craftybear

I have been surfing to find some cool ice tea recipes online and found this one.

[h=2]Homemade Iced Tea[/h]

• 6 to 8 tea bags
• 1 quart hot water (4 cups)
• 1 quart cold water (4 cups)
• 1/2 cup sugar or 1/4 cup honey, optional

Iced tea is one of those delicious flavors that just makes the summer time seem worth while. It has all of the caffeine of soda pop, but with none of the artificial bubbly junk that feeds nameless corporations and their ilk. Iced Tea is natural, honest, and infinitely cheap. If your tastes run towards the exotic, and away from caffeine, then try your favorite herbal tea on ice. Brisk and refreshing, it will open up new avenues of beverage exploration.
Get out a 2-quart size sauce pan. Put the hot water in it and bring it to a boil. Add the tea bags. Remove the pan from the heat, and allow it to steep for 10 minutes. No more, no less. Set the timer. If the tea sits for too long, it will extract bitter elements from the tea leaves, making the finished product taste horrible. If it doesn’t sit long enough, it won’t be strong enough to give you the caffeine jolt which iced tea was designed for. When the time is up, remove the tea bags and blithesomely toss them into the garbage, they have served their purpose. Put the cold water into a 2-quart size pitcher. Pour the hot tea into the pitcher, over top of the cold water. You put the cold water in first, because the hot tea could melt the pitcher, seeing as it is so hot. The cold water acts as a buffer, and cools the tea. Add the sugar or honey if you like, stirring to dissolve it completely. Put the pitcher into the fridge to cool. Or it can be poured directly into an ice filled cup.
I like iced tea strong, so I use 8 tea bags. I buy the boxes of 100 tagless tea bags, usually a store brand, for about $1 a box. This makes 2 quarts of tea at a cost of 8¢! I don’t add sugar to mine, preferring it unsweetened. But that is a personal choice, and lots of folks like it with added sugar. The nicest thing about this recipe is that it makes perfect iced tea every single time.

LavenderBlue

Thx so much from a CA girl now living in GA!!

ncredbird

Just FYI, I just tried a recommendation for removing the tannins/acidity in iced tea that has made a big difference in our enjoyment of iced tea. When brewing just add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda per gallon of tea and it will eliminate the acidity. You won't notice the taste at all but it will be a lot smoother to the palate. Keeps my acid reflux from kicking in when I have a glass of iced tea. Ann in TN

craftybear

thanks for the tip

JanieH

Love the recipe - this is the way we have always made ice tea though in the last few years I have come to enjoy sun tea. I remember in college to save money the first time I made tea I used tap water with the tea bags. The second go around I used hot tap water. The third time I used boiling water. I really got my money's worth out of the tea bag and saved some pennies which was the most important part. Ahhh, memories. Sometimes I still feel guilty if I throw tea bags out after only one use!

Eileen De Ville

My daughter recently introduced me to an Arnold Palmer ice tea drink. 1 part ice tea, l part lemon aide (Chrystal Light) I'm hooked on it.

Neesie

Southern Tea Tip -

If you don't want the tannins to make your tea bitter, bring the water to a boil BUT let the boiling completely subside, before adding the tea leaves/tea bags. Then you can brew for as long as you want and you'll have a very smooth tea, similar to "sun tea." I usually brew it until the water has cooled some, then add it to the cool water.

patchsamkim

I always make sun tea...will do a combination of flavor packets...either black tea and/or green tea and some flavor tea packets (like lemon, pomegranate, etc). I like my sun tea with a squeeze of lemon. I don't add sugar, but you can if you want it sweetened.

May in Jersey

Our family are big iced tea drinkers. Used to make it from scratch with a kettle of boilding water, 4 tea bags steep awhile in big tea pot, poured over a pitcher of ice cubes that had about 1/2 cup of sugar on them. We each had a large glass with a few ice cubes, squeezed a chunk of lemon in it and poured the tea on top. So refreshing and thirst quenching.

Nowadays I use an ice tea maker, skip the sugar and use Equal but never skip the lemon.
Sometimes when I have a meeting at my house or the gals over for lunch I make a flavored or herbal ice tea, most guys don't go for this type for the gals love it.

nativetexan

oh very good. reminds me i must go put out some Sun tea for today.