Artificial Food Coloring Free Raspberry Lemon Iced Tea

Total time1 hr 20 min

Prep time10 min

Cook time10 min

Artificial Food Coloring Free Raspberry Lemon Iced Tea

That deep ruby color in your glass? It comes entirely from real raspberries cooked down into a silky homemade syrup — no dyes, no artificial anything. Plenty of bottled teas and drink mixes sneak in synthetic colorings to achieve that jewel-toned look, so making it from scratch is genuinely the better move. Fresh lemon juice brightens everything up, while maple syrup adds just enough sweetness without refined sugar or mystery additives. The raspberry syrup comes together in under ten minutes on the stovetop, and straining it through a fine-mesh sieve gives you a beautifully smooth, vibrant liquid that looks almost too pretty to drink. Steeped black tea forms the backbone, giving the whole pitcher a subtle depth that keeps it from tasting like juice. Serve it over ice with a few lemon slices and a sprig of mint, and you've got a drink that's as stunning as anything from a café — and you know exactly what went into every sip.

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Ingredients

4 servings

For the tea

6 cup water
4 black tea bags
Lipton Black Tea, 8 oz Twinings of London Black Tea English Breakfast - 20 Count Twinings of London Black Tea English Breakfast Decaffeinated - 20 Count PG Tips Black Tea - 40 Count Stash Black Tea English Breakfast - 20 Count
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3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 ½ lemons)

For the raspberry syrup

6 oz fresh raspberries (about 1 ½ cups)
½ cup water
¼ cup maple syrup

For serving

ice, for serving
lemon slices, for serving (optional)
fresh mint sprigs, for serving (optional)

Instructions

1
Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes. Remove and discard the tea bags, then let the tea cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
2
While the tea steeps, combine the raspberries, 1/2 cup water, and maple syrup in the same saucepan (or a small one) over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally and pressing the raspberries gently with the back of a spoon, until the berries have broken down completely and the liquid is deep red, about 5–6 minutes.

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