Lemon Verbena Iced Tea

Lemon verbena infuses the lightly sweetened iced tea with sunny citrus flavor. You can also use the fragrant syrup to enliven cocktails or moisten pound cake. Blanching the herb leaves brightens their color so the syrup will stay green. Avoid using a strongly flavored tea, such as Earl Grey, as it will overpower the taste of the syrup.

Yield

6 servings

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup lemon verbena leaves
• 4 cups ice
• 6 cups brewed tea, chilled
• Mint leaves (optional)
• Lemon wedges (optional)

Preparation

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Cook 1 minute or until sugar dissolves. Cool sugar syrup completely.

Cook lemon verbena leaves in boiling water 1 minute. Drain and plunge into ice water; drain.

Combine sugar syrup and verbena leaves in a blender; process until smooth. Cover and chill overnight. Strain sugar syrup through a fine sieve into a bowl. Place 2/3 cup ice into each of 6 tall glasses; add 1 cup brewed tea and 2 tablespoons sugar syrup to each serving, stirring to combine. Garnish with mint leaves and lemon wedges, if desired.

Nutritional Information

Calories:

67 (0.0% from fat)

Fat:

0.0g (sat 0.0g,mono 0.0g,poly 0.0g)

Protein:

0.0g

Carbohydrate:

17.4g

Fiber:

0.0g

Cholesterol:

0.0mg

Iron:

0.0mg

Sodium:

7mg

Calcium:

0.0mg

Judy Lockhart