Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Sweet Tea

Good sweet iced tea is created by steeping tea bags for at least five minutes, pouring the hot concentrate in a pitcher, adding sugar,and stirring to dissolve before filling the pitcher to the top with cold water. It is impossible to sweeten cold tea! No one wants grains of sugar suspended in their tea glass, which is exactly what happens when you add sugar once the tea is already cold.

It's brutally hot. The first day of summer on the calendar, but the 50th day according to the temperature gauge since early April. A nice cold glass of sweet tea, heavy on the ice, is THE way to cool off. We've been downing the tea by the pitcher.

6 comments:

Mary said...

The kids occasionally drink ready made iced tea but I have never tried it.

Other Aussies may correct me but it is a drink that has never taken off here in Oz.

A hot cup of tea on a hot day is wonderfully refreshing though!

Aunty Evil said...

No, not something that appeals to me either. I like my tea sweet, hot and milky.

Cell Block said...

Its just the opposite here, what you just described sounds ghastly. Sweet and cold...nothing better.

Stomper Girl said...

My parents used to say the hot cup of tea on a hot day is like hitting your toe with a hammer - it's so good when it stops.

I'm interested whether you would get even nicer iced tea if you made a pot with loose leaf tea and boiling water rather than teabags. Maybe I'll try that experiment when our weather warms up. Because loose leaf tea when you drink the hot stuff is SO much nicer than the bags. Do you do the sugar as a set ratio, say 1/4 cup to one litre/quart?

Melinda said...

SG, I haven't tried it with loose leaves. The sugar ratio is pretty set. Different people like a different level of sweetness. My brother likes 2 cups of sugar per gallon. I do 1 and 1/4 cups per gallon. Some people prefer just 1 cup per gallon.

caramaena said...

Like Mary, I've never tried anything but the ready made type. I'm curious now though.

Mind you, since it's currently winter here - I'm more likely to head for a hot cuppa... in fact I might go make one now :)

FEEDJIT Live Traffic Map

count