Monday, February 22, 2016

Sun tea




















Ever made it? I tried it once about 30 years ago, and it wasn't good. The teabags, not having brewed in boiling water, sat in tepid sun-warmed water, yielding a dull, vegetative taste.

This summer I want to make an iced tea brewed from one of my favorite flavored teas, Constant Comment. I hope sweetening it with Splenda will do the trick.

19 comments:

Methadras said...

Use Lipton tea bags instead. I've found that other teas don't work as well for sun tea as this brand does and it's my favorite by far anyway. :D

Jim in St Louis said...

Solar Energy? What are you? Some kind of pinko?

I agree with Meth- cheap Lipton works best, and you have to judge brew time based on the sun, and other factors. Letting it steep longer is always better. We get a better taste than hot brewed tea- not as...metallic? is that the word? Somehow it tastes cleaner.

bagoh20 said...

The best ice tea is simple, requires no brewing, hot water or even the sun. In fact it doesn't even require tea, and it cures almost anything.

10 oz of cold water or to liking
Half teaspoon of Stevia
1 shot of Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka

Rinse and repeat until symptoms disappear.

bagoh20 said...

I challenge anyone to dink one of mine and then see if they want some other tea or "make me another one of them".

deborah said...

Thanks, Meth. I remember year and years go Consumer Reports rating Red Rose tea bags as the best tasting.

LOL Jim. Mine set out a several hours...blah

Bags, if I'm going to have the alcohol sugars anyway, I'll sweeten it with real sugar! What an ingenious solution.


Lem Vibe Bandit said...

I boiled the Lipton Ice Tea mix before putting it in the fridge.

What a difference. It taste a hell of a lot better.

deborah said...

Neat, Lem, I never would have thought of that.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Sun tea is good if you have a glass container and a lot of direct hot sunshine It sits outside in the sun all day and serve the next day.

My ice tea procedure...tea bags in a large stainless pot. 6 or more for a gallon of tea. Pour boiling water over the bags and let steep until cool enough to pour into glass container to refrigerate.

Favorite is Japanese green tea and a small handful (1/4 cup)candied ginger. Strain the ginger out before refrigerating. Always make your ice tea much stronger because it will get diluted when drinking it.

Michael Haz said...

One of the tea leaf companies - Lipton, maybe? - makes larger bags of tea specifically for sun tea. Water, a couple of tea bags, a few minutes in the sun, and voila! good, fresh tea.

deborah said...

I'm sorely outvoted on the sun tea issue.

Mmmm green tea and candied ginger, strained. DBQ you are the champ.

Thanks Haz, you don't post enough :)

Michael Haz said...

:-) Deborah.

Lem Vibe Bandit said...

The first time I drank ice tea I was six or seven. My father stopped at the church's supervisor in Santo Domingo and the supervisor's wife offered us tea. The tea didn't have any sugar, but I didn't realised that at the time. I thought that's how it tasted. Ice tea was not a thing down there at that time.

So, it wasn't until I was here in the states, in my 20's I think, that again somebody offered me ice tea, and, trying to be polite I said yes. This time however it had sugar, and I was able to connect the dots, as it were.

MamaM said...

I'm curious as to what trick Splenda is hoped to perform.

ampersand said...

9 bags regular tea, 1 bag green tea bag, 1 quart microwave proof container.
Fill container with tea bags and water.
Set microwave for 10 minutes.
Wait for water to start boiling.
Remove when tea reaches rich dark color.
Add 1 cup sweetener
Cool
Add to 1 gallon container
Fill with water and refrigerate.
Dash of pear syrup from here

ampersand said...

Oh and remove teabags before adding sweetener you lil' ole teabagger you.

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

I don't do sun tea. I'm not patient, and agree that it tastes funny. If I want tea, I boil water and make tea.

A fav of mine: Republic of Tea- Ginger Peach (reg & decaf are both excellent)

Dear corrupt left, go F yourselves said...

"Sweet Tea Flavored Vodka"

That sounds promising.

Methadras said...

Jim in St Louis said...

Solar Energy? What are you? Some kind of pinko?

I agree with Meth- cheap Lipton works best, and you have to judge brew time based on the sun, and other factors. Letting it steep longer is always better. We get a better taste than hot brewed tea- not as...metallic? is that the word? Somehow it tastes cleaner


Cold filtered water is the best and if you can give it 4 hours of direct sun exposure that's what I would do.

edutcher said...

deborah, Splenda is made from chlorine.

Sugar is better for you (won't increase your chances of Alzheimer's like artificial sweeteners) and just gives us all more of you to love.