Budget-Friendly Homemade Lemon Tea
经济实惠自制柠檬茶 · pan chinese cuisine
The author stresses following the given ratio: they once made it by eyeballing the ingredients and it tasted terrible. Made to this ratio, they claim it is just as good as — or better than — shop-bought lemon tea.
Ben OkaforCollege senior with a tiny dorm kitchen and big ambitions. Ramen, jollof rice experiments, and everything with too much garlic. Learning as I go, mostly burning toast.Nutrition & allergens
No supported allergens detected from surveyed ingredients.
Some ingredients are not yet allergen-surveyed; this label is not exhaustive.
Per serving (4 servings)
- Energy (kcal)
- 229.4(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
- Protein (g)
- 8.1(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
- Fat (g)
- Unknown
- Carbs (g)
- 52.1(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
- Sodium (mg)
- 1345.4(Main ingredients only; seasoning not counted)
Estimated from verified ingredient data for the original formula — not lab values, and one dish is not a full meal.
Techniques you'll use
- Simmering (dun) ↗
Gentle low-heat cooking in liquid until flavors merge and meat softens.
- Cold dressing (liang ban) ↗
Toss cooked or raw ingredients with a bold chilled dressing.
Steps
- 1
Step 1
Prepare the ingredients: 1.5 liters of water, 140 g white sugar, 10 g black tea, and 2 small lemons (use 1 if large). Slice the lemons and remove the seeds; set aside.
✅ Done when: All ingredients are measured and the lemon slices are seeded and ready.
Put 140 g sugar in a pot and pour in just enough water to barely cover it. Add the lemon slices, reserving 2-3 slices uncooked (cooked slices will not float). Simmer gently for about 10 minutes. In a separate pot, bring 1.5 liters of water to a boil, add the black tea, simmer on low for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and let it steep briefly (any length of time, or skip steeping entirely).
✅ Done when: After about 10 minutes the lemon syrup is ready, and the tea has simmered 5 minutes and steeped off the heat.
- 3
Step 3
You should now have the simmered lemon slices and the brewed tea liquid.
✅ Done when: The lemon slices are softened and the tea liquid is deeply colored.
Combine everything together and bottle it. Once it has cooled, move it to the refrigerator to chill.
✅ Done when: The mixture is fully combined in bottles and chilled in the fridge.
- 5
Step 5
Enjoy — the author reports it was all drunk before it could even be iced.
✅ Done when: The chilled lemon tea is ready to serve over ice or as-is.