Is there anything better than iced tea in the summer?
Apparently there is! Iced tea cocktails anyone!? Iced tea with alcohol is the perfect pair to a hot summer day.
Enjoy these iced tea alcoholic drinks relaxing by the pool, or with friends and family at your next summer barbecue.
Psst! This blog post contains affiliate links in it which sends me a bit of extra money if you use them… at no extra cost to you!
What You Need To Make Iced Tea With Alcohol
There are a few things you might need before you can make delicious iced tea cocktails at home.
You might also be interested in Hot Tea Cocktails…
Unsweetened Iced Tea (Homemade Or Store Bought)
Of course, you’ll need some tea to make iced tea cocktails at home.
You can use store bought iced tea (like this one from Pure Leaf) or you can make your own homemade iced tea!
But whether it’s store-bought or homemade, I recommend using unsweetened iced tea. Most iced tea cocktail recipes add more sugar, so you might end up with some overly sweet iced tea cocktails otherwise… which isn’t always a bad thing!
For instant iced tea at home, I recommend following the quick-chill method below. This iced tea recipe works for any type of tea and you’ll have an iced tea ready for cocktail mixing in minutes! Or you can follow one of my other iced tea recipes to make bulk iced tea to store.
Quick Chill Iced Tea For Iced Tea Cocktails
Makes 1 cup of iced tea to be mixed with any of the following cocktails.
What You Need
- 1-2 tea bags (if you want the tea in your cocktails to be stronger, I recommend using 2 tea bags)
- 1/2 cup hot water (follow instructions on your tea for water temperature)
- at least a 1/2 cup ice cubes
What To Do
- Boil 1/2 cup water to desired temperature
- Let your tea steep in a heat safe glass for the recommended amount of time (usually 3-5 minutes). Because it will be mixed with alcohol, I recommend steeping longer
- Once steeped, remove the tea bag and cool down your tea by pouring over ice (about 1/2 cup ice cubes)
What Tea Should You Use For An Iced Tea Alcoholic Drink?
You don’t need to use the highest quality tea for iced tea cocktails. Feel free to use tea bags or whatever tea you already have at home.
Since it will be mixed with alcohol, and a bunch of other ingredients, the quality of the tea kind of takes a back seat.
Related
How To Make Delicious Unsweetened Iced Tea For A Healthy Summer Drink
You’ll Need A Lot Of Iced Cubes
There’s no denying that you can’t have iced tea without, well, ice… And iced tea cocktails are no exception!
Prepare as many ice cube trays your freezer will fit in advance, so you’re ready at any moment!
I also like to have a back up of frozen reusable iced cubes (like these on Amazon), just in case I do run out. Make sure to only buy ones that are filled with water.
My Iced Tea Cocktails Amazon Essentials
Herbal Tea Alternatives For Iced Tea Cocktails…
If an iced tea cocktail recipe calls for a caffeinated tea, you can always swap for a decaf option.
For the most part you can find decaf black tea, or decaf Earl grey (like this one on Amazon). Lipton even sells a decaf iced tea version.
Keep in mind that even decaf options will have a small amount of caffeine. If you want a tea that is fully caffeine free, a great alternative to black tea is herbal rooibos tea (see it on Amazon).
You can often even find different flavours of rooibos tea like this Earl grey rooibos from Amazon.
Decaffeinated Options For Alcoholic Drinks With Tea
Top 10 Iced Tea Cocktails To Cool Down With This Summer
Alcoholic drinks with tea! Yes please!
These are my top 10 iced tea cocktails with a mix of herbal and caffeinated tea options.
And as always, please drink responsibly!
1. Matcha Spritz – Green Tea Cocktail
Let’s be honest, you can never go wrong with a classic spritz in the summer, so why not turn that into a tea cocktail spritz with matcha!?
Using matcha to make iced tea is incredibly easy because you can make it on the spot in minutes, you don’t even need to use hot water!
Keep in mind that you don’t need to use the highest quality matcha for this iced tea cocktail because it’s going to be mixed in a drink. A matcha from Amazon should do the trick!
Related
Ingredients
- 1 tsp matcha – sifted
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) Limoncello
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 3 oz Prosecco or sparkling wine
- Ice cubes
Directions
- Sift 1 tsp of matcha into a cocktail shaker (you can also use a mason jar if you don’t have a cocktail shaker).
- Add 1/2 cup water and a few ice cubes to the cocktail shaker.
- Shake it until it’s well combined
- Add 1 shot Limoncello – mix well
- Once mixed, top with 3 oz of Prosecco
- Enjoy!
2. Butterfly Pea Flower Elixir (Herbal Iced Tea Cocktail)
This is the real showstopper cocktail at any event! Butterfly pea flower has a magic trick up its sleeve!
Butterfly pea flower changes colour based on its Ph level. Amaze your guests as you add lemon to your iced tea drink and change the colour from blue to purple!
Read more about the magic trick and benefits of butterfly pea flower tea.
Ingredients
- 1 cup butterfly pea flower tea – cooled (Shop Amazon US )
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) limoncello
- 1/2 shot (.7 oz) vodka
- Extra lemon juice to taste
- Slice of lemon to garnish
- Ice cubes
Directions
- Add 1 shot limoncello, and 1/2 shot vodka to 1 cup of butterfly pea flower iced tea.
- Optional: Add extra lemon juice for more of a lemon fresh taste and to garnish
- Stir and enjoy!
3. Earl Grey Tea Infused Vodka Shot!
If you love Earl grey tea then this iced tea cocktail recipe is for you! It requires a bit more preparation than any other iced tea alcoholic drink, but it’s worth it.
Related
Ingredients
- 4 Earl grey tea bags (my favourite is Ahmad Earl Grey Tea)
- 1 cup Vodka of your choice
Directions
- Infuse 4 bags of Earl grey tea in 1 cup of Vodka in a closed jar, like these small mason jars from Amazon.
- Let it infuse for 4 to 24 hours in the fridge. The longer you leave it, the stronger it will taste. I recommend leaving it for longer, because you can always dilute it if it gets too strong.
- After it’s infused, squeeze out the tea bags.
- Serve it over ice, as a shot, or use this as a base for other iced tea cocktails.
The infused vodka will last for 3 days outside the fridge, up to 1 month in the fridge, and 3 months in the freezer.
4. A Long Island Iced Tea – With ACTUAL Tea
There is so much that goes into a Long Island iced tea, yet there’s NO ACTUAL TEA in it! Instead, cola is often used as a base…
So, this iced tea cocktail recipe takes the classic Long Island iced tea but swaps the cola and simple syrup for a sweet iced tea!
You can either use pre-made sweet tea, or make your own from scratch.
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet iced tea – cooled (if homemade, make sure to use 2 tea bags to make the tea stronger, use simple syrup as sweetener!)
- 1 oz Orange liqueur (like Triple Sec)
- 1 oz Rum
- 1 oz Tequila
- 1 oz Gin
- 1 oz Vodka
- 1 oz lemon juice
- 1 lemon slice – for garnish
- Ice
Directions
- In your cocktail shaker, add 1 oz of orange liqueur, rum, tequila, gin, vodka, and lemon juice. Shake well.
- Once well combined, add 1 cup of sweet iced tea.
- Mix well.
- Pour out over ice – enjoy!
5. Vodka Berry Mar-TEA-ni (Herbal Tea Cocktail)
Summer is the berry season (at least it is in Montreal!), so why not take full advantage and enjoy a nice berry iced tea cocktail!?
Ingredients
- 1 cup berry tea – cooled (I make mine using Some Nice Berries from Firebelly Tea)
- 1/2 shot (.7 oz) amaretto
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) Vodka
- 2 tsp lime juice
- Ice
Directions
- In one glass, combine 1/2 shot amaretto, 1 shot vodka, 2 tsp lime juice, and 1 cup cooled berry tea.
- Mix well.
- Add ice, and enjoy!
6. Whisky Tea Recipes: Old Fashioned With Tea
Whisky and tea just go so well together, why not mix it into your favourite Old Fashioned!?
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened black iced tea – cooled
- ~1/2 shot (.7 oz) amaretto
- ~1 shot (1.5 oz) whisky
- ~3 dashes bitters
- Ice
Directions
- Combine 1 cup unsweetened black tea (cooled), 1/2 shot amaretto, 1 shot whisky, and 3 dashes of bitters.
- Mix well.
- Add ice and enjoy!
7. A Not So Hot – Hot Toddy!
A favourite hot cocktail in the winter is a hot toddy. I turned that into a hot tea cocktail, so I thought, why not pour that over ice and have a not so hot – hot toddy in the summer too!?
This recipe works best when making fresh homemade iced tea to steep extra flavours to your tea (like honey and cinnamon).
Ingredients
- 1 cup sweet and spiced homemade black iced tea: 1/2 cup water, at least 1/2 cup ice cubes, 2 tsp honey, 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tsp lemon juice
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) whisky
- Optional : 1 Cinnamon stick for garnish
- Ice
Directions
- Make iced tea: boil 1/2 cup water and steep 2 black tea bags for recommended amount of time (usually 5 minutes). Once steeped, mix in 2 tsp of honey.
Optional: swirl around 1 cinnamon stick. Once your honey is dissolved, cool down your tea by pouring over 1/2 cup ice cubes. - Combine black tea with 2 tsp lemon juice, and 1 shot whisky.
- Mix well.
- Add ice and garnish with a cinnamon stick.
Taste Tea Where You Are!
Taste tea on the go with my pocket size tea tasting log book on Etsy.
This printable digital download tea tasting journal also comes with a tea tasting guide inside.
8. Southern Spiked Peach Iced Tea Drink
Peach and tea go so well together that I turned this delicious duo into a refreshing iced tea drink to sip on all summer long.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened black tea (cooled)
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) Peach liqueur
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) Bourbon
- Ice
Directions
- Combine 1 cup unsweetened black tea (cooled), 1 shot peach liquor, and 1 shot of Bourbon in a glass.
- Mix well.
- Add ice, and enjoy!
9. Refreshing Gin & Mint Tea Cocktail (Herbal Tea Cocktail)
Wintergreen tea has become my all time favourite iced tea in the summer. So this wouldn’t be an iced tea cocktail list without at least one wintergreen tea recipe on it.
Wintergreen is a mint tea local to Quebec (and in my mind the best!). But if you can’t find wintergreen in your area, you can substitute it for any variety of mint leaf.
Ingredients
- 1 cup wintergreen mint tea – cooled (Camelia Sinensis)
- 1 fresh lime
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) gin
- Ice
Directions
- Cut a lime in half, squeeze the juice from half the lime. Slice the other half and add a slice to your glass.
- Add 1 cup cooled wintergreen mint tea and 1 shot gin to cup.
- Mix well
- Add ice and enjoy!
10. Irish Spiked Milk Tea – Iced Tea Drink With Alcohol
Take your classic milk tea and add in a little fun!
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsweetened black iced tea – cooled (if making homemade iced tea – use two tea bags!)
- Splash of milk
- 1 shot (1.5 oz) Vanilla whisky (I use Crown Royal Vanilla Whisky)
- 1 shot (.7 oz) Baileys
- Ice
Directions
- In a glass, combine 1 cup unsweetened black tea (cooled), 1 shot vanilla whisky, and 1/2 shot Baileys.
- Top with a splash of milk.
- Mix together.
- Add ice & enjoy!
My Iced Tea Cocktails Amazon Essentials
Read More Related Posts
- Top 10 Easy Hot Tea Cocktails To Stay Warm This Winter
- How To Make Delicious Unsweetened Iced Tea For A Healthy Summer Drink
- 10 Best Teas For Iced Tea That Taste Even Better Cold
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Last update on 2024-05-01 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API