Spring has sprung, and warmer weather has finally appeared. The turn of the season has prompted a standing reservation with the lawn chairs in our yard. Our little lady has officially caught the love-of-outdoors bug and we are wholeheartedly supporting her in that discovery. This means lots of playing in the dirt, waddling around the yard, and picking the grass and attempting to eat it. Witnessing such adventures is a thirsty job, so I’ve been experimenting with lots of new homemade drinks recently. (Homemade root beer, ginger ale, etc… but those are stories for another day.) I’ve also been on a bit of a fresh ginger kick lately, using it in all sort of recipes, so it seemed like a fun idea to try making some iced tea sweetened with a ginger syrup. We have successfully enjoyed several pitchers of this Ginger Sweet Tea in the last few weeks, and I’m sure we’ll continue to throughout the warm months ahead.

Flowers are blooming around here right now, and I am so smitten.

My little lady is growing way too fast. Also, who taught her how to pose like this? Is it just me or does she look like she’s having her senior pictures taken? Slow your roll, love. Mama can’t keep up with you!

This recipe is so simple. You only need 4 ingredients, one of which is water. I use regular Lipton black tea bags for this Ginger Sweet Tea. You don’t need or want a fancy type of tea for this recipe, because the ginger is really the star. When buying fresh ginger, I buy mine in pieces about the size of my fist. (One fist-sized piece is perfect for this recipe.) Other than that, just a bit of sugar and some ice is all you’ll need to get started.

Ginger Sweet Tea

Ingredients:

For the ginger syrup-

1 fist-sized piece of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced very thin (to equal about 1 cup)

1 cup granulated sugar

1 cup water

For the iced tea-

5 teabags of Lipton black tea

2 cups boiling water

6 cups ice cubes

Directions:

In a medium saucepan, combine fresh ginger, sugar, and water. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes, adjusting heat as needed to maintain a simmer, stirring occasionally. Mixture should be reduced by half.

Pour syrup through a fine mesh sieve to remove the ginger pieces. Let syrup cool to room temperature before sealing in a jar and storing in the refrigerator. (You don’t need to let it cool in order to use it to make the tea. You’ll only need half of the syrup to make a pitcher of tea.)

In a 2-quart glass pitcher, add the teabags. Pour boiling water over the teabags and let steep for 5 minutes. Remove teabags and add ½ cup of the ginger syrup, stirring to combine. Add ice, stirring well to cool the tea.

Serve cold.

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