The benefits of green tea have been reiterated many times. Less processed, rich in nutrients, and most importantly in anti-oxidants, green tea is a prescribed drink by doctors nowadays. Green tea is a popular beverage, consumed by most due to the fact that it aids in weight loss. This is what gave green tea its popularity. But along the way, a number of health benefits kept being added to the list of this extra-ordinary drink. From boosting immunity to lowering blood pressure levels, the checklist can go on and on. In fact, studies also show that it may aid in fighting cancer.
For all tea lovers, tea is the number one go-to drink, irrespective of the weather or the time of the year. However, given a season to choose, I think most would agree with me that the best time to have tea is during winters. There is nothing cozier than a warm blanket, a good book, the balcony, a foggy view, and of course the cup of ‘garam garam saah’ (garma-garam chai) as we call it. If I close my eyes, I can almost feel the feel of this eternal bliss.
That does not mean that we refrain from our favourite drink during the sweltering summers. But sometimes, even we find ourselves saying that the day is too hot for tea. Even though we might still turn to our favourite drink, we might compensate the heat by doing away with our daily dose of green tea and having a cold drink instead. Not at all a healthy choice, I must say. So what is the alternative? The answer is there, staring right back at us.
We can have our green tea cold, with an air of added flamboyance. It is a quick easy-to-make recipe, requiring no added ingredient except a couple of ice cubes and a few lemon chunks or mint leaves; nothing that is not found in a regular kitchen. So the answer is simple. In a pot of boiling water, we add the green-tea bags and let it infuse for about 10 minutes. We then pour this mixture into a long slim glass over some ice and let it cool. To this concoction, we add some sugar, a dash of lemon or mint leaves, as per our liking, top it up with a few more ice cubes and serve it chilled. A cool brew that replenishes us during the hot, greasy days of summer, it is an excellent alternative to all the synthetic drinks we tend to consume. So, this summer, beat the heat with your very own brew of cold green tea and savour its exquisite delicacy.
