I’m not going to lie, my excitement anytime I encounter a slushy or blended beverage on a menu is almost childlike. I suppose I could try to play it cool (no pun intended), but hey, it’s the little things, right? Here at Mountain Rose Herbs, we are always brainstorming ways to incorporate herbs into beloved recipes and with more people looking to reduce or replace alcohol, I decided to make a slushy mocktail! I got to thinking about which herbal flavor profiles would lend themselves best in a delicious frozen bevvy. It didn’t take long before I landed on our orange cream rooibos tea blend. Using this blog for homemade creamsicles as inspiration, I set out to craft an herbal orange cream mocktail slushy.

The first step in my slushy mission was to craft a simple syrup using the tea blend. Herbal simple syrups are a super effective and fun way to bring herbaceous sweetness to a recipe. The red rooibos addition offers an enchanting floral note that elevates the other flavors around it and ties this recipe together.

Orange Cream Rooibos Syrup

Makes about 2 cups of syrup

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup orange cream rooibos tea
• 2 cups filtered water
• 1 cup sugar

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in medium saucepan.
2. Add tea and lower heat to low.
3. Cover pan and let sit for 5-10 minutes stirring occasionally.
4. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
5. Strain into container and let cool.
6. Store in refrigerator and use within 2 weeks.
   
   

Orange Cream Rooibos Slushy

Makes approximately 12oz of slushy

Ingredients

• 2 oz orange cream rooibos simple syrup
• 4-5 organic orange juice ice cubes
• 1/4 cup organic half and half or creamer of choice
• 1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract 

Directions

1. Pour fresh organic orange juice into ice cube tray and allow to freeze fully.
2. Add simple syrup, half and half, vanilla extract, and juice cubes to blender.
3. Blend gradually, pausing occasionally to stir contents of blender, until desired consistency is reached. Use an additional splash or two of unfrozen orange juice if more liquid is needed.
4. Pour into glasses and top with whipped cream or garnish with fresh orange if desired!

Looking for more mocktail inspiration?

Check out These Apple Cider-Inspired Mocktail Recipes!

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