Hello all!!
Sun Tea is quite possibly my favorite summer beverage… although it may be tied with homemade Lemonade.
When the weather is warm and sunny making Sun Tea easy and delicious and a great way to make a natural beverage and control your sugar intake by avoiding store bought drinks filled with high fructose corn syrups and/or artificial sweeteners.
You can use a fancy jug with a tap that you might find in places like Target or WalMart or you can use any old glass or clear plastic jar… just make sure it’s CLEANED WELL every time you use it!!!
Sun Tea “Recipe”
Ingredients
- 4-6 tea bags
Method:
Put 4 to 6 tea bags into a clean one gallon glass container that has a lid. Fill with water and cap. I suggest using bottled water as bacteria can grow in non-boiled tap water set out in the sun as the temprature will not reach the 195 degrees that is required to kill the bacteria.
Place outside where the sunlight can strike the container for about 3 to 5 hours… no longer. Move the container if necessary to keep it in the sun. When the tea has reached its desired strength, remove it from sun and put it in the refrigerator. Remove the tea bags at this point too.
The tea will taste more mellow than what you are used to from using boiling water. The slow seeping has a way of bringing out a slightly different flavor from the tea. You should refrigerate the tea and drink it up very quickly – a day or two. It will not keep as well as iced tea made from boiling water.
You can experiment with the amount of tea bags and length of time in the sun to achieve different strengths… and try making sun tea with various forms of regular teas or herbal teas!! If you have any in your garden and are so inclined you can also put in a few sprigs of fresh mintl!!
Be good…
Chef Jason