Hong Kong Style Lemon Tea Ice Pops

Hong Kong Style Lemon Tea Ice Pops are the popular and refreshing iced lemon tea in popsicle form. Sweet and tart with a strong black tea flavor! Perfect for the 4th of July, especially good after a hearty meal. 

In Hong Kong style cafe (cha chaan teng 茶餐廳), not only the food is special, the beverages are also very unique. Almost everyone who dines there would get a drink. Other than the famous milk tea, there are also chocolate, yin yeung (coffee and tea), Ovaltine (malted dairy drink), iced red bean drink and lemon tea.

Since coffee is not allowed when I was growing up, I usually went with the iced lemon tea. Hong Kong style iced lemon tea is brewed with a strong dark tea (I used Ceylon black tea). The drink is served with a few slices of lemon and a little pot of syrup on the side. It’s all DIY from this point. You get to decide the level of tartness you want by poking the lemon slices with a spoon. Then you pour just enough syrup to suit your taste. There are the richness from the Ceylon tea, the tartness from the lemon and the sweetness from the syrup. It is cold, aromatic, flavorful and refreshing!

Even though this tea is not too difficult to make, it does require a little time and work. How about turn them into pops? Then I am just go and grab a ice pop whenever I am thirsty or hot. These popsicles taste just like the iced tea. They are perfect and right in time for summer and July 4th! Enjoy! Have a happy 4th of July!

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5 from 3 votes

Hong Kong Style Lemon Tea Ice Pops

Course Dessert

Cuisine Hong Kong

Keyword cha chaan teng, frozen treat, hong kong style cafe, lemon, popsicle, tea

Servings 8 popsicles

Author Lokness

Ingredients

Ingredients:

• 3 tablespoons Ceylon black tea
• 3 cups water
• 8 slices lemon (about ¼-inch thick)

Simple Syrup:

• ½ cup water
• ½ cup sugar

Instructions

• To make the syrup, in a small pot, combine water and sugar. Cook over medium-high heat until the sugar has melted and the syrup starts to boil, stirring occassionally. Remove from heat to cool.
• In another small pot, combine the tea leaves and 3 cup of water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Once it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 5 minutes. Strain the tea through a sieve to a large glass measuring cup or a medium bowl. Discard the tea leaves. Let the tea cool at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. 
• Add the lemon slices into the tea. Using a spoon, poke each lemon slices (the flesh part) a few times to release the flavors. Add all the syrup. Stir and taste. If there isn't enough lemon flavors, poke the lemon slices a few more times.
• Sieve the tea into an easy-pour container. Fill the popsicle molds by leaving 1/8-inch space on top. If using molds that contain sticks or hold wooden ones in place, put on lids and freeze. If using open cup molds, freeze until beginning to set, about 1½ hours, then insert the sticks and put back in freezer.
• After about 5 hours, popsicles are ready. If the popsicles are stuck in the molds, dip the molds in warm water for 10 seconds or so. Remove molds and serve.

Notes

1. For storage: Place a wax paper around the popsicle and put in a Ziploc bag. They can be kept for at least a couple weeks in the freezer. (Maybe even longer.)
2. I got my Ceylon tea from Amazon.
3. When preparing the tea, keep in mind that the flavors won’t be as strong once the pops are frozen. So, that’s why the tea is stronger and sweeter than normal.
4. There maybe tiny little tea leaves in the tea even after sieving. To get rid of them, before pouring the tea into the popsicle molds, let it sit for 3 – 4 minutes. Any small tea leaves would sink to the bottom. When you pour slowly, the leaves would remain at the bottom.

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