Here is another refreshing iced tea recipe from BellyBytes.com! This one uses orange pekoe tea, which is a basic black tea that is highly fragrant, with fruity and floral notes, a woodsy aroma, and a sweet aftertaste. The original recipes calls for 3 teabags, but I like my tea strong, so I used 4.

4 bags orange pekoe tea
4 cups water
3 1/3 cups chilled apricot nectar (five, 5 1/2 oz cans)
1/2 cup chilled simple syrup, or to taste (see below)
fresh apricots, optional

Put tea bags in a heat resistant pitcher. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil and pour over tea bags. Steep tea for 5 minutes and remove tea bags. Cool tea and chill, covered, for about 1 hour or until cold.

Stir in chilled nectar and simple syrup. If using, halve and remove stones from apricots. Place 2-3 apricot halves and ice in each glass. Pour tea over ice and apricots.   

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.

This tea was inspired by the drink “Five Alive” by MinuteMaid, which combines orange, tangerine, lemon, lime, and grapefruit into one beverage. I added some iced tea and sugar (though feel free to use honey if you prefer), and came up with this 5 fruit concoction.

6 black tea bags
6 cups hot water
1/4 cup sugar (or honey)
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup pink grapefruit juice
1 lemon, juiced
1 tangerine, juiced
1 lime, cut into wedges
additional fruit for garnish, if desired

Pour hot water over tea bags in a heat-resistant pitcher. Allow to steep for 10-15 minutes. Stir in sugar until dissolved.

Add orange, grapefruit, lemon and tangerine juice. Stir well. Chill for 1-2 hours.

Fill glasses with crushed ice and lime wedges. Pour tea over ice and lime. Serve with additional fruit garnish (optional). Suggestion: orange wedges or lemon slices.

This tasty recipe came from http://www.bellybytes.com/recipe/tea/index.html. Part of BellyBytes.com, this list has tons of great hot and iced tea recipes! Consider this a summertime version of apple cider, and if you use chilled apple juice you don’t need to wait for the tea to chill.

4 bags of black tea
3 cups boiling water
1/3 cup honey
3 cups unsweetned apple juice 
Lemon slices

Place tea bags in a heat-safe pitcher or teapot. Pour boiling water over bags and steep about 15 minuts. 

Discard bags and add honey, stirring until honey is dissolved. Add apple juice and stir well.

Serve over ice, garnished with lemon slices.

Makes 6 to 8 servings.  

There were several recipes for this type of beverage online, but this one is most based on one featured by AOL Food. This drink is interestingly refreshing and quirky, definitely something different but tasty. If you are feeling daring, try some Cucumberade!

2 large cucumbers, peeled
2-3 large lemons
2 cups water
1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste
cucumber slices and/or lemon wedges, for garnish

There are several different ways to get juice from a cucumber, the easiest being a juicer or food processor. Another way is to grate the cucumber with a cheese grater and puree the pulp in a blender until smooth. Strain the puree well. 2 large cucumbers should yield 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 cups of juice.

Juice the lemons to yield 1/2 or 3/4 cup juice. Make sure to have 2 full cups juice between the cucumbers and lemons.

Stir sugar into water until dissolved. Combine 2 cups cucumber-lemon juice with sugar water in a large pitcher and stir well. Chill for at least 1 hour.

Serve over ice and garnish with cucumber slices and lemon wedges. Adjust sugar and lemon juice to taste. Recipe can be doubled.

Here is the third iced tea recipe from Real Simple magazine. A fun twist on an old favorite, the mint sprig refreshes this peachy iced tea.

8 cups boiling water
8 tea bags
4 ripe peaches 
1 bunch mint 

Pour boiling water into a heat resistant pitcher over tea bags. Seep tea for 10 minutes and remove tea bags. Allow tea to cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Chill 2-3 hours.

Cut peaches into slices and place in glasses. Pour tea over peach slices and ice. Garnish with a fresh sprig of mint and enjoy!