I love iced tea. Sweetened Peach is a serious weakness of mine. Sadly, when I decided to start losing weight it was one of the first things I cut from my diet and when on a strict water only for my beverages as I was easily drinking away my daily calories. Water gets old pretty fast and I was missing my peach tea. I love my tea sweetened and can’t do unsweetened tea so I needed to find something that was lower in both calories and in sugar if I was ever going to taste it again. Then I was recently introduced to Pure Leaf Iced Teas.

Pure Leaf Iced Tea™ is real brewed tea with a fresh brewed taste and is made from the finest all-natural ingredients, using no preservatives, to create teas with the perfect balance of aroma, body and flavor. This all-natural iced tea begins with the freshest tea leaves picked at their peak. The leaves are then  hand-selected from China, India, Africa and South America for their distinctive and smooth flavor by  Pure Leaf’s Master Tea Blenders. Pure Leaf is proud to be Rainforest Alliance Certified™ for sourcing tea sustainably. 

I wasn’t sure if I’d love the Not Too Sweet Peach Tea since I’m not a fan of unsweetened tea but this had just enough to still be sweet but not overly sweet. I went out to my garage and compared it to the ice tea I’ve always drank. Something I never even realized was that my old iced tea had SODIUM. I was so happy to see that Pure Leaf didn’t. Not only that but as you can see it had less sugar and less calories too! Not just that but Pure Leaf had 2.5 ounces more then the other one.

I also really like that the square bottles, made of PET plastic, are lightweight and provide a high pallet efficiency, which equates to more bottles, lighter loads and less fuel used in transport. They are also 100% recyclable!

Pure Leaf has partnered with Ted Allen of Chopped to showcase different unique food and beverage pairings for any meal. Ted has shared some great summer entertaining tips that we can use for our next party, picnic, or bbq!

Ted Allen’s Summer Entertaining Tips

On summertime refreshments:

• Summertime is party time, and nothing says celebration like cocktails—and mocktails! A splash of vodka (or not) in Pure Leaf Sweet Tea, along with some fresh cherries, an ounce of elderflower liqueur, and some fresh mint—or, if you’re adventuresome, fresh basil—makes for a great, refreshing, showy treat!

On Pure Leaf Not Too Sweet flavors:

• The clean, crisp refreshment of Pure Leaf Not Too Sweet is perfect for lightly seasoned, light fare like salads, shrimp, and other delicate foods—compliments them without overwhelming them.

On hosting a barbecue:

• When you’re barbecuing, make it easier on yourself by prepping ahead with side dishes that don’t need to be heated: Bean salads, pasta salads, even a panzanella bread salad are easy to make ahead, and that frees you up to be the Grill Master.

Idea for Labor Day party:

• It’s your last chance of the summer to wear white—so throw a White Party! Serve white beans, white asparagus, white Belgian beer, and be sure to tuck a napkin into your collar before eating.

On pairing with tea (a tip he’s sharing at a special pairings seminar at the Food & Wine Classic in Aspen):

• The delicate, refreshing flavor of tea pairs beautifully with almost any food. Think of its abilities to clean your palate of rich, sweet flavors, and to compliment more delicate ones. Offer a range of teas—sweet, unsweetened, not-too-sweet, peach—to give your guests choices, then serve with interesting garnishes (cherries, kiwi, blood orange, Meyer lemon, and a selection of herbs).

On dinner parties:

• Nobody wants to hear themselves chewing at a dinner party, so don’t let “dead air” happen at yours! For a fun ambiance, the music must never stop. Develop a playlist of elegant background music—no surprises like heavy metal or John Philip Sousa. My go-to is Chet Baker.

PEACH BLUEBERRY-BASIL ICED TEA

2 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes

1/4 cup blueberries

5 large fresh basil leaves

1 bottle Pure Leaf™ Not Too Sweet Peach Tea

Crush blueberries and basil with wooden spoon in 1-quart glass measuring cup. Stir in Pure Leaf™ Not Too Sweet Peach Tea. Strain and serve in ice-filled glasses. Garnish, if desired, with additional blueberries and basil.

For a pitcher, simply double the recipe.

For a cocktail version, simply add 1/4 cup light rum.

I have really liked being able to try out Pure Leaf teas and will definitely be looking for them the next time I go shopping. You can find the single serve (18.5 oz) containers for $1.66–$1.79 and the Carafe (59 oz) size for $2.49–$2.69.

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“I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting for Pure Leaf. I received product samples to facilitate my review and a promotional item as a thank you for participating.”