Spiked Iced Tea with Fresh Mango Purée

I admit the recent heat wave has gotten the best of me lately, and Keith has come up with quite the antidote: a refreshingly sweet spiked iced tea made with fresh mango purée.

I am fair-skinned, ("thin-skinned" as my mother likes to call it).  We come from northern European stock: the kind of people who can survive the cold. High temperatures and humidity put me over the edge, and you can see it all over my face. I flush, complain, and act generally miserable. Keith, conversely, must have roots somewhere closer to the southern hemisphere. A photo of two of us next to each other in mid-July looks like a Benetton ad. He is literally tall, dark, and handsome. I am pink-ish with a few extra freckles.It was my also pink-ish mother who asked Keith to work on this refreshing summer cocktail. She and my father had discovered a spiked iced tea at a local pub, and they were dying to share it with us. My father is not much of a drinker, but this sweet tea with a splash of rum had captured his attention. Keith, always aiming to please, went to work.While brewing some fresh iced tea, Keith puréed a sweet ripe mango. He added some agave nectar, freshly squeezed lemon juice, and just the right amount of Cruzan Mango Rum. Keith's days of bartending really showed through with this deliciously cool cocktail. It makes my parents happy, and it certainly hits the spot when the heat is just too much to bear, especially for a pink-faced girl like me.

 

 

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