Get your sugar-free summer started with this sweet tea lemonade. Half sweet tea, half lemonade, all refreshment!
You know, I am really not that much of an iced tea drinker. It’s not something that was on offer much in my house growing up, so it’s not what I crave when I am in need of liquid refreshment. I drink plenty of tea, both herbal and caffeinated, but it’s of the hot variety and it’s mostly in the colder months of the year. My first introduction to iced tea came at summer camp, where vats of cold tea and lemonade were made from the horribly sweet (and presumably chemical-laden) powdered mixes. Just add plenty of cold water and ice and stir! While I am sure I drank my fair share at the time, I never took a huge liking to those. I find no real refreshment in overly sweet drinks.
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And then there were the Snapple years, when everyone was enamoured of their fun flavours and funny commercials. I would purchase a bottle and drink about half before I realized that what I really wanted was water. Once again, that sugar took away from the actual refreshment for me, and I am sure I wasted quite a few half bottles of Snapple in my day.
So to be frank, the idea of “sweet tea” was never all that appealing for me. But with the unseasonably warm spring we’ve had in the PNW, I’ve been craving something other than water and decided it was time to shake things up a bit. And perhaps to give iced tea another chance. Real iced tea made from scratch is truly a whole different creature from the powdered mixes of summer camp. And sweet tea that’s not actually made with sugar is yet another creature still…sweet-tasting, but without that cloying affect so it’s much more refreshing.
And then take that sweet tea and mix it with tart-sweet lemonade (that’s also not made with sugar)? Now that, my friends, is true sugar-free summer refreshment. Bottoms up!
Please see my low carb Sweet Tea Lemonade recipe on Swerve Sweetener
Serves 8 (1 cup servings)
Food energy: 14kcal
Total fat: 0.02g
Calories from fat: —
Cholesterol: —
Carbohydrate: 1.58g
Total dietary fiber: 0.07g
Protein: 0.08g
Tracy says
I cringe now thinking about the sugar filled crap I drank as a kid. I could use a stronger word for it but we all get the idea. All I remember is it would just make me more thirsty and I would just keep drinking more. Iced tea with lemon is my go to summer drink so this fits the bill perfectly. ?
Lori B says
Carolyn, I live on hot tea and iced tea year-round,(and I love Irish Breakfast, usually a blend of Assam and others,) but this sounds just great!
Let me ask, though – what does the baking soda do? I haven’t heard of that in a drink recipe before.
Thanks for all your recipes – I know I never go wrong when I’m looking for low-carb here! 🙂
Carolyn says
Well, interesting question. Several of the sweet tea recipes I used as a model used baking soda and I didn’t know why but apparently it takes some of the bitterness out of the tannins since you steep it so long and make it so strong.
Lori B says
Thanks! I will give it a try next time I brew a batch of iced tea! (Probably within the next couple hours! 😀 )
Susan Graben says
38 years ago my mother in law taught me how to make “her” sweet tea on the stovetop. She always added a pinch of baking soda and told me it was to keep the tea from being cloudy.
Dawna says
It makes for a smoother taste. We put in coffee grounds too. It also cuts the acid. They make it like that in the south.
Carolyn says
So fascinating, thanks for the tip!
Nancy McNulty says
How do you add coffee grounds to it?
Julia Mueller says
I’m not huge on iced tea, either, but sweet tea lemonade (or Arnold Palmers)? I can dig! I’m all about the tea-lemonade combo and am definitely up for a low carb/sugar-free version. Heading to Swerve now to get the recipe!
Carolyn says
Thanks, Julia!
Jess says
This looks so refreshing! And it’s a good vehicle for electrolytes if you’re running low!
Carolyn says
True!
Anitra says
Hi, just wondering why this page says 1.58 g of carbs yet the swerve page recipe says there are 29 g of carbs?
Carolyn says
Swerve technically has carbs but they don’t affect blood sugar. Most low carbers such as myself don’t count them.