Iced tea syrup help

[howsmatt]

I'm working on iced tea recipes for my (hopefully) soon to be cafe/restaurant. I want to have brewed iced tea and offer flavoured syrups to be added by the customer. The main problem is that the syrup doesn't absorb well into the cold liquid. It's ok but the clumps left on the spoon are not enticing.

I don't want to sweeten when the tea is hot because I want the customer to have control over flavour (let's say lemon, strawberry etc.) AND sweetness.

Any thoughts?

[Chris Hennes]

What if you separate the flavor and the sweetener? Iced tea drinkers are used to stirring in granulated sugar, so I don't think that would be an issue. And the flavorings would then be much less viscous.

Edited May 24, 2009 by Chris Hennes (log)

[Katie Meadow]

I've never noticed a problem mixing cold brewed iced tea with simple syrup that's also cold. What ratio of water to sugar are you using? Maybe your syrup is too thick?

I like the idea of flavored syrup. The only flavored simple syrup I've made is lavender. I just throw in a couple of blossom ends into the mix as soon as the sugar is dissolved and let them steep while cooling until it's as flavorful as I like. I've added that to a variety of cold black teas.

[Chris Amirault]

Along Chris's line of thinking, I've been making the house ice tea using tinctures of spices (cinnamon, clove, allspice) if we want to go that way. A few drops into one glass and you've got the flavor independent of sweetness.

[rooftop1000]

Letting the customer add the syrup could lead to lots of trouble, from the group that wants flavored but no sugar or flavored but artificial sweetener. To the slobs that use too much and then dont like it because it is too sweet...

tracey

[howsmatt]

I'm in the research stage so I've tried a few variations-but to sort of answer some of your questions:

I want some originality and I like having my guests do a bit of work-interact with their food.

I don't want too many steps and glasses etc. Ideally it's your tea and one thing to pour in. As for too much sugar, this would be controlled by the amount of syrup I give. If someone needs more they can always ask for another hit of the good stuff. If I pre-sweeten I have a problem with different tastes and if I add the flavour in advance the concept of adding syrup instead of sugar or honey is pretty boring.

The syrup could have been thinner-and probably needed more of the fruit flavour-but I don't want cost to ruin the whole thing (when it comes to berries-etc).

Thanks for the great help.

[onrushpam]

When I was in Hong Kong, years ago, I ate at a place that was very upscale British. I can't remember where or the name. It was whilst we were doing some sightseeing. But, I've never forgotten the delightful service of Lemon Tea... a very tall, slender, frosted glass filled with tea and adequate ice (not the single cube you often get). It was serverd on a little platter. Alongside the glass was a teensy pewter pitcher of simple syrup, two wedges of lemon and a couple of sprigs of mint, and a long iced teaspoon. It was heavenly and I think I astounded them by asking for at least three more! (I'd been in HK for a month in mid-summer and had grown very weary of the heat!)