Mixed Fruit Iced Tea (冰鎮水果茶) and a Giveaway!

The official first day of summer is June 21st this year!  Seriously?  I thought summer has arrived 2 months ago.  Well, at least in Los Angeles, it has!  That’s why I’ve been posting Shaved Ice, detox soup, salad, and icy treats recipes on my blog and Facebook page.  I hope you like them all so far.  And today, I have another refreshing and delightful treat for you, Mixed Fruit Iced Tea (冰鎮水果茶).  Plus, a wonderful giveaway that you don’t want to miss, more to that in just a minute.  Have I grabbed your attention yet?



The first time when I tried a sweetened fruit tea was during a visit to Taiwan.  I felt in love with the tea right away.  It’s fruity, refreshing, slightly sweet, and packed with wonderful aroma.  What’s not to love, isn’t it?  Of course, I can’t help it but to replicate it at home.  And I found the tea leaves and a secret ingredient that can take this lovely drink to the next level.  The kind folks at Singing Dog Vanilla sent me a collection of their vanilla tea leaves to try out along with their latest product, the Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar!



I have to say, the Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar is the bomb!  You can taste each element from it and the aroma is so complex, yet, each aroma compliments each other.  This is the secret ingredient that I used, to flavor the Mixed Fruit Ice Tea.  Okay, I guess there’s no more secret now.



I’ve always loved Singing Dog’s Vanilla Tea.  I’ve used their Vanilla Blackberry Sage Tea and made a berry version of this tea and it was so wonderful.  Take a look at the tea leaves in the picture below.  You can see the vanilla bean pieces among the tea leaves.  The vanilla aroma would slowly releases while you steep your tea.  You simply can’t get this gourmet vanilla bean aroma from anything else.  It’s sweet, fragrant and oh so soothing.



Each package of Singing Dog Vanilla Tea comes with a reusable tea bag for steeping. 



And the plastic bag comes with a re-sealable tape to assure freshness with the remaining tea leaves, how thoughtful! 



The traditional fruit tea usually calls for using black tea as a base.  In this recipe, I used the Singing Dog Vanilla Black Assam Tea.  A one cup serving of tea requires 1 teaspoon of tea leave.  Since I’m making a concentrated tea mixture (for a large pitcher), I used 2 tablespoons of tea leaves.  Here’s how I made it.  First, fill the tea bag with the tea leaves, then place the tea bag in a large heat proof pitcher along with the Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar. 



This time, I chose the fruits that are commonly used to make Taiwanese Mixed Fruit Tea.  They are apple, lime, nectarine, and lemon.  You can basically use any kind of fruit you prefer or in season.  Simply pick three to four of your favorite fruit and include a citrus one in there.  The tang from the citrus will brightens up the tea.



Next pour in hot water and let the mixture steep for 5 minutes.  Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolved.  Then, remove the tea bag and discard the tea leaves.  Rinse and dry the tea bag for future use.  Next, pour in some apple juice and ice cubes.



As simple as that, and your Mixed Fruit Iced Tea is ready for your enjoyment!




This will be the most refreshing drink for the summer!  The tea is slightly sweetened and not overly sweet.  The fruits will retain their natural sweetness and as they steep with the tea leaves, they will  release their wonderful flavors into the tea.  You can taste the wonderful vanilla bean and see the little specks in your tea as well.  The subtle coconut and palm sugar flavors give this tea depth, and compliment the black tea and fruit wonderfully.  



And the best part of my photo shoot always comes at the end when I can finally enjoy my iced cold drink in these steamy hot days!  Ahhh…..so good!



What is better than enjoying the Mixed Fruit Iced Tea in the hot summer days?  It certainly is enjoying my fruit tea while I can share my recipe and these awesome ingredients and products with you! Yes, it’s Giveaway time!




How about winning a set of Vanilla Black Assam Tea (2 oz) AND the Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar (2.5 oz), as shown in the picture above, courtesy of the kind folks at Singing Dog Vanilla!?  And there will be 3 winners.  Thank you Singing Dog Vanilla for providing the giveaway.  Here’s how to enter.

This giveaway is over!

To enter the giveaway, simply leave a comment on this post and tell me what’s your favorite fruit.   Please also leave your email address so I can contact you if you are one of the 3 lucky winners.

3 lucky uTry.it readers will win the Vanilla Black Assam Tea AND the Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar. This Giveaway is open worldwide.  Deadline to enter is June 15th by midnight PST. Winner will be selected through Random.org and announce shortly after the giveaway is closed.  Prizes will be shipped out directly by Singing Dog Vanilla.

For extra entries, do any or all of the following (simply leave a separate comment for each extra entry):

1) “Like” Singing Dog Vanilla on their Facebook Page, click here.
2) "Like" uTry.it's Facebook Page, click here.
3) Follow Singing Dog Vanilla on Pinterest, click here.
4) Add me to your Google+ circle here.
5) Share this giveaway on Facebook (with a link back to this post please)
6) Pin a picture from this post onto Pinterest.

Good luck everyone!   


Props and Tools used in this post:

Weck Jars with lids (Click here for more information)
Blue Paper Straws (Click here for more information)
Classic Glass Pitcher (Click here to see similar product)
Long Wooden Spoon (Click here to see similar product)
Measuring Spoons Set (Click here for more information)
Two Tone Bamboo Cutting Board (Click her to see similar product)



Disclaimer: I received the Singing Dog Vanilla Teas and Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar free of charge for the purpose of this review. I was not compensated in any other way.  All opinions are 100% my own and always will be.




Mixed Fruit Iced Tea (冰鎮水果茶):
2 tablespoon Singing Dog Vanilla Black Tea
2 tablespoons Singing Dog Vanilla Coconut  Palm Sugar
1 small Gala apple, diced
1 nectarine, sliced
1/2 lime, sliced
1/2 lemon, sliced (I used Meyer Lemon)
2 cups boiling water
2 cups apple juice, chilled
4 cups ice cubes

Fill the tea bag with the tea leaves, then place the tea bag in a large heat proof pitcher along with the Vanilla Coconut Palm Sugar.  Next, add the fruit and pour in hot water and let the mixture steep for 5 minutes.  Stir with a wooden spoon until sugar dissolved.  Then, remove the tea bag and discard the tea leaves.  Rinse and dry the tea bag for future use.  Next, pour in some apple juice and ice cubes.  Stir well and enjoy!