clickinmyheels

If you are a frequent flyer at Starbucks and have stopped in for a beverage over the summer, you have probably seen the posters and signs for the Teavana Shaken Berry Sangria Herbal Tea. Maybe you’ve even had it. I treated the girls to a Starbucks run once this summer. This is a rare treat since I usually make coffee drinks at home and can whip up some really yummy ones so we don’t go to Starbucks that often. So on this visit, I decided to order myself this Berry Sangria Herbal Tea and check it out. Of course, I ordered a venti.

It is a sweet fruity tea that begins with their iced passion tango tea kicked up with a punch of berry sweetness and a hint of apple juice. I believe Starbucks uses some type of simple syrup infused with fruit juice concentrates to sweeten up the Berry Sangria Herbal Tea a bit more.  Maybe you know where I’m going with this . . . I hope so. I sipped that sucker and knew I could replicate that drink for a fraction of the cost. It’s a nice refreshing treat and can be made with whatever fruit you fancy.

Don’t get me wrong. I like Starbucks. I don’t mind treating myself to an iced coffee or latte every once in a while and my husband gets coffee there a few times a week simply because I haven’t made it in the morning and apparently he doesn’t have a coffee pot operator’s license. I’ve never owned a Keurig, but I am considering getting one in the future just so he can easily brew himself a cup to go (after he’s completed the special Keurig class, passed with good scores, and has an official coffee pot operator’s license.) I know they are convenient and I like the big ones that have the regular pot on one side and the single serving on the other. So, I’ll keep it in mind and maybe keep my eye out for some deals.

Now back to this More Bang For Your Buck Berry Sangria Tea. The great thing about making the tea at home is that you can control the sweetness, what fruits go in, and can spice it up by adding wine to make it a sparkling sangria for adults. The Starbucks tea has blackberries and orange slices. I chose to use raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, and some orange slices in mine. I used Tazo brand passion fruit tea bags. I picked up a box of 20 small individual bags for around $4.00 at a local grocery store. Starbucks does sell boxes of the Teavana Iced Passion Tango fruit tea. I believe they are around $8-$9.00 and are the large pitcher type bags. I recommend using 3-4 individual tea bags per pitcher of tea.

Here’s how I made mine:

First boil water and pour 5 C of boiling water over 3-4 small Passion Fruit Tea bags and one small bag of a basic black tea. (I used English Breakfast as the basic tea because I wanted to make sure my tea was more of a tea and not a fruit drink).

Let this brew for 5-10 minutes until it is nice and strong.

In the meantime, wash and slice up oranges and strawberries or whatever fruit you are using. I used sliced oranges, blueberries, sliced strawberries, and raspberries.

Once the tea is brewed, pour it into your pitcher.

Add in 1 C of Apple Juice.

Stir in 2 TBS of honey. You can add more if you prefer a sweeter drink.

Stir this well to make sure the honey is all mixed in.

Add in some of the fruit. Make sure to save some for each individual glass.

I like to use the spoon to really stir and muddle up some of the fruit so it infuses the tea.

Fill each glass with ice and add more orange slices, blueberries, raspberries, strawberries.

Then pour the tea over the ice and sip away.

Now, if you really want to pretend like you paid around $4.00 for this lovely refresher, you can pour it into your Starbucks tumbler and enjoy your homemade brew in Starbucks style.

Really quick update before this posts. I couldn’t help laugh at the irony. Guess where I am with my little lady! We are killing time while Mae is at her Kindergarten prep class.