The Bee's Tea Recipe

Make syrup

Combine 1 cup water, 1 cup honey, 1 tablespoon dried culinary lavender and 1 teaspoon lemon zest in a small saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the honey. Once simmering, reduce heat and let the mixture steep for 4 minutes off-heat (do not boil vigorously to preserve honey flavor).

Strain the syrup through a fine-mesh sieve into a heatproof bowl or jar, pressing on the solids to extract syrup. Discard solids. Let syrup cool to room temperature, then refrigerate until cold (about 20–30 minutes) or use cool syrup in the next steps.

Brew tea

Bring 4 cups water to just under a boil (about 200°F / 93°C). Remove from heat and add 4 black tea bags. Steep for 4–5 minutes for a balanced strength (longer for stronger tea).

Remove tea bags, gently squeezing each against the side of the pot to extract flavor, and allow brewed tea to cool for 10 minutes at room temperature. For faster chilling, transfer tea to a pitcher and place in the refrigerator for 20–30 minutes or pour over the reserved ice in serving glasses (see assembly).

Combine and adjust

In a large pitcher combine the cooled brewed tea, 1 cup fresh orange juice and 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice. Stir to combine. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the chilled honey-lavender syrup to start (adjust sweetness to taste). Taste and add more syrup if you prefer sweeter or more pronounced lavender/honey notes. This yields approximately 4 servings.

Serve

Fill four serving glasses with about 1/2 cup ice each (total 2 cups ice used). Pour the tea mixture evenly over the ice into each glass. Garnish each glass with an orange slice and a sprig of fresh mint, if using. Serve immediately.

Storage: Keep remaining syrup refrigerated up to 2 weeks. Store leftover tea in the refrigerator up to 48 hours; stir before serving.