Cheater's Lemon Tea

Making tea with freshly squeezed lemons is a wonderful thing to do.  The taste is incredible if you do it.  But let's face it, we don't always have the time or the energy to make that happen.  So this is my no-frill's, super easy way to make your own fast lemon tea.  I've gotten a half-dozen compliments on it already at events I've hosted at my house where I served this.  Your guests won't know how you "cheated" them!  :-)






Cheater's Lemon Tea
(Makes 1 gallon)


4 tea bags (or enough packets for 4 quarts/1 gallon of tea)
2 cups of water
1-2 packets of lemonade on-the-go mix
ice


Brew your tea the way you normally would.  I use an iced tea maker and follow the instructions that came with it which are to use about two cups of water and four tea bags.  After brewing, while still hot, I place enough ice to fill the tea container to the top line (about 1 gallon). 

The "cheater" ingredient is that I will sometimes add 1-2 packets of lemonade mix to my hot, freshly brewed tea.  By adding in something that looks like this (see photo below):




then I don't have to include any sugar or other sweeteners.  The lemonade mix does all the work for me.  I simply stir and taste until I have my desired sweetness.  If I were you, I'd start with one packet and then add a second if you want a stronger lemon flavor.


Don't stress or fuss about it not being completely homemade!  Just serve and enjoy.