Homemade Tazo Passion Tea

What is my life?

There are two things in this world that define me: "poor" and "college student." The college student means that like most college students, I enjoy the finer things in life like Starbucks, the poor means that unlike the productive members of society, I cannot afford Starbucks on a daily basis. I am mildly obsessed with Tazo Iced Passion Tea Lemonade (might've mixed up a few words there), I used to drink it religiously when I was in school in New York (back then, I made myself think I could afford things), however, since moving back home, Starbucks isn't a few blocks away, so not only am I paying four dollars for a drink BUT I am paying gas money. 

So when I was happily walking through Target with a mountain of school supplies (I love Target, and school supplies), I was shocked to find the box to the left on the shelf. It was Tazo Iced Passion tea for $2.99. My mind was blown, my thoughts running a mile a minute. Could this be real? Did this store really have this tea I had longed for? The answer is yes, and it is amazing. 

While I'm not sure if this tea is sold anywhere besides Target (let me know, if you see it in your local stores), I feel that it is necessary to just show you how FREAKIN EASY IT IS TO MAKE STARBUCKS AT HOME!

Boil, boil, boil.

You begin by boiling water (if you are a child and/or prone to burning houses down, please don't do this/blame it on me for doing it). The box has instructions on the side that say half of the pitcher (yes, a PITCHER of tea) should be filled with half boiling water, half cold water, it also said the pitcher should be 64 fl oz. Now, I don't know how these pitchers and fl oz work so I just used my handy dandy brain (and measuring cup) to pour 32 fl oz into the pot to boil (most measuring cups have it on the side). 

It only took about ten minutes to boil however, I do put my stove on quite high which is BAD, don't do it, it makes the house stink.

IGNORE THE ICE! PRETEND IT'S BOILING WATER!

Next, you need to find a pitcher (which I strongly suggest should either be glass or a strong plastic as shitty plastic may have a tendency to melt under boiling conditions) and place the tea bag into the pitcher then the boiling water on top. Once again, please be careful as you don't want to burn yourself while transferring the boiling water into the pitcher. Let the tea bag "steep" for five minutes. 

After I patiently waited and smelt the wonderful aroma of hibiscus flowers, tropical flavors and orange peel (true ingredients demonstrated on the side of the box), the timer went off and it was time for the next step! 

Removing the tea bag!

The next step is pretty self-explainatory, I pretty much got you excited for nothing, all you do is remove the tea bag. 

I wish it was more exciting but it's not. It did make a pretty red color though. Thumbs up for red stuff! 

Cold water to make it ICED!

As I previously mentioned, the pitcher should be 64 fl oz, so you should fill the remainder of the pitcher (32 fl oz) with COLD water. I ended up putting ice cubes in the water, which I think diluted the flavor a bit so I don't recommend what is shown in the picture to the left. Instead, fill it up and place the COLD water into the pitcher with the boiling water.

Side note: I know it says 16 oz, I filled it up twice because 16 + 16 = 32. Duh. 

Spoonful of sugar(s)

Next, you can add a little step if you're like me and like your tea sweetened. Add a few spoonfuls of sugar to make it sweet tea, it adds a little kick and while it takes away from the naturalness, it makes it taste amazing. 

Fun story: One time I got unsweetened tea by accident, worst day of my life.

Wooden spoons RULE!

Next all you have to do is stir it up with a utensil of your choosing as you can see, I chose a wooden spoon because it is fancy and also was right next to me. 

Finally, fill a cup up with ice, poor your tea and BAM! an amazing Starbucks drink is in your hands. You can even recycle one of your Starbucks cups and pretend you went to Starbucks when you really didn't because we all know you're much cooler with a Starbucks cup in hand.

ALSO: You can make it Tazo Iced Passion Tea Lemonade by instead of filling the pitcher with cold water after it steeps, filling it with cold lemonade. I plan to do this tomorrow. Maybe, I shall make a small post about my findings then.

Side note: Isn't my A Christmas Story cup amazing? Fra-gi-le, it must be Italian! I think it says fragile, dear. Ah, I love that movie. 

Hopefully, you guys will enjoy yourselves some Tazo Passion Tea as well, and let me know if you find the tea bags anywhere else! 

x