Lemon Honey Ice

We love tea with lemon and honey so much we drink it every day and some days three times before noon. Drinking hot tea on a hot day is the best way to cool down. Drinking hot tea activates tongue receptors that respond to heat (called TRPV1) and they turn on the body’s cooling down mechanisms like evaporation of perspiration and the evaporative cooling. If you want to understand it better, I liked this article from Smithsonian magazine and another one by NPR.

The classical way to make a real Lemon Honey Tea is to pour boiling hot water on loose tea leaves (decaf or regular) and let it seep. After 5 minutes pour tea throw a fine mesh to get rid of leaves and add honey and slices of lemon. Let it seep for
another 5 minutes. And now wait for another 5-10 minutes till it gets to the point where a 2-year old can drink it without
burning lips.

Being next to a little child who is waiting for tea to cool down is like being stuck with a toy that can only play “Did it cool down? Did it cool down? Did it cool down?” I have three little children, so stuck toy x3. It was driving me crazy. Adding ice diluted the drink, but shaved off at least five minutes of waiting. I needed it to be even faster. What if I made honey and lemon mixture in advance froze it and then added as needed to a freshly brewed tea? That’s how Lemon Honey Ice was born. Now we can enjoy a freshly brewed lemon tea in a few minutes. And we do enjoy it every day! And here is how you can enjoy it too.

Ingredients
(makes two trays or 28 ice cubes)
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup of water
1/2-1 cup honey
1 lemon

1. Heat lemon juice, water, and honey in a small saucepan over medium heat until honey dissolves.
2. Cut the lemon into slices, then cut each slice into quarters. (Remove the seeds, if you wish).