Sweet tea with a touch of blackberry, summertime goodness.
Southern Staple with a Summer Twist
To my surprise, Ila Dawn decided she is just “erbsessed” with blackberries this year. Now, she’s always been berry obsessed. I blame it partly on my calling her strawberry shortcake her whole life… and the slight strawberry shortcake maximalism I seem to be partaking in. But also because she has the tastebuds of her daddy, who almost exclusively loves fruit desserts.
We have a few local berry patches around us and have made a point to stock up on local strawberries every season since she was born, traveling to the fields, in the heat of the day even, just to pick buckets of berries that could barely be carried back without spilling out. Every few feet, we’d turn to pick up what we dropped, all the way to the car.
This year when we went to one of our favorite farm stores near us, they also had local blackberries. I had already planned to make her a blackberry dress this year for blackberry picking (which we never made it to, but that’s a story for another day) and wanted to make Keith a pitcher of blackberry sweet tea. But this needs one thing, blackberry syrup!
We make flavored teas a lot, it’s one of our favorite things and blackberry is one we hadn’t yet tried. This one was a hit! I imagine this syrup would also make a fun summer latte or a seasonal syrup for pancakes if one so desired. Ours was used up quickly in sweet tea. I’m not ashamed. Onto this southern staple with a summer twist!
Blackberry Sweet Tea Videos
Below is a playlist- on the right hand side, toggle between videos in the playlist to see all the times I’ve made them over on Elizabeth’s Country Blessings. And come join me at the farmhouse if you want!
Blackberry Syrup Recipe
Ingredients
- Fresh or frozen blackberries
- Water
- Sugar
Instructions
- Place berries over medium heat and cover with water. Allow to simmer for about 30 minutes or until mushy and dark.
- Strain berries over a cheesecloth or coffee filter lined colandar. Be sure to measure the strained liquid.
- Add the strained liquid back to the pot and add equal parts sugar. 1 cup sugar for every cup of strained liquid. Simmer for another 30-60 minutes, just until it reduces by about 1/4. All sugar should be dissolved.
- Store in the fridge.
Blackberry Sweet Tea
Ingredients
- 8-10 cups water, split
- 4 cups ice
- 1 gallon size tea bag
- 2 cups blackberry syrup
Instructions
- Bring 4 cups of water to an almost boil on medium heat.
- Remove from heat and steep gallon size tea bag in the water for around 8-10 minutes.
- While the tea steeps, add 2 cups of blackberry syrup to a gallon size pitcher.
- Once steeped, pour the concentrated tea over the syrup. Stir.
- Add about 4 cups ice, then fill the remainder of the pitcher with more water.
- Stir well, and enjoy.
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