Looking for the best iced tea recipe

[cthrash1]

Quote:
I agree with the sun tea method but I put a cup maybe a lil more of sugar

 

[EllyMae]

Quote:
Well, since sweet tea IS more of a southern THANG, I'm betting your DH knows more about it than someone NOT from the south, LOL!!!

For TRUE southern sweet tea, feel free to PM me or I'm sure Miss Prissy can help Y'ALL out!

 

[babymakes6]

Do you have wild mint where you live? A lot of people call it Applemint, but I'm not sure it really is. It grows wild in meadows and pastures around here. Cut about 3 cups of stalk and leaves. Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, remove from heat, and add washed mint. Let set for 5 minutes. Remove mint from water, add 1 1/2 cups of sugar (more if desired), and stir till dissolved. Then add 2 quarts cold water and ice. This is fresh iced tea at it's best! We have found that Boston's mint tea (we can't find it here in Ohio, but PA has it at Giant and probably other stores, too) tastes almost the same. We brew that in the coffepot, 7 or 8 teabags per gallon.
We don't drink very much soda, but iced tea is always welcome!

 

[amamaofmany]

My northern Italian great-aunt used to make Iced tea like her mother did:

2 quarts of boiled water, 5 tea bags, steep for about 10 min

Add one sprig of spearmint (about 4 - 6 leaves & stem) with your tea bags if you like mint

After 10 min remove the teabags, squeezing them out into the tea but not so hard that you break them, & remove the mint sprig.

While the tea is still very hot add:

3/4 to 1 cup of sugar (to your taste) stir well to incorporate the sugar (artificial sweetners can be substituted, but I don't use them so can't tell you how much to use)

Add to the tea the juice and pulp (not the rind or the chewy bits) of:

2 large juicy oranges, left to room temp
1 lime, room temp
1 lemon, room temp

If fruit is not room temperature, you can microwave it for a few SECONDS until it is warmish. You get more juice out of warm citrus fruit than cold, not sure why. You also get a bit more juice out of it if you roll the fruit between your hand and the table or countertop a few times before cutting it open, pressing it firmly.

Pour warm sweet tea and fruit juice over a full gallon pitcher of ice (which is about 2 quarts of water as it melts), and serve.

It is so refreshing! It is lovely the first day, but it actually tastes better if it sits overnight. If you plan to serve the next day, you can just add the 2 quarts of sweetened tea & juice to 2 quarts of cold water instead of over ice and put in the 'fridge over night. Before you serve the tea, stir it a little to get the fruit bits off the bottom.

You can garnish glasses with thin rounds of citrus fruit if you want it to look decorative for a dinner. Don't put the sliced citrus fruit with the peels on into the pitcher of tea, as the tea will become very bitter from the citrus oils in the zest. Cut the peels off the whole fruit with a sharp knife, and then slice the fruit into thin rounds before adding to the pitcher. Blood oranges look especially nice with the lime & lemon done that way.

We serve this all summer. One summer we invited a little neighbor girl, who was about 6 at the time, to come over and have a picnic type of dinner outdoors with all my kids.

I poured a nice glassful and then gave the tea to the child. She looked at the bits of fruit in her glass and said to me, quite politely, "Excuse me, Ma'am, but I can't drink this with all that crap floating in it."

I tried not to spray my tea out of my nose, and after swallowing explained that 'all that crap' was bits of lemons, limes and oranges! She drank some and liked it & asked for more. When I told her parents later that evening, I thought her mother was going to die of humiliation! Her momma looked at her poppa and he turned all red. Guess where she learned to talk like that?

 

[DuckLady]

Quote:
+1

Best $15 I ever spent. I am making one to two gallons a day.

 

[astylishgirl]

I make green tea with an iced tea maker. Just follow directions and its alway good. I don't add sugar, I add sweet and low.

If green tea is too light for you, you can mix it with a few regular tea bags. I also experiement by adding different flavor tea bags to the mix.

 

[Southern Chickens]

OK, I have to submit mine:

8 family size tea bags or 1 gallon size tea bags (get at Sam's)
2 cups sugar per gallon of water
1 tablespoon of BAKING SODA (THIS IS KEY)
The baking soda takes the bitter aftertaste out of the tea, if you wondered why I had it in there.

Fill large pot of water, put on stove. Medium heat. Put in tea bags and baking soda. Bring just to a boil and remove from heat. Remove tea bags, add sugar and stir. Place in fridge. Enjoy!

I normally make three gallons at one time. The teabags listed are enough to make that much.

 

[bkvail]

Quote:
unfortunately green tea also has caffeine - it's just a younger tea from what I've heard. You will need to find an herb tea if you want something no caffeine........

 

[Freckle Face Farm]

Thats what I do I have the tea maker but it works so much nicer in my coffee maker...GREAT IDEAS keep them coming...

Quote:

 

[Crusty McPottydoodle]

You guys are awesome! I just knew if I posted my request here, I would get the real deal.

Cheryl