Make Shaken Green Tea Lemonade at Home

Shaken tea lemonades are some of my favorite hot weather drinks at Starbucks. The drinks have just the right amount of sweetness and just enough zest from the lemonade to be especially refreshing. The reason that a shaken tea lemonade seems less sweet than, say, a traditional Arnold Palmer is the fact that it is shaken with ice. Shaking a drink with ice not only cools it down, but it blends and dilutes the ingredients, mellowing out the flavors. In a cocktail, this technique usually results in a smoother drink. In a tea lemonade, it results in a more refreshing one!

The Green Tea Lemonade is one of my personal favorites, and it always cools me down on a hot summer afternoon. If you have a cocktail shaker, you can easily make this drink at home. First, brew up some green tea and allow it to cool. While you’re waiting, mix up some lemonade. My basic lemonade recipe calls for equal parts lemon juice, water and simple syrup. Feel free to add additional sweetener to taste, as needed, as some lemons are a bit more tart than others. Mix equal parts green tea and lemonade in a shaker with ice, then shake and serve. Homemade lemonade will give you the best results, however you can use storebought lemonade if you want to make a batch on short notice. If you are using storebought lemonade, however, you might want to add in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to brighten up the flavor of the lemonade, or a splash of simple syrup in case it isn’t quite sweet enough.

For an extra twist, I like to use my homemade Vanilla Simple Syrup in place of plain simple syrup. The next time you’re at Starbucks, asking them to sweeten the drink with half classic and half vanilla syrup will give you a similarly delicious flavor.

Shaken Green Tea Lemonade
6 oz brewed green tea, room temperature
2 oz lemon juice
2 oz water
2 oz simple syrup or vanilla simple syrup

Combine all ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake vigorously until well-chilled, about 20 seconds. Pour contents of the shaker into a large glass. Top with additional ice as needed.
Serve immediately.

Serves 1