Iced Tea Summer 🥤
- May 16
- 3 min read
Fellow Millennials, remember when rosé wine was the symbol of Summer 2015? When all of us 20- and 30-somethings, and by "all" I generally mean feminine women, were wearing short white shift dresses with gladiator sandals and big, floppy straw hats with giant designer sunglasses to brunch, where we spent three hours gossiping over chilled bubbly rosé while nibbling on locally sourced asparagus and goat cheese mini quiches?
11 (gulp) years later, we have to worry about things like hangovers and medication interactions and friends in AA, and focusing the summer around an alcoholic beverage doesn't really work anymore...
Good thing iced tea has taken over my refrigerator, just in time for porch drinks season.
It all started with a 50% off sale on a set of three half-gallon mason jars with three pour spout tops, and a whole lot of old tea that needed to be consumed. Now, I have two jars of iced tea going all the time - one caffeinated, one non-caffeinated. I sweeten it lightly like the yankee bitch I am - 1/3 cup of brown sugar, typically, which is 2 teaspoons for every 8oz.
Here's my recipe:
5-6 teabags, or 5-6 teaspoons of loose-leaf tea
1/3 cup brown sugar
3 cups hot water, just off the boil
5 cups cold water
Equipment:
Half-gallon mason jar (pour spout top is incredibly convenient, but not needed), or pitcher rated for hot water use.
Long handled spoon.
Infuser pot, if using loose-leaf tea.
Method:
If you're using teabags, place them in the mason jar with the brown sugar, then add the hot water, stir gently, and set a timer for five minutes. After the five minutes have gone by, use the long-handled spoon to carefully remove the teabags. Fill the rest of the jar with the cold water, and give the tea a stir again before capping off the jar and placing it in the refrigerator to chill, or serving over ice.
If you're using loose leaf tea, place the tea in the infuser, and fill your infuser pot with the hot water. Set a timer for five minutes. After five minutes, place the brown sugar in the mason jar, and pour the hot brewed tea into the jar, over the sugar. Stir gently to dissolve the sugar before filling the rest of the jar with cold water, and stirring again. Cap off the jar and place it in the refrigerator to chill, or serve immediately over ice.
Easy, right?
And there's so much variety to choose from! Here's a few of my family's favorites, all brewed to the instructions above:
Iced Chai Latte:
5-6 bags/teaspoons of your favorite chai (I've been using 2 tablespoons)
Per Serving:
1/8-1/4 cup oat milk, or full-fat coconut milk, whisked smooth.
Spearmint Sekanjabin:
3 bags/teaspoons spearmint leaves
2 bags/teaspoons green tea (or fully spearmint, for caffeine-free)
Per Serving:
2-3 tablespoons raw apple cider vinegar, or to taste (with the "mother")
Hibiscus & Honey:
5-6 bags/teaspoons hibiscus blossom
instead of 1/3 cup brown sugar, sweeten with 1/4 cup raw honey
Barley & Maple:
3 tablespoons roasted barley (you need an infuser pot for this one)
instead of 1/3 cup brown sugar, sweeten with 1/3 cup real maple syrup, grade B if possible
Allow this tea to steep 10-15 minutes before transferring to your mason jar or pitcher
Per Serving:
Make it an optional latte with 1/8-1/4 cup oat milk
Arnold Palmer:
5 bags/teaspoons black or green tea
Juice of 2-3 large lemons, preferably a sweeter variety
After removing the teabags or transferring to the mason jar and dissolving the sugar, first add the cold water to the jar, leaving room for the lemon juice. Stir the cold water into the tea before stirring the lemon juice in.
And may you drink all of these while relaxing on a beach or at a pool... or from the comfort of the AC 😅😅
As for whether this will take on frozé levels - by around July 2015, all the wine tasting rooms had installed slushie machines - that'll depend on whether I find myself with one of those home slushie makers...
As for what I'm listening to while I'm sipping all of these iced infusions, my playlist of summer drops is shaping up beautifully. This is a good year for music! 🫶🏼
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