Pretty pastel iced tea

Approximately every six weeks, Connecticut Country House has become a destination meeting place for a beautiful group of Mary Kay consultants.  The ladies have officially, and affectionately, named it “The Tea”.  They love coming here.  I think this place creates a much needed time-out from their hectic lives; a local “get away from it all”.  That being said, I  feel that they have also found this out-of-the-box place to meet a conducive environment for team building and sharing ideas.

When it comes to serving some nibbles and sips, I keep it fairly simple but make sure it’s pretty (in my book this is a requirement for Mary Kay ladies).  This past Sunday it was all about tea sandwiches and homemade iced tea – my American summertime high-tea homage to the Olympic games in London.  Both turned out to be winners!

The tea was inspired by researching southern sweet teas that were based on brewing regular tea- but as usual – I gave it my own twist.  I selected Bigelow’s ‘I Love Lemon’ Herb Tea because I figured a lemony tasting herb tea would be especially refreshing as well as a crowd pleaser.  But the surprising bonus was in the beautiful pinky-melon color that was created by the infused tea – surely a gorgeous tint that can be found in the Mary Kay cosmetic palette.  Lucky break.

‘The Tea’ pastel iced herbal tea

12 tea bags – Bigelow ‘I Love Lemon’ Herb Tea

4 cups boiling water

12 cups cold water

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon baking soda (cuts the bitterness of the tea)

In a large pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Add baking soda and tea bags (I tie all 12 bags together with a piece of string). Let it steep for 20-30 minutes, and remove tea bags.  Stir in sugar until dissolved, and then add the cold water.  Pour into large pitcher and refrigerate.  When ready to serve, add ice directly to the glasses (do not add to the pitcher – it will water it down too much) and pour tea.

To the ladies inside I served the tea in French footed water glasses.  But when I’m entertaining outside, I keep it casual by using chilled Ball canning jars topped off with freshly picked sprigs of mint.

Enjoy and stay cool!