Homemade wild blueberry hibiscus iced tea
The summer of iced teas is the best summer that I can think of! This berry hibiscus iced tea has the perfect balance of the tangy hibiscus and sweetness of the blueberries. Outside the berry season, simply use frozen blueberries, and you can enjoy the natural flavor of the fresh homemade iced tea all year round, and not just for the summer heat.
Tips for making berry hibiscus iced tea
- You can make the blueberry simple syrup up to days or weeks in advance, and the iced tea is simple and fast to whip up at any moment.
- Store the iced tea in a jar in the fridge for later use.
- If you don’t like tangy flavors, do not oversteep the hibiscus tea to avoid the tanginess of hibiscus.
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A simple, natural life when making your own iced teas
Beverages like iced teas, herbal teas, and juices are some of the simplest things to start making from scratch. When I started to pay attention to the food labels also the drink labels were also under the microscope. The amount of additives and sugars in beverages was beyond my imagination.
If you want to choose yourself what you are eating, you shouldn’t make any exceptions with the drinks either! Living a natural life can be as simple as choosing to make yourself your own beverages.
To fight the summer heat, try out my other refreshing iced teas: rooibos iced tea, mint iced tea, or the honey-seasoned iced tea as well! Loving the blueberry flavors? Try out my Blueberry Iced Latte recipe; you can use the same blueberry syrup in this recipe, too!
If you want some more ideas with juices and iced coffees too, browse the Iced teas, mocktails, and juices category to find your perfect summer cooler!
Ingredients you need for wild blueberry hibiscus iced tea
Here is a quick rundown of the ingredients for both the blueberry simple syrup and the iced tea itself. If you already have the blueberry syrup, just scroll down over the syrup ingredients into the iced tea ingredients.
Ingredients for blueberry simple syrup
- Blueberries (aka bilberries here): You can use either frozen or fresh blueberries. I mainly use foraged blueberries that I have frozen from past summer, to start iced tea making before the next harvest.
- Caster sugar: Use plain white sugar for the blueberry simple syrup to maintain a vibrant, fresh, and bright color. It can be substituted with other sugars, but this may notably alter the texture and flavor!
Ingredients for the blueberry hibiscus iced tea
- Blueberry simple syrup: The one you just made can be substituted with a ready-made one. Just measure first less of the shop-bought blueberry syrup and then add some more after tasting. They are often very intense!
- Hibiscus petals: Choose organic hibiscus flowers when possible. You can also usel a hibiscus tea bag if you have those at home.
- Lemon juice: Freshly squeezed lemon juice gives a better result for this one than a bottled juice.
- Elderflower juice: Can be substituted with elderflower cordial. Just remember to use less than in the recipe if you do not like a sweet tea.
- Ice cubes: Use plenty of ice cubes to chill the drink
- Highbush blueberries: for decoration, the high bush blueberries are less staining, do not become mushy, and don’t make your drink look cloudy.
You can find the exact measurements on the recipe card.
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Tools you may need
- Small saucepan, for making the simple syrup and hibiscus tea. If you want to save time, use two pots or make the hibiscus tea in a teacup instead.
- Blender or immersion blender, for mixing the blueberries for the simple syrup
- Strainer, to strain the homemade blueberry syrup and the hibiscus tea. Choose a fine mesh strainer if you have one for a better result.
- Jar, pitcher, or mixing glass of a shaker set (LINK)
- Two tall serving glasses
How to make blueberry hibiscus iced tea
This blueberry hibiscus iced tea starts with making the blueberry simple syrup, while steeping the hibiscus tea, and finally mixing all the ingredients and serving them beautifully with highbush blueberries and plenty of ice cubes.
If you already have a blueberry syrup, you can skip step two.
Step one: Steep the hibiscus tea
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and remove from the heat. Drop hibiscus petals into the hot water, stir, and let steep for 10-15 minutes. If you want to have more tangy hibiscus flavors, you can steep longer.
Step two: Make the blueberry simple syrup
To make the syrup while the hibiscus tea is brewing, pour blueberries and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let blueberries cook with water for 2 minutes, and blend them with an immersion blender or cool and blend with a smoothie blender. If you prefer clear, simple syrup, strain the blueberries, save the liquid, and discard the blueberry mush, or use it in your morning yoghurt with granola.
Measure the blueberry juice. To make simple syrup, you need 1 part juice and one part sugar. You should have now about 100 ml of blueberry juice, so you can add the 100 ml of sugar (90 grams) into the saucepan. If you have more, just add an equal amount of sugar in volume measurements compared to the blueberry liquid you have.
Bring the blueberry juice and sugar to a boil. Let the sugar dissolve and remove from the stove. Store air tightly in a clean glass jar. Set aside to cool down. You now have blueberry simple syrup for about 3-5 iced tea portions, so you can store it for later use too!
Step three: Strain the hibiscus tea
Strain the hibiscus petals and reserve the hibiscus tea for the hibiscus iced tea, and continue with the next step.
Step four: Mix the berry hibiscus iced tea
Take a jar or a mixing glass and pour slightly cooled hibiscus iced tea in. Measure lemon juice, elderflower juice, and homemade blueberry simple syrup that you just made. Mix them all with the hibiscus tea.
If you are making the blueberry hibiscus iced tea in a jar or a pitcher, you can pour in the remaining water. Taste and add more of the syrup or lemon juice to match your taste. Your iced tea is ready to serve or to store in the fridge for later use.
Serving the blueberry hibiscus iced tea
Fill two glasses with plenty of ice cubes. Sprinkle in some high-bush blueberries for decoration.
Pour equally in both glasses the remaining water if you have not mixed it yet in the jar of iced tea already. Pour the wild blueberry hibiscus iced tea mixture equally into both glasses. Stir gently with a reusable straw and serve immediately.
How to store iced tea
Store the blueberry hibiscus iced tea in an airtight jar or pitcher for up to one week. Just add the ice when you want to serve it. You can double or triple the amount if you want to serve the iced tea for a crowd.
How to tweak this recipe
- If you prefer less sweet iced tea, decrease a bit the blueberry syrup and elderflower juice, and increase the lemon juice.
- For a more tangy flavor, steep the hibiscus tea longer and decrease the amount of blueberry simple syrup.
- Swap the blueberries for red currants for a more acidic berry iced tea, and make a red currant simple syrup. Try with other types of berries too! (And if you do, let me know in the comments how they turned out!)
- To add some true tea flavors, you can steep some loose leaf tea or tea bags of black tea or even white tea with hibiscus petals.
- Make a cold brew and steep the hibiscus petals in cold water in the fridge overnight!
What is your favourite summer freshener?
Are you an iced tea addict or a cold brew coffee drinker? Let me know your first choice of summer and tag me with @blue.tea.tile, or let me know in the comments below!
Short on time?
Pin it for later!
Homemade wild blueberry hibiscus iced tea
The summer of iced teas is the best summer that I can think of! This berry hibiscus iced tea has the perfect balance of the tangy hibiscus and sweetness of the blueberries. Outside the berry season, simply use frozen blueberries, and you can enjoy the natural flavor of the fresh homemade iced tea all year round!
Ingredients
Hibiscus tea
- 5 g hibiscus petals
- 200 ml of water
Homemade blueberry simple syrup
- 150 g blueberries (frozen or fresh)
- 50 ml of water
- 90 g caster sugar
Iced tea
- 200 ml hibiscus tea (that you just made)
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp elderflower juice
- 4-8 tsp homemade blueberry syrup (that you just made)
- 200 ml cold water (or more if needed)
Instructions
- Step one: Steep the hibiscus tea
Bring water to a boil in a saucepan and remove from the heat. Drop hibiscus petals into the hot water, stir, and let steep for 10-15 minutes. If you want to have more tangy hibiscus flavors, you can steep longer. - Step two: Making the blueberry simple syrup
To make the syrup while the hibiscus tea is brewing, pour blueberries and water into a saucepan and bring to a boil. Let blueberries cook with water for 2 minutes, and blend them with an immersion blender or cool and blend with a smoothie blender. If you prefer clear, simple syrup, strain the blueberries, save the liquid, and discard the blueberry mush, or use it in your morning yoghurt with granola.
Measure the blueberry juice. To make simple syrup, you need 1 part juice and one part sugar. You should have now about 100 ml of blueberry juice, so you can add the 100 ml of sugar (90 grams) into the saucepan. If you have more, just add an equal amount of sugar in volume measurements compared to the blueberry liquid you have.
Bring the blueberry juice and sugar to a boil. Let the sugar dissolve and remove from the stove. Store air tightly in a clean glass jar. Set aside to cool down. You now have blueberry simple syrup for about 3-5 iced tea portions, so you can store it for later use too! - Step three: Strain the hibiscus tea
Strain the hibiscus petals and reserve the hibiscus tea for the hibiscus iced tea, and continue with the next step. - Step four: Mix the berry hibiscus iced tea
Take a jar or a mixing glass and pour slightly cooled hibiscus iced tea in. Measure lemon juice, elderflower juice, and homemade blueberry simple syrup that you just made. Mix them all with the hibiscus tea.
If you are making the blueberry hibiscus iced tea in a jar or a pitcher, you can pour the water in the remaining water. Taste and add more of the syrup or lemon juice to match your taste. Your iced tea is ready to serve or to store in the fridge for later use.
How to make blueberry hibiscus iced tea
This blueberry hibiscus iced tea starts with making the blueberry simple syrup, while steeping the hibiscus tea, and finally mixing all the ingredients and serving them beautifully with highbush blueberries and plenty of ice cubes.
If you already have a blueberry syrup, you can skip step two.
Serving the blueberry hibiscus iced tea
Fill two glasses with plenty of ice cubes. Sprinkle in some high-bush blueberries for decoration. Pour equally in both glasses the remaining water if you have not yet mixed it in the jar of iced tea already. Pour the wild blueberry hibiscus iced tea mixture equally into both glasses. Stir gently with a reusable straw and serve immediately.
How to store iced tea
Store the blueberry hibiscus iced tea in an airtight jar or pitcher for up to one week. Just add the ice when you want to serve it. You can double or triple the amount if you want to serve the iced tea for a crowd.
Notes
- Scroll up to the header "How to tweak this recipe" to learn how to adjust the recipe to your liking.
- Read more about the ingredients and substitutions at the beginning of this blog post.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 2 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 200Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 24mgCarbohydrates: 25gFiber: 2gSugar: 25gProtein: 1g
These calculations are generated automatically by Nutritionix based on the ingredients shown in the recipe. The nutrition information is an estimation and may include errors. All nutritional information presented and written within this site (blueteatile.com) is intended for informational purposes only. The writer is not a certified nutritionist or registered dietitian and any nutritional information should be used as a general guideline only.
