Beat the heat with Cold Brewed Iced Tea

Last year I blogged about the dangers of Sun Tea.  Well, it seems that MN is having a bit of a May heat wave.  As a matter of fact, it feels a heck of a lot more like August than it does like May!  So I felt it was totally appropriate to bring back the Cold Brew Ice Tea method/recipe and get some cooler weather recipes started up.  I've also borrowed my neighbor's solar oven and have dinner baking away in the sun.  I'll have blog posts coming up soon on cooking using solar energy (Did you know you could cook with it year round...no matter where you live?  And it's not limited to just dinner?  You can cook muffins and breads and cookies too!)

But let's get back to the tea.  Like I pointed out in last years post, I was listening to my favorite radio program when I learned that sun tea can harbor lots of interesting bacteria.  I was pretty convinced by the program (and shared that info as well) but for those that weren't convinced I did a little more digging and Bill from the Tea Source was right! http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp   I think I'll be keeping the bacteria out of my tea thank you very much!

Below is the very basic recipe.  Jazz it up any way you can think of.  Mix up black, green and herbal varieties.  Sweeten it as you like.  You can try honey, stevia, sugar or you can even make a simple syrup.  Sky is pretty much the limit so sit back, sip some tea, relax and enjoy!

Cold Brew Iced Tea

Ingredients/Equipment:
Half Gallon Mason Jar & lid
4-6 tea bags or 8-10 teaspoons of loose tea, either loose or in bags.
Cold Water to fill jar

Directions:
1.  Place tea in jar
2.  Fill jar with cold water
3.  Let steep overnight (at least 8 hours)
4.  Strain or remove the tea bags
5.  Serve over ice.

*This method requires less tea and produces a smooth, light, and refreshing iced tea. 

Other ice tea recipes from teasouce & splendidtable