Description
My favorite summertime drink growing up was sun tea. What is sun tea? Well sun tea is a method of brewing tea slowly, using the heat of the sun to draw out the flavors from dry tea leaves. Back in the South that was a big thing so you did not have to turn the stove one.
Ingredients
- 1 whole 3 – Quart Glass Jar, With Metal Lid
- 4 whole To 6 Whole Regular Sized Tea Bags
- 10 cups To 12 Cups Water Or Distilled Water
- 1 cup Granulated Sugar Or 1/4 Cup Honey + 1/4 Cup Boiling Water
- Lemon Slices, Orange Slices Or Mint Leaves , Optional Garnish
- Ice Cubes
Preparation
Place tea bags into a clean 3 quart clear glass jar. Make sure to leave the paper tags on the outside of the jar. Add the water and screw on the lid. Let the jar of tea stand in direct sunlight for 3-4 hours or until the tea reaches the desired strength. Remove the tea bags and discard. Add sugar to suit your taste, then serve over ice. Refrigerate any leftover tea. Use within 2 days. The longer you let the tea sit outside the darker it will steep. Your preference will tell you exactly when to bring it in. Keep in mind sun tea is not as strong but more mellow than regular iced tea.
The best choice is a glass sun tea jar with a metal screw-top lid. Gallon size glass jars can be hard to find. So if you can’t find a gallon glass jar, a variety of glass jars will work to make sun tea. Any recycled juice or food jar, a large Mason jar, or any other jar that can be closed securely will work.
I used a pickle jar that I purchased from Walmart. It’s a Mt. Olive’s 80-ounce jar (2.5 quarts). I just cleaned it really good with bleach and soapy water. Then I ran it through the dishwasher on the sterilize cycle. Works great! I found it in the over sized food section for $3.78.
Please click on the ‘Related Link” to be taken directly to my the sun tea post. I have included some information at the end of my post so you can brew sun tea safely.
