Iced Tea?

[Haphazard]

What's the best method to make a pitcher of iced tea? Brewing it cold or brewing it hot and cooling it down? What are the best things to add to it, too? Anything else I should know?

Thanks for your help.

 

[Blank]

Neither.

1. Go to the store, and buy a gallon of Arizona Iced Tea Sunbrewed style with Lemon.
2. Return home, put ice into a pitcher
3. Pour Arizona into the pitcher.
4. Pour yourself a nice glass of Arizona Iced Tea and enjoy yourself.

 

[BlackCat]

Just get some tea bags, you get 24 in a box usually. There are instructions on the box. I boil my tea over the day (I make like 5 bags worth a day) and I am always adding to my pitcher.

 

[laughingebony]

What's the best method to make a pitcher of iced tea? Brewing it cold or brewing it hot and cooling it down? What are the best things to add to it, too? Anything else I should know?

Thanks for your help.

If you brew it hot using the method on the box, you'll have to refrigerate it afterward. Otherwise, the ice in your glass will melt quickly and your tea will be relatively dilute. I have never tried brewing it cold. I can't imagine it would work very well, unless you use the tea bags which are specifically made for cold brewing, but those are made with really low-grade tea (not that regular tea bags aren't made with relatively low-grade tea, but cold-brew bags are, especially). I brew my tea double strength, then dilute it with an equal amount of ice/water.

For example, if I need 64 oz. of tea, I brew 32 oz, but with the same number of tea bags as would normally be used if brewing 64 oz. Then, I pour it in the pitcher and put ice in it a little bit at a time, while stirring, until it reaches the 64 oz. mark (actually, not quite to the 64 oz. mark, since I like mine a bit strong). This method produces tea that is cold immediately and is of the proper strength. One downside is that the tea does not look particularly clear when poured, but that has no effect on the taste. Another is that the ice, which may have been sitting in the freezer for a while, may have absorbed some of the odor from the air in the freezer, but that's usually not a problem if you have baking soda in your freezer. Not to mention, you're going to put ice in your cup, anyway.

I usually drink mine unsweetened. You'll have to experiment with different amounts of sugar to find your own sweet spot (pun definitely intended). Be sure to add the sugar before you add the ice. Getting sugar to dissolve in cold tea is a real pain. One cup of sugar per 64 oz. will yield very sweet tea.

If you're using tea bags, Luzianne is pretty good. It's less than twenty cents more expensive than the Walmart brand for a 24-pack of the "family size" bags, and tastes much better.

 

[Maya Z]

I love tea! I drink quite a lot of tea.
I brew a big bunch of hot tea in the evening, because I like to have hot tea before I go to bed. Then I refrigerate the rest overnight, so it is cold the next day. The next day I have cold tea (I also add ice the next day) all day long, and it runs out in the evening when I am ready to brew a fresh batch!

I suppose refrigerating it overnight is not fresh enough for some people. It is plenty fresh enough for me! It works.


Oh! If you refrigerate the tea while it is still hot it gets cloudy. It tastes fine, but it looks cloudy.

 

[ceecee]

10 teabags to a gallon container
Boiling water about halfway
Steep
Add cold water to the top
Fridge

I make a gallon a day.

 

[prplchknz]

If you brew it hot using the method on the box, you'll have to refrigerate it afterward. Otherwise, the ice in your glass will melt quickly and your tea will be relatively dilute. I have never tried brewing it cold. I can't imagine it would work very well, unless you use the tea bags which are specifically made for cold brewing, but those are made with really low-grade tea (not that regular tea bags aren't made with relatively low-grade tea, but cold-brew bags are, especially). I brew my tea double strength, then dilute it with an equal amount of ice/water.

For example, if I need 64 oz. of tea, I brew 32 oz, but with the same number of tea bags as would normally be used if brewing 64 oz. Then, I pour it in the pitcher and put ice in it a little bit at a time, while stirring, until it reaches the 64 oz. mark (actually, not quite to the 64 oz. mark, since I like mine a bit strong). This method produces tea that is cold immediately and is of the proper strength. One downside is that the tea does not look particularly clear when poured, but that has no effect on the taste. Another is that the ice, which may have been sitting in the freezer for a while, may have absorbed some of the odor from the air in the freezer, but that's usually not a problem if you have baking soda in your freezer. Not to mention, you're going to put ice in your cup, anyway.

I usually drink mine unsweetened. You'll have to experiment with different amounts of sugar to find your own sweet spot (pun definitely intended). Be sure to add the sugar before you add the ice. Getting sugar to dissolve in cold tea is a real pain. One cup of sugar per 64 oz. will yield very sweet tea.

If you're using tea bags, Luzianne is pretty good. It's less than twenty cents more expensive than the Walmart brand for a 24-pack of the "family size" bags, and tastes much better.

that's why you brew it stronger then you think you want it.

 

[cafe]

My husband is the Iced Tea Master of our house. He uses an Iced Tea maker.

Two cheap tea bags like Tetley, four Ceylon tea bags, one Earl Grey tea bag, and two thirds cup of sugar for three quarts of tea. It is yummy.

 

[Lily Bart]

Straight from Southern Living: pour half a quart of boiling hot water into a one quart pitcher and add four large teabags (Luzianne is good). Let it steep for five minutes, remove the teabags and add cold water to make a full quart. Serve over ice. (If you like it sweet, you'll have to do it yourself, because I can't stand sweet tea!)

 

[sLiPpY]

hmm...I always steep the Tea in the pot, then pour the hot tea into a pitcher and add ice until the pitcher is full.

Which will get the same result.

 

[demimondaine]

ideally, make "sun tea": setting a pitcher of room temperature water and teabags outside in the summer sun to brew all day..

but definitely start hot..

my best friend's mother used to add mint from her garden to her tea, but i don't know how long she waited for it to cool down, though. lemon is good, cardamom and honey.. play around!

 

[teslashock]

I prefer Luzianne tea. I've been making tea for years now, and it's the best brand I've found. It comes in long, yellow rectangular boxes of about 32 tea bags I believe (the tea bags are larger than normal tea bags that you use for a cup of hot tea).

For a gallon of tea:

Boil a medium pot of water (make sure it boils, as this will kill microorganisms in the water and help the tea last longer) and then turn the heat off (boiling can also be done in the microwave in a large glass measuring cup).

Remove the water from the heat and immediately add 4 tea bags (2 for half a gallon) and let this steep in the pot for about 10-15 minutes.

Pour the tea into a pitcher (at this point the tea will be very concentrated and bitter, but you'll dilute it with water later), and add sugar to the desired sweetness. Typical sweet tea has about 1-1.5 cups of sugar per gallon (I usually do something closer to 1 cup, and this is a very optimal amount of sweetness, imo). Make sure you add the sugar while the tea is still hot, otherwise it won't dissolve so well.

Dilute the tea to one gallon by adding ice cubes and/or water. Using ice cubes as a dilutant will help to cool off the hot tea, making it ready to drink sooner. Make sure you dilute AFTER adding the sugar, as the sugar best dissolves when the tea is still hot (before diluting).

Serve on ice and keep refrigerated.