High Fructose Corn Syrup Free Sparkling Blueberry Lemon Iced Tea
This drink is the kind of thing you'd happily pay eight dollars for at a trendy café, except you made it at home with real, recognizable ingredients. So many bottled teas and flavored sparkling drinks sneak in high fructose corn syrup as a sweetener, which makes finding a genuinely clean option at the store frustrating. Here, maple syrup does all the sweetening work — it blends beautifully into the blueberry-lemon syrup and brings a subtle depth that plain sugar just can't match. Fresh blueberries are cooked down until they burst and thicken into a jewel-toned syrup that gets strained smooth before it ever meets the tea, so every sip is silky and bright. The squeeze of fresh lemon juice and a little zest keep things lively, and the chilled sparkling water added at the end gives the whole glass a satisfying fizz. It's refreshing, a little fancy-looking with the garnish, and genuinely easy to pull together with pantry staples you probably already have on hand.
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Learn more →Ingredients
4 servings
For the tea
- 4 black tea bags
- 3 cups boiling water
For the blueberry-lemon syrup
- 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 3 tbsp fresh lemon juice (from about 1 ½ lemons)
- 1 tsp lemon zest
To finish
- 2 cups sparkling water, chilled
- ice, for serving
For serving
- fresh blueberries and lemon slices, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Place the tea bags in a heatproof pitcher or large bowl. Pour 3 cups of boiling water over them and steep for 5 minutes, then remove the bags without squeezing. Set the brewed tea aside to cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.
- 2
While the tea steeps, combine the blueberries, 1/2 cup water, maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the blueberries burst and the syrup is slightly thickened, about 8–10 minutes.
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