Raw Food Magazine

Besides the abundant sunshine and warm weather that we get in the summer, I love the variety of fruits available. One of the fruits summer has to offer is blueberries….OH HOW I LOVE YOU SO!

As you all know, fruit is a very large part of my diet; so it is natural for me to make tasty recipes using fruit. Not only do I make fruit salads and smoothies with fruit, I also flavor water and tea with it too. Some of you might be thinking, “how do you make tea on a RAW diet?” It is actually quite simple, I cold brew my teas.

Cold brewing is a method that adheres to my raw lifestyle yet it is bursting with flavor like traditionally made tea. I just get my half-gallon glass jar, add my organic tea bags (6 tea bags for green tea or 4 bags for black tea), fill with 100 degree water and allow this to steep overnight. If I am making a fruit flavored tea, after it is cold brewed I add the flavoring to it. See, pretty simple. I even make different flavors at the same time so my family can have a variety of teas to choose from. This also prompts everyone to grab a glass of fresh tea instead of soda.

Sweet tea is has been a staple of summer beverages for generations and all across America, but why not take it a next step further and make it healthy? Traditional sweet tea is just brewed tea, tons of sugar and sometimes lemon juice; but I feel we can make a better choice here. I like to use fresh RIPE organic fruit with just a touch of raw agave syrup in my cold brewed organic tea.The fruit has natural sweetness and vitamins, the agave syrup adds a touch of more sweetness and smoothness to it, and the organic cold brewed tea has retained all of its antioxidant properties.

Although I have many combinations of sweet tea (and unsweetened tea), I want to give you my recipe for BLUEBERRY SWEET TEA. Just think, the flavor of fresh ripe blueberries with a touch of sweetness all in a refreshing drink that will cool you off and give you some extra health benefits this summer…. CHEERS to our HEALTH!!