How to make Starbucks passion iced tea?

Answer 1

You can buy bags (and classic syrup) for passion tea at Starbucks. Easy. But it's also easy to make the tea from scratch, using the same ingredients:

Buy dried Jamaica flowers (hibiscus) from a Mexican grocery (commonly $1.50 for 1/4 POUND!). This will last you a LONG time, and it is the primary ingredient in Starbuck's "Passion Tea" by FAR. It is the primary ingredient in many, many other herbal teas, as well, since it imparts only a mild flavor while easily infusing tons of red color into your drink (it's good for you, too).

Now, if you read the list of "Passion Tea" ingredients, you see quite a list of herbs/spices, but I PROMISE YOU that this list is just to make it look like it's more than hibiscus tea, but there is very little flavor from most of these ingredients (especially from Passion flower, which is likely in only the minimum required content necessary to be able to list it on the label).

The flavors that do contribute (if only slightly) are: licorice root, citrus, cinnamon, and fake fruity-flavor. While you could add these ingredients individually to your brew, I recommend finding a "Licorice Spice" herbal tea, that probably contains all of those and more. Licorice is the key flavor, but it's important to NOT allow the bag to brew for more than 20 sec. or so in your pot, since you're only looking for these TRACE flavors, and the cinnamon (present in almost any "... spice" tea) will overpower otherwise. Save the bag, and use it for several pots.

Okay, so boil 4 or 5 blossoms in 2 quarts water (add a 1" strip each of orange and lemon zest optionally, for more fruity-ness), flavor for 20 or 30 sec. with "Licorice Spice" bag, remove bag, and simmer until the color is of the desired depth of red (I like it stronger than Starbucks makes it). Remove the blossoms (which can be used again, if you're as cheap as I am) and allow to cool to room temp.

Stir in 1/4 teaspoon citric or ascorbic acid (very cheap -- find it in the vitamin section of any grocery store under VITAMIN C - powdered... you really should have this on hand anyway... a pinch per day in a glass of water is all you need!) to add a fresh tartness (S'bucks uses citric acid). Pour into a glass pitcher, and refrigerate until cold.

To serve, fill a glass 1/3 full of crushed ice, fill with tea and add as much simple syrup (concentrated sugar-water: add as much sugar as will dissolve in boiling water, cool and store in a jar at room temperature) as you like (I think Starbuck's uses something like a fluid ounce, but I recommend a teaspoon or so). For authentic chilliness, top with a shaker and shake vigorously 10 times.

Between the variation of hibiscus blossom size, time steeped, licorice tea content and steepage, etc., this is far from a scientific process, and you'll have to experiment to get it just the way you like it, but that's part of the fun, I think. Develop your own formula. And it might seem like a long process, but once you've done it once, you'll see how easy it is, and you'll have all the ingredients you need for a VERY LONG TIME. You can make larger batches, or make a concentrate by reducing the concoction to a half, to be diluted upon serving. Either way, the cost comes to around 2 cents per Grande, so... you do the math.