Sun tea

[NUance]

I make sun tea nearly every day during the summer. I put a jar out on the kitchen window ledge at work. Just put a couple tea bags into water, and put it on a sunny ledge. And voilà, I have fresh sun tea by lunch. It has a unique taste, much different than boiled tea. And a world better than that instant crap I grew up with. It’s one of the easiest things to make—just throw a couple of tea bags in a jar of water—but there are a couple of tricks I’ve learned that produce a lot better results.

• Jar: Any jar will work so long as it’s clear glass, it’s big enough to suit your needs, and it has a wide enough mouth to fit your hand into for cleaning. You can buy sun tea jars at Walmart, etc., but they have odd flower designs painted on the side. I think it's better to use clear glass. So I use a large, clear glass pickle jar that stands about 11” tall. It makes about half a gallon of tea.
  

• Tea bags: I use two tea bags to make half a gallon of tea. If you want to stretch it they can be reused for another half gallon. You could probably get by with one tea bag for a half gallon. It would just take a bit longer.
  

• Flavors: I mix and match different types of tea to produce different tastes. I generally use one bag of plain breakfast tea—say, Twinings breakfast tea or good ole Lipton tea. Then for the second bag I select something with a bit of flavor. Lately I’ve been using Madura tea bags from Australia—tea with peppermint leaves mixed in. It makes a minty flavored sun tea that really hits the spot. Sometimes I use flavored tea by Celestial seasonings or Bigelow, such as cranberry flavored or lemon flavored.
  

• Water: This is a bit of a trick I learned. For over a year I used bottled drinking water that we keep in jugs in the fridge. Then one day I used a jug that had not yet been refrigerated, and the sun tea brewed about twice as fast. So now I start with room temperature water. It’ll brew pretty good sun tea in about two hours, or even 90 minutes on a sunny day. Plain old tap water works fine too. It just makes a slightly different tasting tea, due to the minerals I guess.
  

• Bag positioning: Some people just throw the bags into the water. This doesn’t work too well. They float to the top, and don't catch the sun. Instead, the bags need to be underwater, catching as much sunlight as possible. I fashioned a small weight with a little clip at one end. It keeps the two bags together, suspended a couple of inches from the bottom, fanned out facing the sun for maximum surface area.
  

I realize the making of sun tea isn’t rocket surgery or anything. But when I serve it up with grilled burgers or fish people nearly always comment on how much better tea it is than anything they’ve had from a restaurant or a bottle. Plus, it's a fun project to do with the kids. They keep checking on it every fifteen minutes to see if it's ready yet. lol.

[zoogs]

Gotta bookmark this. "Sun tea", what a great name. It just sound delicious. I have some Twinings lying around on my desk actually.

[TheW0rld]

If only someone would post a recipe for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had one once and it was great. I wish I knew how they were made.

[NUance]

If only someone would post a recipe for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. I had one once and it was great. I wish I knew how they were made.

If you're having difficulties I could write up step-by-step instructions for those too. Or else you could just let your mom keep making them for you. :

[Hingle McCringleberry]

totally off topic, but when I read your posts, the voice in my head sounds like Fry....

[Foppa]

I make sun tea nearly every day during the summer. I put a jar out on the kitchen window ledge at work. Just put a couple tea bags into water, and put it on a sunny ledge. And voilà, I have fresh sun tea by lunch. It has a unique taste, much different than boiled tea. And a world better than that instant crap I grew up with. It’s one of the easiest things to make—just throw a couple of tea bags in a jar of water—but there are a couple of tricks I’ve learned that produce a lot better results.

• Jar: Any jar will work so long as it’s clear glass, it’s big enough to suit your needs, and it has a wide enough mouth to fit your hand into for cleaning. You can buy sun tea jars at Walmart, etc., but they have odd flower designs painted on the side. I think it's better to use clear glass. So I use a large, clear glass pickle jar that stands about 11” tall. It makes about half a gallon of tea.
  

• Tea bags: I use two tea bags to make half a gallon of tea. If you want to stretch it they can be reused for another half gallon. You could probably get by with one tea bag for a half gallon. It would just take a bit longer.
  

• Flavors: I mix and match different types of tea to produce different tastes. I generally use one bag of plain breakfast tea—say, Twinings breakfast tea or good ole Lipton tea. Then for the second bag I select something with a bit of flavor. Lately I’ve been using Madura tea bags from Australia—tea with peppermint leaves mixed in. It makes a minty flavored sun tea that really hits the spot. Sometimes I use flavored tea by Celestial seasonings or Bigelow, such as cranberry flavored or lemon flavored.
  

• Water: This is a bit of a trick I learned. For over a year I used bottled drinking water that we keep in jugs in the fridge. Then one day I used a jug that had not yet been refrigerated, and the sun tea brewed about twice as fast. So now I start with room temperature water. It’ll brew pretty good sun tea in about two hours, or even 90 minutes on a sunny day. Plain old tap water works fine too. It just makes a slightly different tasting tea, due to the minerals I guess.
  

• Bag positioning: Some people just throw the bags into the water. This doesn’t work too well. They float to the top, and don't catch the sun. Instead, the bags need to be underwater, catching as much sunlight as possible. I fashioned a small weight with a little clip at one end. It keeps the two bags together, suspended a couple of inches from the bottom, fanned out facing the sun for maximum surface area.
  

I realize the making of sun tea isn’t rocket surgery or anything. But when I serve it up with grilled burgers or fish people nearly always comment on how much better tea it is than anything they’ve had from a restaurant or a bottle. Plus, it's a fun project to do with the kids. They keep checking on it every fifteen minutes to see if it's ready yet. lol.

 

 

My mom used to make a few big containers of sun tea every summer. And you're right, it's different, but in a good way. Then I heard (of course) that it's bad for you? Not sure how, but not surprised. You can't even breathe anymore without the chance of dying from something. Sometimes I think science researchers just need to eat a fat...umm...ice cream sandwich.

[NUance]

My mom used to make a few big containers of sun tea every summer. And you're right, it's different, but in a good way. Then I heard (of course) that it's bad for you? Not sure how, but not surprised. You can't even breathe anymore without the chance of dying from something. Sometimes I think science researchers just need to eat a fat...umm...ice cream sandwich.

Bad for you? I hope not. I drink at least a half gallon per day in the summer. Sometimes a gallon.

 

 

/btw: I said that in my Fry voice. lol

[Foppa]

My mom used to make a few big containers of sun tea every summer. And you're right, it's different, but in a good way. Then I heard (of course) that it's bad for you? Not sure how, but not surprised. You can't even breathe anymore without the chance of dying from something. Sometimes I think science researchers just need to eat a fat...umm...ice cream sandwich.

Bad for you? I hope not. I drink at least a half gallon per day in the summer. Sometimes a gallon.

 

 

/btw: I said that in my Fry voice. lol

 

Yeah, it wouldn't stop me. I saw the article a few years ago, and now can't find it. But screw them, what do they know? Drink up!

[knapplc]

I made sun tea for the first time in a couple of decades yesterday. I have no idea how it turned out. I don't like tea.

 

Also made lemonade from fresh-squeezed lemons. It's very easy and it is WAY better than any other lemonade I've ever had. I don't even like lemonade and I liked this stuff. A lot.

[RedRedJarvisRedwine]

This thread about tea bagging and bag positioning?!!!

[JJ Husker]

We're avid sun tea drinkers at our house. We've found that we like Luzianne Tea quite a bit better than Lipton. We get the larger sized tea bags and use 3 per gallon or we'll use 2 of the large Luziannes and 2 or 3 small bags of a flavored tea (blackberry is really good).