iced tea

[DruidX]

I know we don't really do this any more, but I would like to request a how-to on making iced tea. With summer coming and me trying to not consume so much fizzy drink and hating squash I want something else I can keep in the fridge and that isn't too hard to make. Oh and that I can make with any colour tea (considering I have black, green, red and white at my disposal). Kthx!

[rowan]

I have an actual iced tea maker. It brews the tea right into a big container. It's fast and nice. And the container fits in my fridge door, so yay. I'll have to pull it out soon...assuming it stops snowing anytimenowreallywouldbefinethx. I know you can make "southern sweet" iced tea with just a jug and stuff, but I find the best tea is actual brewed tea, which is then cooled and iced. (partly I'm sure because I don't like my tea sweet)

Here is the thing I have.

[deanimal]

I love iced tea!

Here is how I make it (you need a pitcher, a pot, tea, water, and maybe sweetner):
*Boil a quart or two of water.
*Shut off the heat and add 2 tea bags per quart. Or, a couple tablespoons of loose tea in a tea ball per quart.
*If you want to make it sweet tea, add however much sugar/honey you want now while it's still warm and amiable to dissolving things.
*Then you have two options. You can steep it extra strong and add ice which will melt. Or, steep to desired strength and put in the fridge. It just depends on how immediately you need it. I judge strongness mostly by color, but you can also taste it, of course. You will want to brew white tea a little bit longer because it has such a delicate flavor that will fade even more when the tea is cold. But, iced white tea is really good. Remember that you can always add more water/ice if it's too strong, so err in that direction.
*Either wait for the ice to dissolve and cool it off (and then add more ice!), or wait for it to cool in the fridge (and then add more ice!) and serve.

[dwarp]

My mom makes this thing called "sun tea" and I don't know if it's just a weird family thing or not, but it's REALLY easy to make.

It's a summer tea, so it has to be relatively hot outside. (This is because instead of boiling water you're letting the sun do all the work!) So fill a pitcher with about 4 cups of cold water. Take 5 tea bags of any flavor and place them in the water. Cover the container tightly, we either use Press 'n Seal or we have a couple of containers with a lid. It has to be sealed well enough to trap the heat. Let it sit outside for two and a half hours or so, then bring it in and enjoy! We keep ours in the refrigerator for about three days, I'm not sure how long it keeps in the fridge, but that's how long it lasts in our house.

[cwbyrvr]

I loooove sun tea. It's been ages since I had it, my mom's parents used to make it all the time.

[monk]

that's ^ how I make tea although I put the jug out in the morning and bring it in the afternoon so it sits in the sun about 4 hours, but its a big plastic jug that I put 4 liters of water in and 15-20 tea bags. I leave it unsweetened and when poured over ice and sliced lemon a person can add sugar to taste.

[spacefem]

my husband and I have a bit of a disagreement on sun tea, because there's, like, death in it:

http://englishtea.us/2009/06/12/the-dar ... f-sun-tea/

By heating up the water but not boiling it, you leave it at the perfect temperature for bacteria to thrive. for hours.

now, he says he grew up drinking sun tea and lived to tell about it, and I have to admit I did too, but it's kinda like how our grandmothers probably all smoked all through their pregnancies you know? doesn't make it right.

So I'm sorry to bring that bad news into it. I boil water, throw teabags in, and throw it in the fridge.

Oh, safety tip! Do not pour boiling water into a glass pitcher. It shatters. Not that I know from experience.

[DruidX]

I doubt it would ever get warm enough for me to make sun tea here, but that's a cool idea for camping perhaps. But yay! I knew I could count on you guys

[StarsInUrEye]

my husband and I have a bit of a disagreement on sun tea, because there's, like, death in it:

http://englishtea.us/2009/06/12/the-dar ... f-sun-tea/

By heating up the water but not boiling it, you leave it at the perfect temperature for bacteria to thrive. for hours.

now, he says he grew up drinking sun tea and lived to tell about it, and I have to admit I did too, but it's kinda like how our grandmothers probably all smoked all through their pregnancies you know? doesn't make it right.

So I'm sorry to bring that bad news into it. I boil water, throw teabags in, and throw it in the fridge.

Oh, safety tip! Do not pour boiling water into a glass pitcher. It shatters. Not that I know from experience.

ehh, kill joy!

Seriously, thanks for th info. That's something I totally would have done with my daughter because I used to do it with my grandma growing up. Maybe it could be used for some science experiment instead when she's old enough.

[StarsInUrEye]

my husband and I have a bit of a disagreement on sun tea, because there's, like, death in it:

http://englishtea.us/2009/06/12/the-dar ... f-sun-tea/

By heating up the water but not boiling it, you leave it at the perfect temperature for bacteria to thrive. for hours.

now, he says he grew up drinking sun tea and lived to tell about it, and I have to admit I did too, but it's kinda like how our grandmothers probably all smoked all through their pregnancies you know? doesn't make it right.

So I'm sorry to bring that bad news into it. I boil water, throw teabags in, and throw it in the fridge.

Oh, safety tip! Do not pour boiling water into a glass pitcher. It shatters. Not that I know from experience.

ehh, kill joy!

Seriously, thanks for th info. That's something I totally would have done with my daughter because I used to do it with my grandma growing up. Maybe it could be used for some science experiment instead when she's old enough.

[monk]

Oh, safety tip! Do not pour boiling water into a glass pitcher. It shatters. Not that I know from experience.

I think the pitcher has to be cold, pouring boiling water into a room temperature pitcher is fine.



As for the death risk from bacteria, I'm gonna risk it, I'm already drinking the water, and the jar I use is clean.

[Rainbow Dolphins]

^No matter how clean your kitchen or your dishes or your hands are, there is still bacteria all over it. Seriously. Also, bacteria can't grow in plain water- it needs food to survive, thus when you throw tea in the mix it it's a whole different animal than room-temperature water. You eat and drink food with bacteria in it all the time, it's just not enough to make you sick. When you leave food out in the right conditions (room temperature, moist enviornment, etc) and the bacteria grow to significant numbers is when a problem arises.

[Mathmo]

Oh, safety tip! Do not pour boiling water into a glass pitcher. It shatters. Not that I know from experience.

I think the pitcher has to be cold, pouring boiling water into a room temperature pitcher is fine.

I think it depends on the thickness of the glass - I believe that if you have thick glass, and you pour boiling water into it, the inside of the glass can expand faster than the outside of the glass, which makes it crack. Whereas with thinner glass your odds of it not cracking are better. (And yeah, the smaller the temperature difference between the jug and the water, the better your odds of not cracking, so room temperature is better than cold). So I'd guess that the problem with a pitcher that isn't made to serve hot drinks is it might have some bits which are thick enough for this to be a problem.

[rowan]

otoh you can totally pour liquid nitrogen into a big-ass pyrex beaker and not have it shatter and that freaks me out everytime I see it done.

Sun tea has always freaked me out for just that factor. Also, bah on four hours, I can have mine in minutes.

[kelsa]

My microbiology teacher summarized bacterias as "heat+food+time=bad," so this recipe seems particularly worrying to me.

[Tookie]

I'm digging the cold brew method the author of the article gives:

I believe that there is a common misperception that tea leaves require boiling, or at least very hot, water to release their flavors into the water and transform it into tea. The reality is that steeping tea leaves in cold water for a few hours in the refrigerator produces excellent tasting cold tea. This method also works quite well for many tisanes (non-tea infusions). I usually use a Mason jar with loose leaf tea and then strain the tea into a second Mason jar when it is sufficiently steeped, usually about six hours. This time can be longer or shorter depending on how strong you prefer your tea and you can tell by the color when it’s ready.

Put it in the fridge in the morning and it's ready at the hottest time of the day, no petri dish effect and no need to deal with boiling water on a sweaty afternoon! My only issue is that I like what Americans call sweet tea - I've never met a Canadian who didn't sweeten their (black) iced tea. So dissolving the sugar would be a bit of work, but not impossible if you don't like it tooth-ache sweet.

You can also make iced coffee the same way, overnight: instructions here.

[rowan]

It's pretty easy to make simple syrup; just make some of that and it lasts quite a long time in the refrigerator. Use that to sweeten your tea and then you don't have to do (too much) boiling (only the once). I've seen people use 2:1 sugar:water; 1:1 s:w, or even 1:2 s:w depending on the recipe. I'm in favor of using more sugar, then you have to use less of it at a time to get the sweetness you want.

[monk]

[quote="rowan"]otoh you can totally pour liquid nitrogen into a big-ass pyrex beaker and not have it shatter and that freaks me out everytime I see it done.

but "pyrex" is special both for heat and cold resistance applications . a regular glass pitcher in not made of pyrex.