This week a made a batch of Southern Living’s blackberry sweet tea. I thought I’d be sweet {pun intended} and pass along the recipe.

{photo credit}

Blackberry Sweet Tea

• 3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
• Pinch of baking soda
• 4 cups boiling water
• 2 family-size tea bags
• 2 1/2 cups cold water
• Garnish: fresh blackberries

Combine blackberries and sugar in a large container, and crush with a wooden spoon; stir in mint and baking soda.

Pour 4 cups boiling water over tea bags; cover and steep 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.

Pour tea over blackberry mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Pour tea through a wire-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, discarding solids. Add 2 1/2 cups cold water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover and chill 1 hour. Garnish, if desired.

This is a super, super, super easy recipe. If you’ve ever made sweet tea, it’s as easy as that. However, I will say this: as I’m not a big fan of sweet tea, I’m not really a big fan of flavored {cold} tea. The blackberries give the tea a tartness, that I wasn’t in love with. I think you could easily remedy this by cutting back on the amount of blackberries used, or increase the sugar. BUT, Jonathan loved the tea, it was certainly tasty and it made me realize how incredibly easy it is to make flavored teas. I’m planning to experiment with mangos, because that does sounds yummy.

Do you like sweet tea? How about flavored tea?

Visit Alicia at Alicia’s Homemaking for more Try New Adventures Thursday.