It’s that time of year again when my company shuts down and we all get 9 glorious days off from our regular work schedule. I’m leaving for the airport shortly to go visit my family in Michigan so I’ll leave you with my favorite method for making iced tea.
Have a wonderful holiday weekend, dear tea friends!
I make iced tea with the “cold brew” method. It’s so easy to make iced tea this way. Gather up your supplies either in the morning before work or in the evening before bedtime. This will give the leaves sufficient time to steep either all day or all night.
You’ll need a container, a tablespoon and some tea leaves. For my iced tea, I use a glass pitcher I purchased at Target and some organic green South African Rooibos. I’ve written about this herbal before here and here.
Spoon your tea leaves into your pitcher, using one tablespoon for every 6-8 ounces of water. Next, pour your water into your pitcher. I recommend either bottled spring water or filtered tap water. Hard water can definitely affect the taste of your tea.
Now all you have to do is place your container in the fridge. That night or the next day, strain the tea into another container to remove the leaves. I use a large Pyrex measuring cup to strain my tea into. Then I clean the leaves out of my pitcher and pour the tea back into it. You can also use an infuser or tea filter papers to put your loose leaves into, making cleanup easier.
There are so many variations with iced tea creation. You can put lemon or orange slices in either while the tea is steeping or after you strain it. Or, you can fill your glass halfway with iced tea and then pour some flavored seltzer water in for a fizzy iced tea. The possibilities are endless!
I’m enjoying my iced tea plain with ice and a bowl of fresh blueberries on plain yogurt. Mmmmm…. I’ve been exploring ways in which I can remove sugar from my diet because I believe there is just way too much of it in the food we buy. Even my Stonyfield Farm yogurt cup, while it’s very delicious and organic, has sugar added to it. So, I’m now buying plain yogurt and mixing it with fresh fruit, depending on what’s in season.
Art and Tea 
Sounds delicious, Karen. For a long time I have been making a “faux” Green yogurt by putting plain, unflavored yogurt in a coffee filter (or cheesecloth) and letting it sit in a sieve to drain. The longer you drain it, the thicker the yogurt becomes. It is quite good!
Have a wonderful trip visiting your family, Karen. Thanks again for sending how to make your iced tea.
What a refreshing post. Have a great time with the family.
Be safe Karen. Never tried Green Rooibos. Honesly, I have been drinking alot of the Peppermint tea (BH46) I bought. I will be mixing it with your Spearmint tea (BH45). Of course most of my cups have been iced and without sugar. I just love it–so refreshing! I’ll let you know how I like the mix of both teas.
I’ll have to try the “cold brew” method. It seems if you cold brew the leaves instead of first infusing with hot water, the flavor would be more subdued and not as intense. How is it different?
In the past, quite a few years ago, I bought a BOP Darjeelng from Upton’s, just for iced tea. It was ssooo delicious! I love iced Darjeeling tea! You know how Darjeeling teas–especially BOP’s, can sometimes be….intense….? Is that the right word? I think the “cold brew” method would be perfect here. I sometimes like lemon in my iced tea, but I’m even a bigger fan of lime!
I think i’ll go have a cup of tea “on the rocks”. 🙂 Cheers…..
Oh, I just thought of something. I remember reading, or hearing years ago, that Winston Churchill used to add whiskey to his tea. I wonder if he ever drank it on the rocks? Happy Independence Day!
Happy vacation!
Fruit and yogurt, Yummy! I often do this as a summer breakfast, but I also add a tablespoon of freshly ground flaxseed meal stirred in (I use my coffee grinder), broken up pecans, and sprinkle it all with ground cinnamon. If you do any powdered supplements, it can also be stirred into the yogurt. Very light and healthful, and it stays with you!
Thanks everyone for your well wishes and comments!
Scott, I mainly cold brew my iced tea (probably can count on one hand how many times I’ve iced hot tea before) but haven’t found much of a difference tastewise between the 2 methods. I don’t find the taste subtle at all via cold brew. Hope that helps!