This Ina Garten Recipe From 1999 Is Still My Summer Drink of 2024

My favorite time of day during the week is around 3:30 p.m. My kids come home from school, we have a little chat and a little snack. It’s a nice little break before I return to my home office to finish my day’s work. I like to bring a beverage back to my desk to keep me motivated to finish up the last of my tasks before pivoting from writing about food for work to cooking food for my family. 

My little home office is in a room that used to be a patio. Meaning it has lots of windows and no insulation. Cold in the winter, hot in the summer. I would absolutely love to bring an iced coffee with me on sweaty summer afternoons, but a 4 p.m. hit of caffeine is simply asking for trouble. A can of La Croix is an easy go-to, but it’s more fun to have something a little fancier with a tiny bit more intention behind it.

Enter this Herbal Iced Tea by Ina Garten. It was printed in Barefoot Contessa Family Style in 1999, the first Ina Garten volume I ever owned. A tangy mix of Red Zinger and Lemon Zinger teas is steeped and then sweetened naturally with 100% apple juice. It’s light and bright and wonderfully sippable. Plus, the hands-on time to make it is super quick. I like to throw it together while I’m cleaning up the breakfast dishes so it’s perfectly chilled by my afternoon break time. 

How To Make Ina Garten’s Herbal Iced Tea

1. Make the tea. Steep four Red Zinger plus four Lemon Zinger tea bags in four cups of boiling water for 10 minutes. Discard the tea bags.
2. Sweeten the tea. Stir in four cups of cold apple juice. Chill.
3. Serve. Serve the iced tea blend over plenty of ice.

Why I Love Ina’s Herbal Iced Tea

Iced tea feels grown up and a little retro to me. Growing up in Arizona, sun tea was a summertime staple. My mom would make it with peach tea bags, but in my mind, her mom is the real queen of sun tea. Iced tea and my Nanny go hand in hand. She was never without a tumbler of iced Lipton with plenty of Sweet ‘n’ Low. 

Ina’s herbal option is better for those of us who avoid overdoing it on caffeine. But opting for the Zinger teas makes it still ever so retro. Celestial Seasonings has been making this tea since 1972—just a handful of years before Ina purchased the Barefoot Contessa store. The ’70s were evidently a good decade for food innovation. 

But aside from a weekday pick-me-up, I think it’s an excellent nonalcoholic option for any summertime gathering. You could stir in fresh berries, lemon slices, and fresh mint for a sort of faux-sangria that looks every bit the part. And you can pour a glass and toast with your kids—because I’m the mom with the pitcher of iced tea in the fridge now. 

Tips For Making Ina’s Herbal Iced Tea

• I accidentally purchased Raspberry Zinger instead of the classic Red Zinger tea the first time I made this recipe. But the base for both teas are hibiscus and rosehips so it still worked out wonderfully.
• Use chilled apple juice to help cool the tea down more quickly.