cubes. I might use these to cool some diet ginger ale or maybe just club soda. But for an experiment, it was worth the $1.00 that the molds cost. (Well, $1.07 with sales tax.)
