Lemonade Iced Tea + Kindle Fire Giveaway

Welcome to the 5th annual Authors in Bloom blog hop! I can't believe this is my 3rd year participating in the hop and to celebrate, I'm also offering a Kindle Fire to one lucky winner, plus some pretty awesome swag. =)

I'm also excited to feature my latest release, SOMETHING OLD, book 1 in my small town bridal series. Set in a fictional town in Virginia, this contemporary romance is about a jilted lover and a woman looking for a second chance. (Check out the trailer below!)

In honor of my new series, and the small southern town of Cedar Bend, I wanted to offer a recipe of my favorite springtime refreshment: lemonade iced tea. Also known in the south as half-and-half or an Arnold Palmer, this is actually my favorite year-round beverage but who's keeping track... ;) Hope you enjoy the trailer and the tea!

xoxo,
Lena 
**Enter the Amazon Giveaway**
iBooks  Google  Kindle ● Nook  Kobo ● ARe

Southern Style Lemonade Iced Tea
Ingredients
3 cups water
6 single tea bags (or 2 family-size bags)
1 cup loosely packed fresh mint leaves
1 cup sugar (or honey)
4 cups cold water
12-oz can frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed
Sliced lemons wedges*

Preparation
1. Bring 3 cups water to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan. Remove from heat, add tea bags and stir in fresh mints. Cover and steep 10 minutes.

2. Discard tea bags and mint. Stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour tea into a 3-qt. container, and stir in 4 cups cold water and lemonade concentrate. Serve over ice. Garnish with lemon slices, if desired. 

Tips to brewing the best tea:
  • Don’t place tea bags in boiling water. This can singe tea or cause bag to burst. Once the water reaches a low boil, place tea bags inside, cover, and let steep.
  • Don’t over steep the tea. 10 minutes should do it. More than 15 may cause the tea to be bitter.
  • Don’t just add lemons, ice, and throw in the fridge. This can make tea cloudy and sour. Instead, cover tea and let sit until it reaches room temperature then mix in lemonade mixture.

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Comments

throuthehaze said…
I love Arnold Palmers! Other than water it is my favorite beverage for Spring and Summer.
I'm from the South but I prefer unsweetened iced tea or homemade lemonade :)
lorih824@yahoo.com
Unknown said…
i love sun tea!

- judith
Unknown said…
I love Pink Lemonade..
stephaniebartley1@aol.com
Anonymous said…
I love lemonade and would love to win a kindle! nvenetta315@aol.com
Unknown said…
Arnold Palmers are my favorite drink to order at any restaurant! Thanks!
cchant said…
The recipe looks delicious! I'll have to try it. I love ice tea and lemonade is the perfect summer drink. cchant86 @ yahoo.com
Anne said…
It was Diet Coke year round, but I've cut off my habit so about the only thing I drink consistently is ice water.

acm05atjuno.com
Sara said…
I like to drink various flavors of sparkling ice in spring.
joye said…
I enjoy these blog hops since I get introduced to a lot of authors I have yet to read. Thanks for participating.
jwisley(at)aol(dot)com
Savannah said…
Pink Lemonade, my kiddos and I have a tradition of the first really warm day to make a batch of pink lemonade and some fingers sandwiches and we have an outdoor picnic :)
steve weber said…
I love a cold glass of sweet tea.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
I love lemonade. It's my favorite. I've never put tea and lemonade together though. Thank you :)

kissedbymidnight AT gmail.com
Elle said…
I like iced tea.
prettyinhotpink6 at gmail dot com
GB said…
Strawberry lemonade is my favorite.
green-butterflies@hotmail dot com
Alisha S. said…
My favorite is sun tea!
sienkiel1821 at yahoo dot com
Traci A said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Traci A said…
had to delete my 1st comment because i said my favorite springtime drink was sweet teal lol, but it's sweet tea.
Traci A said…
& i forgot to leave my email, i'm not all here today, but it's tra_up@yahoo.com
Videoclimber said…
I love unsweet ice tea.

videoclimber AT yahoo DOT com
Laura B said…
I love a cold glass of sweet tea in the summer!
(lawrararuh at g mail dot com)
Jeanna Massman said…
I like ice cold water best of all but ice tea is great, too. jeanna_massman at hotmail dot com
Michele Hayes said…
I don't drink tea, but I love lemonade.
(mybeach52 at yahoo dot com)
Unknown said…
My favorite drink is just plain Iced Tea.
Unknown said…
I like to switch to an iced coffee come spring time!!
Michelle said…
So...do I void my entry if I admit to drinking iced tea from a mix? :)

blueberrycrisp@gmail dot com
Linda said…
I like cranberry juice with ice.
cbythesea5@gmail dot com
Karen Giasson said…
I like a refreshing glass of water in the summer. Most times I will add a flavor to the water.
Christina Riggs said…
I love iced tea.
whistleinthewind74@hotmail.com
ELF said…
We've actually been drinking a lot of lemonade lately, but I tend to like either iced tea or lemonade, not the combo. Thanks for the giveaway and hope you're having a blast at RT!
My husband and I ABSOLUTELY love drinking tea! I am definitely going to try this recipe out on him!!
baddhipp@yahoo.com
Mine is Starbucks Chocolate Chip Frappe with an extra shot of expesso. That way I get my coffee fix and coolness.
Thank you for the chance. Koala571 at msn dot com
Unknown said…
Wow, what an amazing giveaway, thanks for the chance! Definitely will try the tea!❤️❤️❤️
Diana Page said…
Favorite is my great Grandmothers lemonade tea, instead of using the frozen lemonade, we make sun tea, where the tea steeps in cold water in a gall9n jar on the porch in the sun, while that's happening we juice 3-4 large juicy lemons, and make sugar syrup, which is basically heating 1 cup water to a boil, adding in a cup and a half of sugar and boiling for 1-2 minutes until sugar syrup is slightly thickened. When tea in jar is light brown, take inside, fill with the lemon juice, sugar syrup ( to taste, we usually use all of it, check what you like best) and ice, then finish filling with cold water,mix and enjoy. We don't use mint in ours.
Diana Page said…
Link to book trailer broken, attempted to share on 4/14/2016 @ 2:20pm
Diana Page said…
Link to book trailer broken, attempted to share on 4/14/2016 @ 2:20pm
GL Tomas said…
That would be mojitos XD
Unknown said…
Tea is my favourite year round
Aprilmarie4203@gmail.com
Unknown said…
Tea is my favourite year round
Aprilmarie4203@gmail.com
Coco said…
My favorite is a cold glass of water with lemon.
Coco said…
My favorite is a cold glass of water with lemon.
Sue A. said…
Twinings English Breakfast Tea makes a great iced tea without any bitterness.
Kai said…
Lemonade with honey.
jmcgaugh said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
jmcgaugh said…
I love homemade lemonade. jmcgaugh (at) semo (dot) edu
Tonya Atkinson said…
My favorite Summer drink is lemonade. I have been drinking it for the last few days.
Kimberly M. said…
My favorite drink is coconut water.
bn100 said…
lemonade

bn100candg at hotmail dot com
Daniel M said…
lemonade is my fav
Richard Brandt said…
My favorite springtime beverage is a long tall glass of lemonade. (I try to shy away from the caffeine.)

rsbrandt44 (at) hotmail (dot) com
Meredith said…
Strawberry lemonade! meredithfl at gmail dot com
Christina Gonzalez said…
Margo Green Tea chgon7@yahoo.com
Unknown said…
I love to drink sweet tea with lemon:)
chickie717 said…
My favorite springtime favorite is lemon tea... Although sometimes I do enjoy ice coffee!
Bube said…
I love Iced Coffee :)
Nancy Jones said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Nancy Jones said…
Raspberry ice tea. nancyannjones at hotmail dot com
Aaron said…
My favorite springtime beverage is lemonade.
mutterbumser [at] yahoo [dot] com
Jerry Marquardt said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jerry Marquardt said…
I like lemonade to refresh me as a favorite spring-time drink
versatileer(at)gmail(dot)com
Debby said…
My favorite spring time beverage is sparkling mineral water.

sprocket 215 @ g mail . com

Deborah
Unknown said…
Strawberry Lemonade

Le'Shawn
leshawnp@msn.com
Clair Shumack said…
I tend to live off from unsweetened ice tea all year long! lshumack at gmail dot com
Linda Kish said…
I like lemonade. lkish77123 at gmail dot com
My favorite dink is lemonade. amybowens34(at)yahoo(dot)com
Unknown said…
I gotta have me some sweet iced tea with lots of sugar and lemon.
Leighannecrisp at Yahoo dot Com
Unknown said…
I gotta have me some sweet iced tea with lots of sugar and lemon.
Leighannecrisp at Yahoo dot Com
am_1_2_5 said…
I Would say iced tea is my favorite!! :D
My email is amanda.moffitt.125(at)gmail(dot)com
Unknown said…
My fave is lemonade iced tea (from a can). I'm definitely going to check out your recipe.

Thanks for the amazing giveaway!
elizabeth(at)bookattict(dot)com
Linda Romer said…
I drink Iced tea and Lemonade in the spring and summer. Thank you for the recipe ♡
Linda Romer isisthe12th(at)gmail (dot)com
veRONIca said…
I love drinking pink lemonade in the summer :)
xo_veronica16[at]hotmail[dot]com
Unknown said…
WOW. Thanks everyone for making this blog hop a huge success! And thanks for sharing some of your favorite springtime drinks. For those who have never tried lemonade iced tea, I hope you give it a chance. =)

Also, big congrats to my giveaway winner Amber Ag on her new Kindle Fire! Thanks all for participating!!