Starbucks Venti Iced Green Tea For Under a Quarter!

Here is how to make your own Starbuck’s Iced Green Tea for under a quarter! This is my summer beverage!  And for years, I’ve been paying $3.45 each.  On a really hot day, that could be $6.90 because I’d likely have a second one in the afternoon.  If I got one per day, it would cost $24.15 each week.  Crazy, right???

 

I was determined to make my own, and for a long time, I just brewed green tea and chilled it. It was ok, but not the same.  I searched and experimented for awhile, then finally got the recipe!  I stumbled upon a post from a barista explaining how to duplicate their tea at home and it really tastes the same.  This recipe is for their tea concentrate.  You may have noticed that they add water and ice to the cup when they mix up your iced tea.

 

Bring 1 liter of water to a boil.  Steep 5 bags of Tazo Zen Tea for 5 minutes. (I do this for 8-10 min)  Let cool for a bit and then add 1 liter of cold water.  Pour into pitcher and chill.

Mix equal parts tea and water, leave room for desired amount of ice.  Add sweetener if you like.  I drink mine unsweetened, though now and then I add 1-2 tablespoons of a basil infused simple syrup. Its AMAZING!

 

 

Optional: You can also add some lemonade of choice to create the Iced Green Tea Lemonade. There are also several fruity flavored syrups you can purchase to make our other favorite, Peach Green Tea Lemonade. My kids LOVE this and I prefer making it at home so I can reduce the amount of sugar used.

Each box of Tazo Zen Green Tea has 20 bags and is $3.99.  You can make 4 batches of Tea Concentrate from this box. The concentrate should make the equivalent of about 6 Venti cups of Iced Tea.  (Or 24 Venti cups in total)

 

$3.99 divided by 24 servings = $0.16625 per cup of Venti Iced Green Tea!   That sure beats $3.45!