Low Iodine Herbal Arnold Palmer with Fresh Herbs
This garden-fresh twist on a classic half-and-half drink is bright, fragrant, and genuinely refreshing — the kind of thing you'll want to sip on a warm afternoon. Steeped black tea gets layered with fresh mint and basil, giving the whole drink a herbal complexity that feels a little fancy without any extra effort. The homemade lemonade is squeezed from real lemons and sweetened with a simple sugar syrup, so every ingredient is clean and straightforward. For anyone navigating iodine restrictions, this recipe is a natural fit — it relies entirely on fresh herbs, citrus, plain granulated sugar, and water, with no dairy, seafood, or processed additives in sight. The optional lavender adds a subtle floral note that makes it feel almost spa-like, but the drink holds its own beautifully without it. Pouring the tea and lemonade in equal parts over ice creates that gorgeous layered look before you stir it all together. It's an easy, crowd-pleasing drink that just happens to check every box.
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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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