BHA & BHT Free Herbal Arnold Palmer with Fresh Herbs
Bottled teas and flavored lemonades are notorious for sneaking in synthetic preservatives like BHA and BHT, which makes a refreshing summer drink harder to find than it should be. This from-scratch version solves that entirely — every ingredient here is whole, fresh, or pantry-simple, so you know exactly what's going into your glass. The herbal tea base is steeped with fresh mint, fresh basil, and optional culinary lavender alongside classic black tea, giving it a floral, garden-fresh depth that no store-bought blend can match. A quick homemade simple syrup sweetens things up cleanly, and the lemonade is nothing but real lemon juice, water, and that syrup — no additives, no mystery. Poured together over ice, the two halves meet in a drink that's bright and citrusy up front with a cool, herbaceous finish. It's the kind of thing you'll want to keep a pitcher of in the fridge all summer long.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the herbal tea
- 4 cups water, divided
- 3 black tea bags
- ½ cup fresh mint leaves, lightly packed
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, lightly packed
- 1 tbsp dried culinary lavender (optional)
For the simple syrup
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ cup water
For the lemonade
- ¾ cup fresh lemon juice (from about 4–5 lemons)
- 1 ½ cups cold water
For serving
- ice, for serving
- fresh mint sprigs, for serving (optional)
- lemon slices, for serving (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Bring 2 cups of the water to a boil in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags, mint leaves, basil leaves, and dried lavender (if using), and steep for 5 minutes.
- 2
Remove and discard the tea bags. Strain the tea through a fine-mesh strainer into a pitcher, pressing the herbs gently to extract their liquid, then discard the solids. Stir in the remaining 2 cups of cold water and let the tea cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
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