Archive for the ‘Beverages’ Category

There’s nothing as refreshing as the perfect glass of iced tea. Freshly brewed. Perfectly sweetened – not too much, not too little. I love me some iced tea.

Not sure if I have what it takes to be considered an iced tea expert. Connoisseur? Yes. Picky? Most definitely. And I know I’m not alone. I have friends (and you know who you are) who make a daily pilgrimage (sometimes twice or even, can you believe it, thrice) for the local offerings of the freshly brewed goodness.

I don’t blame them. If I lived closer to town to justify the outing, I’d be right behind them in line, every day.

There’s nothing like it.

While we in the south are surrounded by an endless supply of the sweet stuff at every corner, I want my own supply for home at my beck and call. So, in search of the perfect concoction I’ve tried many methods over the years and have found what works for us. Mind you, you’ll find a bunch of (and when I say a bunch, I mean a gazillion) recommendations for making the perfect iced tea. I recently talked to a friend who can only make it in a mason jar in her microwave. This combo works for us and our taste buds – be sure to play with ratios of tea and sugar, steeping time, etc. for what you like.

First, Luzianne is our choice and we use 5 family size tea bags per gallon. This will make either one strong gallon of tea or you can split it between two pitchers and add cold water to fill each.

Fill a large (non reactive) pot with a gallon of cold water. It must be cold – I don’t know why – just do it. Then bring to a slow boil. Remove from heat – don’t let water continue to boil. Add tea bags and let steep. Wait. Wait. Wait for it. Wait at least 30 minutes – the longer the better. You can actually let it steep as long as it doesn’t get cool.

When ready add sugar to your pitcher(s). We like ours not too sweet (plus we’re trying to cut calories) so we only add about 1/3 cup per gallon. Only 1/3 cup? I know – the horror! I have friends who do indeed add up to 2 cups per gallon! To each his own.

Anyway, add the sugar to your pitcher (or pitchers if you’re splitting the batch) and pour a portion of tea in. Stir to dissolve sugar.

Then pour in the remaining tea and stir. If you’ve split the steeped deliciousness between two pitchers, add cold water to each to fill and stir.

Let cool for a bit, then refrigerate. Your stash will have a shelf life of about 2 days – if it lasts that long! Just an observation, but it seems to me that the more sugar added, the quicker it goes bad. I’ve never checked into it to see if that’s a fact. I would certainly be curious to know if that is indeed true.

Please note that this is just one method we’ve come to use from trial and error. It’s not scientific, award winning or proven in test kitchens anywhere – other than my own. Depending on your personal taste and water type you may find you need to play around with ratios, etc. Even when on vacation we’ve tried to duplicate what we make at home and fail every time – go figure.

With that said, some considerations to take when brewing your best batch…

•  The type of water does make a difference in taste. Maybe try to use bottled or filtered water if you’re having problems achieving the desired taste. Also, hard water tends to make cloudy tea when it reacts with the tannins.

• Tea also becomes cloudy when refrigerated too soon before cooling. If this happens add a small amount of boiling water and it should clear right up.

• Try a little sugar at a time. You can always add more sugar but it’s a bit difficult to get those sugar crystals out later. You could even make a sweet syrup or simple syrup by combining sugar and hot water, cool and have on hand to add to your tea when you want a little extra sweetness.

• Non reactive pots are important. Stainless steel and enameled are the most common and preferred.

But, hey, what do I know? Any tips that you can pass my way – bring ‘em on! I’m always looking to make a better batch of tea.

Watch for “Sweet on Tea – Part II,” where we’ll attempt to plot out the best places to find the finest tea around.