Passion Tea Lemonade

My favorite Starbucks drink of all time is the iced Passion Tea Lemonade. But I can't always be at Starbucks when the mood strikes (which is basically every hot day) so I created my own recipe that I call Clone of Starbucks Passion Tea Lemonade. After a little bit of recon I figured out what tea blend they use (Tazo Passion - shocker!) and have tweaked it quite a bit since the first glass I made. Now I make it by the quart, which lasts me like... two days. So here's the recipe. For something sweet, cool, and delicious, there's no better elixir than a fruity glass of tea combined with the summer staple, lemonade.

Ingredients:
2 Tazo Passion tea bags
5 cups water
1 packet lemonade mix (the kind you pour into a bottle of water and shake) -- I use Crystal Light Pure

Directions:

• Steep the tea bags in 2 1/2 cups water for about 20 minutes
• Pour the rest of the water (2 1/2 cups) into a pitcher and mix in the lemonade powder
• Pour the tea into the pitcher and shake a little bit to mix.
• Pour over some ice, top with some sugared lemon peel and a lemon slice!

**Tip: I leave the tea bags in the pitcher while I drink the tea. They are always giving off more flavor. The longer you leave them in, the stronger the drink will taste. I don't take the tea bags out until I've emptied the pitcher.**

Sugared lemon peel: It's exactly how it sounds. Peel a lemon in small strips (I have a Microplane citrus tool that works well) and toss them in some sugar. They'll make the tea more lemony while you drink it.