Ingredients:
Hot water
8 tea bags
1/2 gallon-sized pitcher full of ice
Sweetener (optional)
Here is a look into my tea cabinet....
And that's only the first 'layer'...
Yes, I'm a big fan of Celestial Seasonings teas. And Thai Tea ~ but that's another lesson.
I usually use half caffeinated and half de-caffeinated to make my tea. That way I *can* drink it all day without getting too jittery... unless, of course, I need a little extra 'pick me up' -or- it's evening and I'll be going to bed soon... in which case I'll make full strength caff -or- de-caff.
Today I'm going to go with half regular green tea and half blueberry tea. You already saw what a beautiful color the finished product is...
It bears mentioning that the Celestial Seasonings "fruit teas" variety pack is *perfect* for making wonderful flavored teas as well ~ the box contains 5 packs of 4 tea bags each ~ just right for a different flavor every time you make a pitcher. I'm constantly trying new combinations, and while I've been more into green teas lately, plain old "Lipton" style also goes well with just about any flavored tea, too. Black tea w/ lemon tea; or black tea and mint... the possibilities are endless. I also keep both caff and de-caff green *and* black teas on hand because I don't always want flavored tea... sometimes just 'plain old' tea is the best!
I use my coffee maker to make the hot water. If you boil your water on the stove top, let it set for a minute before pouring it over the tea bags ~ straight out of the pot boiling water is too hot for the more delicate teas.
I use a standard-sized tea pot to steep the tea.
If I'm making half black/ orange pekoe tea, I set the timer to 3 minutes. Much longer and the tea will get bitter. Green tea can steep all day without getting bitter, but 3-4 minutes is sufficient.
While the tea is steeping, get your pitcher filled with ice ready.
If I had to choose a favorite kitchen gadget, it would be, hands down, the ice maker in the fridge. But even before I joined the ranks of the privileged with ice ready on demand, I was making iced tea using... any big plastic cup. I'd fill it with water and set it in the freezer. When frozen, just run a little warm water over the outside of it and voila! you've got a pitcher-sized cylinder of ice... just enough to cool a pot of hot tea without using all the ice cubes in the house!
Any "big gulp" sized cup will
do.It's at this point that I add 1/4 cup of bulk Splenda to the pitcher.
When the tea is finished steeping... pour over the ice, stir and serve.
Yum Yum!!!!!
Even clean-up is a snap! Just rinse your teapot and set to dry ~ I never use soap on mine.
Enjoy! :-)
6 comments:
Even though I never sweeten my tea at home, I have to admit that your teas are addictive. Sweet husband brought home a big jug of unsweetend 100% concord grape juice last week. I've been pouring a big splash of that into my half-gallon tea jar for a nicely flavored, thirst-quenching, fruit tea.
That sounds yummy!!
We went out for pizza last night and I had 2-3 "Arnold Palmer's" ~ equal parts iced tea and (pink) lemonade... twas divine :-)
As my *ahem* measurements were somewhat sketchy, I did a little measuring.
My tea pot holds 5 cups, and the pitcher holds "2 1/4 quarts". (That equals one half gallon plus one cup.)
You can always go back and edit your post, with the measurements, if you want. That way, if someone finds it via a search engine they'll get the info even if they don't go through the comments.
Your tea is always sooo good, and refreshing. The heat of summer is finally here, and so is iced tea time. I've got the water on to boil, and thought I'd double-check the number of tea bags.
Yum! Tea's ready! Half decaf green, half mango, peach, & pineapple green, and the Splenda.
That sounds delicious! :-)
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