Ah, sun tea. The nostalgic drink brings pleasant memories of chilling sitting on the back deck sipping tea while spilling seeds of watermelon.
It appears that all of my memories of summer as a child revolve around the large glass jug of the amber-colored quencher. I can remember sipping sun tea as I helped my grandmother snap peas from her rocking chair. I can remember sipping it at the 4th of July party at the pool. I remember sipping it during family reunions at the beach.
In reality, I can’t recall a time when I didn’t drink sun tea in the summertime. That’s why I’m wondering what has made sun tea an art that has been lost.
A few days ago, I put a tea bag that was green into my water bottle prior to having a conversation with a colleague to work out. The woman noticed my water bottle floating around in tea bags and her questions
began coming out.
What is Sun Tea?
Sun tea can be brewed in a warm location, like sunlight in summer or perhaps on the kitchen counter. There is no need to boil water as other techniques for iced tea to make sun tea. Simply add the tea bags and water into a glass jar, allow it to be steep, and the tea will be ready to drink in a matter of hours. Although the steps for making sun tea are relatively simple, however, some sun tea lovers claim that the result is better tasting than when you use cold tea bags that brew.
Is Sun Tea Safe?
In some instances, there’s in some cases; there is no. The 130deg Fahrenheit temperature tea brewed in the sun typically reaches, although great to extract flavor, isn’t enough to eliminate bacteria. Foods that are kept between 40 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit are within the “danger zone,” a temperature range that allows bacteria to flourish and cause you to get sick.
If you are still planning to make sun tea, ensure to thoroughly clean your pot and wash the tea bags. To disinfect tea bags, place them in an empty mug or bowl and cover them with boiling water and leave them to sit for about a couple of minutes. Then, proceed with the sun tea directions that are below.
The safest and most simple method of making iced tea is by making cold tea. Mix the tea and water bags, and allow them to steep in the refrigerator for a night instead of under the sun, which will eliminate the possibility of contamination.
What to make Sun Tea and Cold Brew Iced Tea
There’s nothing better than an iced tea glass full of freshly brewed, scratch-made tea iced on a scorching summer day. But the issue is that you need to switch on the stove to boil water, then warm up the kitchen for it. Or do you? Actually, there are some non-traditional methods of making tea that you could use to create delicious fresh iced tea without turning off the flame! When the summer heat smacks you in the face take a look at these two ways to stay cool while making fresh tea.
Sun Tea Recipe
- I’m very excited to share a recipe from our family for making tea in the sunshine. It’s based on one of my top choices, The Nilgiri platinum needle. (Although it’s possible to go wrong when you choose any one of our teas from the Sun Tea Bundle.) Drinking this delicate tea often brings me to stunning Nilgiri hills in rural southern India in a town named Coonoor. This is that Indi and Muskan, the father-daughter pair that run Tea Studio, craft unique teas that are made in small batches, such as Nilgiri Platinum Needle.
By following a couple of simple steps in a matter of minutes, you’ll be just one “steep” further from enjoying an even more extensive and deeper tea-tasting experience. It’s time to sit back, relax and revel in another reason to enjoy the summer sunshine.
Ingredients:
- 48 ounces of water
- 10 grams loose leaf tea of your preference (we utilized the Nilgiri Platinum Needle)
- Tools: Two 48-oz. glass containers and one strainer
Directions:
- Fill a container of 48 oz with clean, cool water. Let sit until the water reaches room temperature.
- Place loose-leaf tea in another glass container of 48 oz and pour in the warm water to room temperature, then seal with lid. It is best to place tea leaves in prior to the water being filled to ensure that leaves are completely submerged faster.
- Place the glass container under direct sunlight or on a sunny windowsill.
- Allow the tea to steep for 30 to 60 minutes, and taste until your desired strength is achieved.
- Utilizing the straining method, you prefer to decant the strain into the container you prefer. A handheld strainer is the easiest. Fork without strainer put the fork in front of the mouth of the glass Jar. When you use teas that are whole leaf, after 2 hours in the steeping, leaves are likely to adhere to the sides of the glass jars, and straining might not be necessary.
- The tea leaves can be added to compost or directly to your garden (added nutrients! ).
- Keep sun tea in the fridge until it is ready for drinking. Drink within 2 to 3 days.
Pro tip: To get stronger flavors, pour out just half of the water from Step 5 and put the tea aside. After that, replace the amount of water poured out and then re-steep it for another 60 minutes. The sun tea is then layered so that both the sturdier and lighter qualities of the leaf show through. If you prefer drinking your sun tea chilled, make some ice cubes using the tea, which you remove midway through. When you serve it over an ice cube, it won’t alter the taste of the tea.
The Top Bags for Sun Tea Bags are for Sun Tea
This recipe requires normal teabags, the kind you’d use to make one cup of tea. Make use of 4 bags if using two quarts of water. Eight bags if using a gallon. Sun tea also is compatible with larger tea bags which are intended to create an iced tea. Just use the amount of water recommended per tea bag of large size that’s in the instructions on the box.
The majority of people use black tea for making sun tea. However, you can make sun tea using any tea flavor you’d like. For the strength you require, it is possible to play around with the quantity of tea bags you use if you are you are using mild-flavor tea.
Containers to use for Brewing Sun Tea
Glass is a better choice than plastic when it comes to making sun tea since the sun’s heat could cause the material to affect the taste of the tea and even let some chemicals in the tea. If you’re using plastic, make sure that the container has been made BPA-free.
How can you make sun tea without the sun?
If the risks of sun tea cause you to be nervous, then you can make a cold brew of it in the fridge to get the same result as the sun tea recipe:
- In an enormous glass jar or pitcher, add water in cups to make the quantity you’ll need. (Keep track of how many cups of water you’ve added.)
- For every cup of water, you should add tea bags.
- Put the container in the fridge for about 3-5 hours. The longer you keep it, the more strong the tea will get.
- Add fruit, sugar mint, lemons, mint, or whatever you prefer to your tea prior to serving.
- Refrigerate when not in use.