Iced Tea Popsicles

*Note: I haven't googled "Iced Tea Popsicles" but I'm sure I am not the first person to want super cold iced tea. There might be tricks or science that I am not aware of, but I just don't care.

Round 1 - black tea with ginger and lime

Despite the promising ingredients list, this was not a success. I brewed the tea much too strong (it was cheap to begin with), and the ginger was totally overwhelmed. For some reason (really because the brew smelled a bit acrid) I put in some sugar, which was also a bad idea. I added the lime juice (about 1/2 a lime's worth) after the tea had cooled down, and it didn't do anything to help the situation. I froze it anyway, and attempted to eat one of the popsicles the next day.

Eew.

The cheap black tea fragments that had escaped the bag during my over-zealous brewing had separated out to the nose of the ice "treat" and while they didn't taste bad (actually they were the best part) they looked...gross. My husband wouldn't even try it, and he'll eat pretty much anything (and we were in that part in The Two Towers where Gandalf comes back, so overwhelming happiness should have confused him into trying a slightly off-looking ice cube. The fact that he didn't speaks to the gross factor being pretty high).

I melted the rest of the popsicles down in the sink.


Round  2 - Earl Grey (Tazo, one tea bag)

Huzzah! The super-iced-tea experience that I was hoping for has arrived! Slowly, in the freezer, overnight, but it arrived nonetheless. I didn't make the tea very strong, and I didn't add anything to it. The very light floral notes of Earl Grey come through perfectly and nothing separated out. It is even a nice iced tea color.

Just brew, let cool, pour into molds, and freeze.

I think the trick here is not to be too heavy handed with the flavorings. I want to try this with Raspberry Zinger, or mint with fruit chopped up in it. Or just ginger, boiled, the way my pottery teacher used to drink it (hi Cynthia!) which might be super-refreshing (maybe with some yogurt?). Anywhoo, I will keep making these, and you should too. Do let me know if you find any teas that are particularly delicious when frozen :o)