Iced tea is the perfect refreshing drink for this time of year. My husband and I actually make it all year long though because we love the taste of it so much. I used to buy the powdered stuff to make iced tea because I didn’t realize that there was another way to make it…brew style!
How do you like your iced tea? Unsweetened or sweetened? Black, green, or flavored? We prefer the standard issue black iced tea, unsweetened. Of course you can modify this recipe to the tea you prefer and feel free to add sugar if you like it sweetened.
Iced Tea Recipe
(For a 56 ounce pitcher, serves 7)
Ingredients:
- 7 standard sized tea bags
- 4 cups water
- ice, to fill 3/4 of the pitcher
- additional water to top off in the pitcher
Directions:
- Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.
- Fill the pitcher 3/4 of the way up with ice and set it aside.
- Once the water has reached a boil, place the 7 tea bags in the water, cover with the lid, and take it off of the hot burner. Let it steep for 5 minutes.
- Take the tea bags out of the brewed tea water and pour the tea into the pitcher.
- Top the remaining room in the pitcher with additional water.
- Chill in the refrigerator and serve.
Store in the refrigerator.
To me ingredients are a list of food items so I didn’t list a pitcher as an ingredient, but it is something that you will need for this recipe.
We like to tie the tea bags together because it makes it easier to remove them later on.
Once the water has come to a boil, add the tea bags, cover with the lid, and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Squeeze the tea bags to get out all that wonderful flavor and remove them. See how the tied bundle of tea bags is a handy thing? 😉
Pour the tea into the pitcher of ice and top with water. I did this over the sink because I usually spill some of the tea while I’m pouring it into the pitcher.
Ta da! Brewed iced tea. Oops, I got a little crazy with squeezing the lemon juice into my iced tea and got some of it on the table. That stuff goes everywhere no matter how hard you try to block the lemon with your hand. 😉
This recipe is perfect for our 56 ounce pitcher (as I noted in the recipe). In an attempt to help you customize the recipe for your pitcher size, my husband has been nice enough to spell it out for those of you interested in the calculation. My husband is a bit of a geek so you may find this a bit technical (love you, babe!). 😉
Calculation (ie: Nerd Corner)
Parts of the formula:
- N = The number of tea bags to use
- P = The size of your pitcher in ounces.
- T = The amount of tea one tea bag makes in ounces.
The formula:
N = P / T (Rounded Up)
Examples:
This is for the way we make it: N = 56 / 8, so N = 7 tea bags.
We also use the quart sized tea bags: N = 56 / 32, so N = 2 tea quart sized bags.
If you have a bigger pitcher: N = 78 / 8, so N = 10 tea bags.
As long as your pitcher is at least 45 ounces, you can always just use 32 ounces of water when brewing the tea. You are making a concentrated tea that will be watered down by the ice and extra water to added to top off the pitcher. For very small pitchers you may need to reduce the amount of water and ice used so it will fit when you are done.
Enjoy!
Source: www.tinaschic.com
Interested in some other refreshing drinks? How about a Cafe Frappe.
Iced tea is my favorite summer drink, I always add a few mint leaves in it too. I’m a big tea drinker (black) but it’s so hot in the summer, I always switch to iced. I need a little sugar in mine.. sweet tooth. 🙂
Mint leaves are an awesome addition! I do the same…so refreshing. 🙂
Love ice tea! I love it when it’s slightly sweet –so refreshing during the summer months.
It’s funny that I have a sweet tooth but can drink my tea and coffee without sugar. I totally agree…perfectly refreshing for those hot days. 🙂