06 June 2009

sun tea

i've been making sun teas each weekend, putting them in the fridge and drinking them as iced tea during the week. it is the easiest thing to do and has been fitting perfectly with my weekend activity of gardening. i just put a pitcher of water and some tea bags on our fence ledge--next to the potted oregano, sage and mint--and then i work in the garden, watching the tea slowly brew and turn the water into a burnt orange color.
since this is an overcast saturday in seattle, i will post about sun teas instead of making one. for me, the fun in making them is creating different types of flavor combinations. i just look at whatever teas i have in my house and think of yummy concoctions!

here's what i've done that you might like:

combo #1
2 bags lemon black tea
2 bags ginger tea
5 sprigs of mint (from the plant on the fence ledge)

combo #2
2 bags good earth spiced black tea
1 bag cranberry flavored black or herbal tea

combo #3
3 bags moroccon mint tea
1 lemon round
5 sprigs mint
optional: ceylon tea or lemon black tea

-fill a clear glass pitcher of water
-add tea and herbs
-let sit out in sun for about 6 hours, depending on sun intensity.
-refrigerate pitcher and drink tea cold

**green tea:
i'm not a big green iced tea fan, but making a sun tea with green tea and drinking it warm sounds amazing.

**sweetened tea:
i haven't been adding sugar because the teas have been tasting flavorful enough without, but if i were to sweeten them, i'd use agave because the flavor blends well and it disolves easily.
or, the icing on the cake would be to get a stevia plant. my mom has one and it is sweet just chewing on it! i would love to add a few stevia leaves to a batch for natural sweetness. maybe i'll sneak into my mom's backyard....

any tea concotions that you really like?

6 comments:

  1. I love the sound of combo #3! so nice and summery. It hasn't gotten hot enough for making sun tea here in tokyo, but I'd definately try it later, thanks!

    Oh and i love that cat!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've never even thought of putting herbs in sun tea - brilliant! I'm hoping for enough sun to make one of these in the upcoming week (it's supposed to be nice, right?).

    ReplyDelete
  3. i hope it warms up both in tokyo and seattle!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Those sound good, but I was looking for a recipe for stevia mint green sun tea. Too specific, I guess. I suppose I'll just have to experiment on my own!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Hi Allison,
    For stevia mint green sun tea. I would put in two bags of mint tea and two bags of your favorite green tea into a quart (or big pitcher) water. If you have stevia leaves or ground stevia, add them with the tea bags to sit in the sun. the ground stevia will need stirring every now and again. Hope it works out for you!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Super blog! Am definitely going to be keeping up with you!

    ReplyDelete

thanks for your comment! i appreciate hearing from you.