Knockoff Lipton's Lemon Iced Tea

The trick is: strong tea, plenty of sugar, and a bit of lemon.

🥤 “Nestea-Style” Sweet Lemon Iced Tea

Ingredients:

4 cups boiling water

4 black tea bags (like Red Rose or Tetley)

½ to ¾ cup sugar (adjust to taste)

4 cups cold water

2–3 tbsp lemon juice (or to taste)

Method:

Steep tea bags in boiling water for 5–6 minutes

Remove tea bags (don’t squeeze too hard—keeps it from getting bitter)

Stir in sugar while it’s still hot until fully dissolved

Add cold water

Stir in lemon juice

Chill in the fridge and serve over ice

🔑 What makes it taste like Nestea:

Sweetness is key (don’t be shy with the sugar)

Lemon balances it out

Black tea base gives that familiar flavour

👍 Optional tweak (this really nails it)

Add a tiny pinch of baking soda (like 1/16 tsp).

Sounds weird, but it smooths out bitterness—big trick used in commercial-style iced tea.

Simple Syrup

When you use this, it is a 1:1 ratio.  So, in this recipe, it calls for 1/2 to 3/4 cup of sugar.  Once this simple syrup is done, use either a 1/2 or 3/4 cup of this syrup.

Ingredients

1 cup water

1 cup sugar

Directions

In a sauce pan, add the sugar and water. 

Heat to medium.

Stir as often as you wish.  Or don't.

Heat the simple syrup till the sugar is dissolved. 

Let cool

I used a canning jar with a plastic lid.

This simple syrup will keep for about two weeks in the fridge.

Bonus

Got hummingbirds?  You can use this simple syrup to fill their feeders.  Unlike the store bought stuff, this doesn't have red dye, which the hummingbirds really don't need.

Hardest part was waiting for the water to boil.