When following a keto diet, many feel restricted, especially when it comes to drinks loaded with added sugar and high fructose corn syrup. While water remains the healthiest choice, the craving for something different can strike at any time. Tea is a fantastic option for a keto diet, providing an energy boost and supporting metabolism. This article explores how to enjoy sweetened tea on a keto diet, offering a variety of keto iced tea recipes that are easy to make and super versatile.
Why Tea is a Good Keto Choice
Pure loose leaf tea is 100% keto-friendly. Tea has tons of healthy benefits that can help you in reaching your diet goals. Tea provides an energy boost and supports metabolism.
Teas to Avoid on Keto
It is best to avoid store-bought drinks or pre-made teas from restaurants.
Ready-to-drink teas are often sweetened with sugar or fruit juice, no matter how “natural” they claim to be on the packaging. Bubble tea, even at 0% sugar, can still have a lot of sugar because the syrups used to make those fruity blended options often contain sugar as a default. Also, the boba is mostly carb and sweetened with sugar (typically brown sugar). Teas with a lot of milk should also be consumed cautiously, as the carbs and natural sugars in milk can add up, especially if you drink many cups. If you still want to fit a milky tea into your keto diet, opt for a keto-friendly milk such as unsweetened almond or coconut milk, or better yet, heavy cream.
Essential Tools for Making Keto Iced Tea
- Pitcher: If you're using no-boil tea bags, this is where you'll be making your keto sweet tea.
- Saucepan, pot, or kettle: You'll need this to boil water if you're making tea traditionally.
- Stirrer or long spoon: You'll be using this to stir and dissolve your keto-friendly sweetener into the tea.
- Serving glass: This is where you'll be serving your homemade sweet tea. Use a tall glass or mason jar if you want to get fancy.
Key Preparation Tips
- Use good quality water: As it can significantly affect the taste of your keto sweet tea. If possible, use filtered or bottled water to ensure a clean and fresh flavor.
- Cold-brewing: You can also try cold-brewing your tea. Add the tea bags to a pitcher with water and let them steep in the fridge for about 6-8 hours or overnight. Then remove the tea bags and sweeten your tea with your keto-friendly sweetener. Cold brewing makes your tea sweeter and smoother-tasting because tannins, which make the tea bitter, aren't steeped out of the tea in cold water, unlike when steeping a tea bag in hot water.
- Avoid squeezing tea bags: Once done steeping your tea bags, be careful not to squeeze them, as doing so will make the tea bitter.
- Reduce bitterness: If your tea is still bitter and you want to salvage it, add a pinch of baking soda when you are steeping your tea bags. The baking soda neutralizes the natural bitterness of tea, which is why some tea recipes recommend adding it.
Basic Keto Sweet Tea Recipe
Here’s a basic recipe that you can customize to your liking:
Read also: Low-Carb Iced Coffee Options
Steep Your Tea: Once you've finished steeping your tea bags or loose leaf, remove them from the water. Be careful not to squeeze them, as doing so can release more tannins into your tea, making it more bitter. Also, keep in mind that these steps affect the strength of your tea.
Sweeten to Taste: Now I’m using a stevia-erythritol mix as sweetener, but you can use any of your choice.
Flavor Variations for Keto Iced Tea
I’ve used plain black tea bags in this recipe but you can use absolutely any tea you like, from jasmine to Earl Grey to lapsang souchong if you’re feeling like the queen. Play with any and all of the flavors you like: think ginger-mint-lemon, strawberry-chamomile, or some floral lemon verbena or hibiscus. You could even steep lavender in it if you’re feeling particularly fancy. You can’t go wrong with a lemongrass-kafir lime Thai-inspired combo. If you’re not on Keto you can obviously sub in other flavors as well - peach would be a favourite, as would pineapple. You can go even more tropical with mango, lychee or maybe a watermelon-basil.
Lemon and Mint Iced Tea
- Zest your lemon and save it in a small bowl
- Cut a wedge of the lemon for the tea. You can use as big or as small a wedge as you like, based on how strong of a lemon flavour you want.
- Use a heat-proof measuring jug, or any heat-proof jar to steep the tea. Add your mint leaves to the jug and muddle it with a pestle or a cocktail muddler if you have one. You want to muddle it much like if you were making a mojito or caipirinha, just bruising the mint leaves enough for them to release their oils and flavour.
- Get your kettle on and add the 500 ml of water and start to bring it to a boil. You want to turn it off just before it reaches a full boil and turns off. Or wait for a few minutes after it’s done boiling. To extract tea perfectly, you want the water to be around 95 C (203 F)
- Pour the hot water into the jug with the mint leaves, then add in the two tea bags. I tend to use one tea bag for every 250 ml of liquid but you could go stronger or weaker based on your preference.
- Set a four-minute time and let the tea steep. Brew it for a minute less if you want a milder tea flavour.
- After the four (or three) minutes, remove the tea bags and add in the lemon zest and the lemon juice.
- Add in your sweetener. I’m using two to three teaspoons of 1:1 sugar substitute.
- Stir everything well, taste and tea and adjust any ingredients that need tweaking.
- Let the tea come to room temperature, then put it in the fridge for a couple of hours till it’s nice and chilled. When you’re ready to serve, strain the tea and pour it over a couple of ice cubes. Top with a wedge of lemon and a sprig of mint.
Berry Iced tea
- Add the blueberries to the heat-proof jug. If you’re using frozen berries that have run juice, add a couple of tablespoons of the berry juice as well.
- Using the muddler or pestle again, mash it all together till they’re almost pureed. You can also do this in the food processor if you don’t want berry chunks in your iced tea.
- Add just-boiling water to the puree, the two tea bags and let steep for three or four minutes.
- Remove the tea bags. Add your sweetener, stir everything together and adjust ingredients for taste.
- Chill the tea for a few hours before serving. To serve, pour over ice cubes, garnish with some fresh blueberries or raspberries and serve.
Lemon and ginger iced tea
- Wash and peel the ginger. I like to scrape it with a spoon to get the papery skin off easily.
- Grate the ginger into the heat-proof jug, making sure to get all the juice that comes out of it as well.
- Add the just-boiling water to the jug with the ginger, and add in the two tea bags and steep for three to four minutes.
- Remove the tea bags, add your sweetener, squeeze in the juice of that lemon and mix everything well.
Keto Thai Iced Tea
- In a tea kettle, boil water.
- Place the Thai tea, cardamom pods, anise, and cloves in an extra fine strainer and place in a cup.
- Pour hot water into a cup and brew for 10 minutes.
- Remove strainer. (If you don’t have a tea strainer, try using a coffee filter over another large cup to filter out tea leaves.)
- Add whipping cream with stevia sweetener and stir.
- Pour into a separate cup with ice and stir.
Keto Arnold Palmer Iced Tea
For one:
- Steep 1 black tea bag in 1/2 cup of just-boiled water.
- While the tea steeps, combine 2 to 3 tablespoons lemon juice with 1/2 cup water
- Add a “doonk” (1/32 teaspoon) powdered stevia extract or liquid stevia to taste. See notes above about stevia alternatives.
- If you feel like your drink is too strong, add fresh water to taste
For a crowd:
Read also: Refreshing Keto Coffee
- Boil 4 cups water and steep 4 or 5 black tea bags in it. If you like a stronger tea flavor, use 5 tea bags.
- While the tea steeps, combine 1 cup lemon juice with 6 cups cold water.
- Add 3 additional cups cold water to the steeped tea.
- Combine the tea with the lemonade.
- Add 1/4 teaspoon powdered stevia extract or liquid stevia to taste. See notes above if you cannot use stevia.
Sweeteners
There are numerous brands on the market offering sweeteners that cater to keto dieters. Now I’m using a stevia-erythritol mix as sweetener, but you can use any of your choice. If you’re not worried about staying low-carb/keto, raw honey is your best sweetener choice. If you still want to stay low-carb/keto, but can’t use stevia due to preference, intolerance, or ragweed allergy, you can use another keto-friendly sweetener. Lakanto is a keto/low-carb sweetener made from erythritol and monkfruit - no stevia! It’s best to dissolve this sweetener in the just-boiled water, as it will stay granulated if you only mix it into your Arnold Palmer after it’s made.
Serving Suggestions
- Chill your serving glasses: In the fridge before using them to serve your keto sweet tea. Doing this will help keep your tea cold for longer and prevents it from quickly melting the ice when poured over.
- Garnish: Enhance the presentation of your keto sweet tea by garnishing it with a lemon slice or wedge, lime wedge, or fresh mint leaves.
Storage Tips
Store any leftover keto iced tea in the fridge in a covered container. It should stay good for a few days, but it's best to consume it within 2-3 days as the taste might start to degrade after that. Make sure to give it a stir before serving again to redistribute the sweetener, which may have already settled at the bottom. Try to place your tea away from strong smelling items. This is because tea can absorb odors easily, which can affect its taste of your sweet tea.
Common Questions
- Can I add ice directly to the sweet tea while it’s still hot? While you technically can add ice directly to your keto sweet tea while it’s still hot, it’s not recommended to do so. The ice will quickly melt, diluting the taste of your tea. You should let your keto sweet tea cool to room temperature first before adding ice to it. You can also chill your keto sweet tea in the fridge before serving it, and only add the ice to the glasses before serving.
- Can I add milk or cream to my keto sweet tea? Yes, you can. But not regular milk or cream which are typically too high-carb for a keto diet. Instead, use keto-friendly milk such as unsweetened almond or coconut milk, or keto-friendly cream such as heavy cream.
- How can I make the sweet tea stronger or milder in flavor? The strength of the tea flavor depends on how long your let the tea steep in the water and also the quality of tea you used in the first place. If you want your sweet tea to be stronger in flavor, you can steep the tea bag for a longer time (or use high quality loose leaf tea). If you want a milder taste, you can reduce the steeping time (or use fewer tea bags).
- Is this keto sweet tea suitable for diabetics? This keto sweet tea recipe is very low in carbs and doesn’t use any sugar, making it sugar-free. As such, it’s a great option for those following a low-carb or keto lifestyle. However, those with specific dietary needs, including diabetics, should consult with a healthcare professional before incorporating any new recipe into their diet, even if that recipe is sugar-free.
Ketoproof Tea
Ingredients
- Organic green tea
- Coconut Oil or MCT Oil - Coconut oil technically is MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil, well about 65-80% MCT anyway. MCT oil is just more concentrated than coconut oil, but both have been shown to aid in fat loss.
- Grass Fed Butter - Cows that have a diet of fresh grass yields butter that has improved consistency and nutritional properties.
Benefits
- Polyphenols - These function as antioxidants in your body, reducing the formation of free radicals in the body and helps to protect your cells from damage.
- Improved Brain Function - not only does green tea contain caffeine, it also contains L-theanine, which is an amino acid. L-theanine increases your GABA activity, which improve anxiety, dopamine, and alpha waves.
- Increased Metabolic Rate - Green tea has been shown to improve your metabolic rate. Independent studies were done on 10 males, where their BMR increased by 4% for the entire day. That’s a lot just for having a cup of green tea!
Brewing Instructions
- Boil your kettle - make sure you use filtered water for this. It comes out with an overall cleaner taste. If you don’t have a kettle, you can boil the water on the stove in a pan.
- Once your kettle finishes boiling, let it sit for 5 - 10 minutes. You want your water temperature to be between 160°F and 170°F. Why? Amino acids dissolve at 140°F, leaving you with a good punch of nutrition in your tea. The tannins in the tea start to dissolve at 175°F which leave an unforgettable bitter taste in your tea.
- Get your teabags ready in a large container.
- Pour the water over your teabags, with steep times are very dependent on the tea that you have, but are crucial in how the tea turns out. You want to steep your tea at lengths of 2-4 minutes, allowing the flavors to develop while not allowing too much bitter flavor to come through. Your steep times should be in measure with your water temperature.
- Remove your teabags from the water.
- Add your heavy cream to the tea.
- You need to mix the tea with an immersion hand blender.
- Start to blend your ketoproof tea. You’ll notice that froth starts to build up.
- It’s time to chill the tea. If you are short on time, you can leave it in the freezer for at least 2 hours.
- Once you take it out of the freezer, you shouldn’t notice too much of a separation between fats.
- Get your blender out and add your ice to it.
- Blend everything together for about 5 minutes.
Read also: Make Your Own Iced Green Tea