After seeing a recipe onRecipezaar for Green Tea with Rose Water, I was compelled to make my own version. This iced tea combines rose water (pink) and lime (green) with green tea to make a fresh iced drink with an interesting twist. Rose water is typically used in Middle Eastern-style cooking, so whip up this drink, take a sip, and image yourself in an exotic cafe far, far away.

2 green teabags
1 cup water
1/2 tsp rose water
1 tsp honey
1 tsp fresh lime juice
lime slices, for garnish

Bring water to a boil and add teabags. Steep 3 minutes and remove. Stir in rose water, honey, and lime juice.

Fill a large glass with ice. Pour tea over ice and add lime slices. Pop in a sprig of mint, if desired. Sip slowly and enjoy!

There are several recipes online for Blackberry Lemonade, but I didn’t really like any of them. This is a quick and easy way to add something new to plain lemonade. You could make your own lemonade, the old fashioned way, but this calls for something with a little more speed and a little less squeeze. This would also be great with pink or berry flavored lemonade mixes. I used some from the Farmer’s Market that were still good but a little mushy, so this is perfect for berries that might be a little unappealing to eat.

1 package instant lemonade mix (i.e. Kool-Aid, Crystal Light, Country Time)
1 quart fresh blackberries, about 2 cups 

Prepare lemonade according to packaged directions (use sugar if called for). Combine 1 cup prepared lemonade and blackberries in a blender. Pulse until smooth.

Pour blackberry mixture through a strainer and into lemonade. Discard solids. Stir lemonade well. Chill or serve over ice.

Seen below, garnished with mint (just for fun):

Another DIY Herbal Tea, this one using sage, fennel seeds, mint, and lemon. Sweeten with honey, sugar, or simple syrup as desired.

1/3 cup chopped fresh sage
2 tbsp fennel seeds
1 tbsp fresh mint, crushed
1 tsp finely grated lemon rind
5 cups boiling water
honey, to taste

Bring water to a boil in a saucepan. Add sage, fennel seed, mint, and lemon rind. Cover and steep 15 minutes.

Strain and stir in honey. Chill 1 hour.

Serve over ice with fresh sage and/or mint leaves as garnish. Add lemon wedges for extra flavor.

Served in a pitcher with mint leaves, ice, and lemon wedges:

Single serving, garnished with a fresh sprig of sage:

This is a great tea, served hot or iced,  depending on the weather! James wanted green tea with honey, I wanted tea with ginger, and here is the end result. The ginger gives this tea just a hint of flavor and spice, which is perfect for the Gingerama category. Enjoy a tea-riffic Jenn Original Recipe (sorry, couldn’t help myself).

8 green tea bags
8 cups water
1/3 cup honey
1 3-inch piece of ginger, peeled
lemon wedges, for garnish

Cut ginger into half-inch slices. Bring water to a boil and pour over tea bags and ginger slices in a heat resistant pitcher. Steep for 5-10 minutes and remove tea bags. Stir in honey and steep ginger an additional 5 minutes. Remove ginger slices.

Serve immediately warm, or chill 1-2 hours and pour over ice and lemon wedges.

From Food & Wine magazine, this recipe combines combines tart pomegranate juice and orange pekoe tea steeped with orange zest. For an added flavor burst, I used POM Wonderful Pomegranate-Blueberry juice blend and frozen blueberries as garnish. POM also makes Pomegranate-Cherry, Pomegranate-Tangerine, and Pomegranate-Mango juice blends.

2 oranges, zest removed in strips
8 cups water
9 orange pekoe tea bags
2 cups pomegranate juice
3/4 cup simple syrup, or to taste
orange wedges, for garnish

Remove zest from oranges in strips using a sharp knife or vegetable peeler. Bring water to a boil and add zest strips and teabags. Remove from heat and steep 10 minutes.

Strain tea into a pitcher and chill 1-2 hours. Stir in pomegranate juice and simple syrup. Serve over ice with orange wedges.

Simple Syrup:
1 1/3 cups sugar
1 1/4 cups water

To make Simple Syrup:
In a small saucepan, bring sugar and water to a boil, stirring. Boil until sugar dissolves. Let syrup cool and chill, covered. Simple Syrup will keep for 2 weeks. Chill, covered, until ready to use. Makes 1 1/2 to 2 cups syrup.

Steeping with orange rind strips:

Shown below, with blueberries: