Arizona Green Tea Clone

 

I have a confession to make!

I love, love, LOVE Arizona green tea. I usually drink the decaf, sugar-free variety. Now for a variety of reasons, I’ve given up sodas and most other diet drinks, but my Arizona Green Tea has remained my staple treat as far as drinks are concerned!

 

However, I would much prefer it if ...

 

• it was easier available. I can get the regular kinds just about anywhere, but only two places for the decaf and sugar-free kind.
• it was cheaper. It has almost double in price in the last 3 years!
• it didn’t have sucralose in it! In the last couple of years I’ve gone off sucralose a little and would much prefer to have my drink stevia or xylitol/erythritol sweetened!
• it didn’t have the ginseng in it. I’m a little sensitive to ginseng.

 

So about a year ago I went experimenting in trying to reproduce this deliciously addictive drink and I had pretty good results. However, not enough for me to not notice the difference, so eventually I went back to the “real thing.” Somehow the tea kept on tasting much stronger than in the original and I never quite got it right! And then there was the issue with the various sugar substitutes not quite hitting the mark.

 

The other week I saw some segment on tea brewing somewhere (I forget where) and finally the penny dropped! Less tea, longer steeping!

Alas, success in making an almost indistinguishable clone of the delicious concoction and I thought I’d share! 

 

The quantity I have here is for the Rubbermaid Carafe I use. After experimenting with other containers, including the original AZ Green Tea container, but  this Rubbermaid Carafe turned out to be the easiest for us! It’s wide mouthed, it seems to cool down at the right rate, it’s wide-mouthed so it’s easy to fish out the teabag and add the other ingredients!

I found them (I use 2 in rotation) at our local Fry’s (Kroegers) on sale for $5.99

 

Arizona Green Tea Clone

 

Ingredients:

8 cups of water

1 Lipton green tea bag (regular size) - yes, just the one  (I use decaf)

1/2 tsp Stevia concentrate (or 12 packages of Ideal sweetener, or 12 packages of Truvia,  or 10 packages of Purvia, or 12 packages of Splenda or the equivalent of 1/2 cup of sugar or other sugar substitute)

2  1/2  - 3 tbsp. of bottled lemon juice (I use just under 3 tbsp.)

2 tbsp. mild tasting honey (or sugar-free honey)

 

Preparation:

Heat the water. Just before it comes to a rolling boil,  pour the water in your chosen container,  add the tea bag and let steep for 1 hour. I usually replace the lid, but with the air holes open for the steeping time. That seems to get the best result!

After one hour, remove the teabag.

Add everything else, stir to dissolve, chill and serve.

 

I find that the tea comes to it’s fullest potential after about a day in the refrigerator!

 

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• A note on the lemon juice - you can use fresh, but it changes the flavor somewhat. I have used both and the bottled is what gets the true AZ Green Tea flavor.
• Try both and see which you like best!
• As for the Ginseng, if you like to add it too, try and get the American ginseng, since the other varieties can be pretty strong. According to some recipes on the net, 1/4 tsp is all you need for the recipe above.

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