Iced Tea

A note on sun tea. I've read in several places that we risk "food" poisoning when we brew sun tea because the tea and water are never heated thru; that they stay just medium warm. I stopped making it tho I never got sick. Just a bit of information.

And I don't see anyone mentioning that when we brew the tea to make iced tea we need to brew the tea stronger than we would if we were to drink it hot because the ice melts and thins the tea making it weak.

We use a glass gallon container, put 6-7 tea bags in, set in the sun for a few hrs.

Or my hubbys version- boil about 2-3 cups of water with 6-7 tea bags for 10 mins, then mix into a gallon container. He adds sugar, my family does not.

I like my iced tea fresh so I make it a cup at a time.
I simply brew a hot cup of tea in a mug (you can either do it in the microwave or boil water on the stove.)
Then I pour it over a glass filled with ice.
I have THICK glasses though, if you do this in a thin glass it might crack!
I never add sugar or sweetener or anything, I like my tea straight and cool.
(Like my men, LOL!)

I boil a pot of water. Steep 8 Lipton tea bags for about 15 minutes. Poor it in a pitcher and keep it in the fridge.

I don't like lemon or sugar or any foofy flavors.

We call it TurboTea.

:)

If you want to make it by the cup, just make a cup of hot tea (no milk), add a teaspoon or two of sugar (to taste) and pour over ice. That is essentially iced-tea.

I think the big difference is that here, we tend to make it by the pitcher, not by the cup. That is what the "family sized" tea bag references... most US brands of iced tea package it in "tea bags" that are family sized... so you only use one or two to steep in an entire pitcher of water.

Most of the iced tea made here is using one of the major brands of "iced tea" bags, also: Lipton, Luzianne, etc. But you can make it with whatever you like hot... my husband likes Tazo Awake or English Breakfast. My teen son likes Irish Breakfast. They just steep it by the cup, then pour over ice, or set it in the refrigerator to chill for later. It is very simple. And quite refreshing!

I grew up on southern sweet tea, much like Laurie's recipe (except we add the sugar while it's hot in order to help it all melt - or use a simple syrup), but lately I've been making iced green tea with various infusions (mint, lime, cucumber, basil, etc). The green tea I use steeps fine with cold water, so I dump a couple of bags of green tea into a pitcher with the infusion du jour and stick it in the fridge overnight.

A "family sized tea bag" is 2 or 3 times the size of a regular tea bag. It's for making iced tea.

I put one cup of sugar into a 2 quart pitcher. Then I turn the hot tap on and let it run until it's as hot as it gets. I put about 5-6 inches of hot water into the pitcher to dissolve the sugar, and then put the tea bags in. I leave it on the counter for about 30 minutes to steep. It needs to be nice and dark. Then add cold water and viola! Sweet tea. Too easy. Put in the fridge and wait for it to be chilled prior to serving.

A family size tea bag will say in the box that it brews a quart of tea. It's just a bigger tea bag than the one-cup bags. If you can't get family size, just use more of the single-serving bags. I use about eight of those for a gallon of tea.

I put tea bags in a 2-gallon glass jar, pour a kettle full of boiling water over them, and let them steep, then dilute to the strength I want.
I don't use instant tea, and I don't put sugar in it.

Or I use the jar to make sun tea. Put tea bags and cold water in the jar and set it out in the sun for several hours until it's the strength you want. As soon as I bring it in, I fish the bags out and out it in the fridge. Sun tea needs to be drunk within a few days of brewing it, so don't make excessive quantities. Making a gallon at a time, and immediately refrigerating it, I have never had it make me sick.

Traditional Iced Tea down here in Central Texas

To prepare 2 qts,
Boil 1 quart of water. Pour boiling water over 5 tea bags in a 2 quart pitcher.

Let sit for 10 minutes.

Pour 1 Qt, cool water into pitcher.
Stir and serve over ice.

For sweet tea we add 1/4 cup sugar. My grandmother used to use 1 cup.. Too sweet for me.

5 Bags of Orange Pekoe tea bags (Lipton)

I have a tea maker now. Before I had it, we put about a quart or more of water on to boil with a family size tea bag (Lipton or Louseanne) and let it come to a boil. Let it cool a bit. Put about 1/2 to 3/4 to a cup of sugar in a gallon pitcher and pour the warm tea over it and fill the rest with water and put it in the fridge. Pour over ice.

ETA: the tea box will say family size. It's probably like 4 or 5 regular tea bags. Note, sometimes I will add a green tea in with it because of all the health benefits.

I boil water in my big pot and when it's going good, I add in 10 bags of Lipton Decaf Tea bags. I let it sit for a little bit (off of the burner) and then put it in my pitcher. It goes in the refrigerator.

No sugar or anything goes it in. If I drink it out, I do have a lemon in it normally.

Two kinds: (I do loose leaf, btw)

Black teas (esp. black currant tea):
Set Kettle to boil
right before boil, scald teapot
I like to put in two teaspoons of tea leaves into the pot, then pour 8 oz or so of boiling water over tea. Steep five minute. Sweeten to taste and then serve over lots of ice. The ice will melt and the extra-strong hot brew will cool and be diluted to the proper taste. You'll have about 16oz or so.

Sometimes I make a bunch as above, cool, and then mix 50/50 with bubbly water.

Green Jasmine iced tea (new favorite)
Make in advance so it has time to cool, or repeat with the 50% more during the brew process and ice immediately.

Put water in kettle
Bring to a champagne boil-- that is, just a minute before it hits a full boil.
Use green jasmine loose leaf or Jasmine pearls tea
Steep for 2-3 minutes, covered
Pour, sweeten and cool. Either use immediately with ice cubes or let cool with the regular 1 tsp. tea per 8 oz water concoction.

put a pot of water on the stove put the water to boil, then turn it off put in 3 large regular teabags , and 2 herbal fruit tea bags let it steep or sit for a good 10 or 15 mins, pour into a gallon pitcher pour in about half a cup to a cup of sugar depending on how sweet you like it. I usually go with half a cup because the fruit tea bags sweeten it. fill it up the rest of the way with cold water and put it in the fridge.
Forgot to put in there to make sure you don't put the tea bags in the pitcher.

I buy Luzianne Decaffeinated Tea. I use a few tea bags but the number depends on how strong you like your tea.

I take clean clear water from the water dispenser on my fridge. I fill a saucepan about 1/2 full, maybe 2 cups of water. I bring that water to a boil then drop the tea bags in the fully rolling boiling water.

I put the lid on it to let it steep. Maybe 15 minutes.

While it's steeping I take a non glass pitcher and put 2/3 cup sugar into the pitcher. I add some hot water to help heat up the pitcher. I also want the sugar to melt so I make the water pretty warm.

I pour in the tea water when it's cooled slightly. I don't squish the tea bags or anything, I just toss them.

Now I make my iced tea with my Keurig machine and just brew over ice. However, growing up & for the majority of my life I made sun tea. I put anywhere between 4-7 black tea bags into a 2 quart pitcher, filled with water and/or lemon slices put on the lid and let it brew in the sun for half of the day. Of course after this it would need to chill in the fridge for quite a few hours to become cold but as always adding tons of ice to a glass helps with that as well. I didn't add any sugar or extras to it due to personal preferences.

Using a large measurning glass, fill with water up to 4 cups. Drop in two or three family sized tea bags (I prefer Lipton) and pop in the microwave for 5 minutes. Let it sit for about 5 more minutes (the longer it sits the stronger it gets) then pour in a pitcher over a 1.5 - 2 cups of sugar (or however sweet you like it). After all the sugar is dissolved fill the rest of the pitcher with water. Serve over ice. :)

My husband and I like real iced tea--the kind made from real tea/herbal tea. Not the ones bought in stores with lots of added artificial sugars and flavorings and other stuff you don't know.

When we make an iced tea, we usually make individual ones. We've found that many times when we make up a big batch and put it in the fridge that oftentimes, the tea turns cloudy. Plus I was finding that if I did make up a big batch, we wouldn't drink it fast enough.

I like both black tea and some herbal teas iced. Making herbal teas iced takes a lot of experimentation to see if you like the flavor cold. If I want my iced tea just a bit sweetened, I add a little SweetLeaf Stevia.

My husband and I only brew our tea packet for the recommended brewing time. Then we put some water in our large glass before we add the tea and the ice. Neither of us likes strong tea; we prefer ours weak. Again, it all comes down to preference. Making iced tea yourself allows you to make it to your specifications and how you prefer to drink it. I no longer drink any soda pop; I drink hot or iced tea and water.

I am interested in trying to make the hibiscus tea they have at Panera Bread. I asked if it was herbal and was told no--meaning it must be green tea with an hibiscus overtone. I have both green tea and herbal hibiscus tea; I'm going to make both of them up, put them together, and see how they taste. Can't wait to experiment!

I boil a very large pot of water. When it comes to a good rolling boil, I turn it off, put the tea bags in and cover the pot. I let it steep for 1 hour then add sugar (minimal - nowhere near as sweet as "sweet tea") and let it steep another hour. Then I pour into a pitcher and put it in the freezer to get cold. Best iced tea around!

They now have a "family size" tea bag which is equivalent to about 2 regular tea bags.

I use about 5 family sized (jumbo, large) decaf tea bags in my iced tea maker & the requisite pitcher of ice. About 12 stevia packets and a few slices of lemon.

An iced tea maker takes all of the proportion guesswork out of it.