I am most definitely a morning coffee drinker, but in the summer especially, I enjoy drinking iced tea throughout the day.
I enjoy herbal teas, and instead of using commercial tea bags, I have started brewing my own herbal tea - in our coffee maker - using fresh cut herbs from our garden.
One caveat: You have to have a traditional coffee machine - not a Keurig - because your herbs will go right in the basket of the coffee machine nestled in a filter.
Fresh Brewed Mint Iced Tea
Brewing fresh herbs into tea couldn't be quicker or easier. Just snip a generous handful of any of your culinary herbs. My current favorite is chocolate mint.
Rinse your herbs in the sink, then place them in a filter in the basket of your coffee maker. I have also been adding a split vanilla bean to make a nice vanilla-mint blend.
Pour in your water and brew the tea just like you would brew a pot of coffee. When it's done, add a touch of honey for sweetness if you wish, and put it in the refrigerator to chill. When it's sufficiently chilled, add some ice cubes, a bit of garnish and you're done.
(If you want hot tea, just pour as is right from the carafe into your teacup. The nice thing about brewing the tea this way is that the coffee maker keeps the pot hot on the warming pad, unlike a traditional tea kettle on the stove.)
Mint has natural cooling properties (which is why mojitos and mint juleps are popular summer drinks), but you can experiment with other herbs and edible flowers as well, such as lavender, pineapple sage or rose petals. They all make delicious tea.
