Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Tea a Summer Classic!

Perfect drink to serve during a barbeque.

The other day, one of our YouTube subscribers asked if we had any suggestions for something to cool to drink.  It made me think about what is a classic summer time drink?  Ice Tea is sooo classic.  

Have to have lots of ice!

Then, I thought about what is classic Scandinavian during the summer time.  A couple of ingredients that came to mind was strawberries and rhubarb. In June, we get sooooo excited to see rhubarb start coming out of the ground and flowers blooming on the strawberry plant. Summer time is a great time of the year to enjoy different strawberry and rhubarb dishes and drinks.

So, I thought to do a YouTube video on how to make Strawberry Rhubarb Ice Tea.  How much more summer time classic can it get!  You will want to showcase this fruity ice tea drink in a clear glass pitcher. This drink really is about color, color, color! Beautiful ruby red, sunset orange and a hint of yellow.  Your family and friends will be impressed if you serve them this drink!

This pretty ice tea drink is delicious to drink too. What is great about this drink is you can make the tea as strong as you like.  I like strong tea.  But with this drink I enjoy tasting the rhubarb and the strawberry too.  Plus, it is fun to see if you can scoop out a sliced strawberry from the glass too. So, I try to use only 3 tea bags so it does not dominate the pitcher of ice tea.

 

Click on our YouTube video 

to see how to prepare this refreshing drink!

For the Iced Tea

• 2 quarts water or 8 cups of water
• 3 bags English Breakfast Tea
• 1 cup of red ripe strawberries (rinse off strawberries, cut off top and slice in half)
• lemon slices
• Fresh mint sprigs, for garnish
• lots of ice

 

Kitchen Tools

• large sauce pot with lid
• mesh strainer (- a colander with big holes won’t work!) 
• Spoon  
• cutting board
• knife
• measuring cup
• a clear glass pitcher

Instructions

First Step: Make the Syrup

1.  Clean the ruby red rhubarb under cold running water, cut into 1/2 inch pieces. Keep slicing until you get 3 cups of sliced rhubarb.
   
2. To make the rhubarb syrup, combine chopped rhubarb, water, and sugar in a heavy-bottomed pot.
3. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, until rhubarb has broken into shreds. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes. Keep an eye on the syrup.  If it gets too hot, turn the temp down a little more.
4. Let the rhubarb.
5. Strain the syrup using a mesh colander.  A colander with big holes won't work because a lot of the rhubarb pieces might fall into the syrup.  A cheesecloth is another helpful way to strain the syrup too.  Otherwise, you might have to strain it a couple of times.  I don’t mind the yummy rhubarb that might go through into the syrup but to get a clear syrup that is what you might want to do
6. Allow to cool. Set the syrup aside in the refrigerator

Second Step Make the Tea

1. Boil water and pour over the 3 tea bags into a teapot
2. Let brew for 5 minutes, then remove tea bags. 
3. Cool and refrigerate until chilled.

 Cooking Tip: To avoid the tea bags falling into the container tie the strings together.

Third Step: Combined all of the ingredients

1. To serve, add all the rhubarb syrup to chilled tea in a large glass pitcher.  Stir the mixture.  
2. You probably won't need more sugar.  If yes, add to taste and stir to dissolve
3. Slice strawberries and layer with ice in the pitcher.  This layered colorful look is gorgeous to look at.
4. It is optional to add lemon slices. If you like lemon, it really is looks fabulous with this drink too.
5. Garnish the glass pitcher with a sliced lemon and a sprig of mint. 

When you are ready to serve to your guests, serve over ice with a sprig of mint in a glass.  Garnish with a strawberry or a slice of lemon on the rim of the glass.

Cooking Tip: Make sure your pitcher holds 10 cups of water.  If your pitcher is smaller, you may want to reduce the quantities. 

Our channel has videos including

• how to make Danish Christmas rice pudding with cherry sauce dessert recipe (Risalamande med kirsebærsauce)  
• how to make Swedish Glogg for Christmas & cold evenings! (glögg or mulled wine recipe)   
• how to make aeblskiver (æbleskiver)  
• how to make Danish Christmas Klejner  
• how to make easy Danish cucumber salad (arguksalat)  
• how to make Danish sugar browned potatoes (brunede kartofler)  
• how to make Danish red cabbage (rødkaal)  

These recipes are perfect for the holiday season. Please let us know what you think! Glædelig Jul and Merry Christmas♥ ! Our Scandinavian recipes including Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish are on http://scandinavtoday.blogspot.com/ Follow us either on Twitter @scandinavtoday, Blogger, Google+, Google Pages, Pinterest and Subscribe to our YouTube Chanel Scandinavian Today!  Let's get cooking Scandinavian foods!