Did someone say Indian Summer?
Okay, so maybe its not Indian Summer, it's just a late hitting, below the belt sort of heat wave. While friends in the midwest are donning gloves today, we're hiding out in shady corners under fans & air conditioning units in 105° heat.
As my friend from Chile says, "what is it you American's say about lemons? Yeah, make something better out of it." So, I vote for heatwave sun tea. Nothing is quite more refreshing in the oppressive heat than a glass of cool tea.
And nothing is quite more oppressive on hot days than heat coming from the kitchen. Sun tea is actually just another way of saying "Cold Extraction." A long, low or no heat extraction of tea which will render a delicious tea with no tannins, full flavor & no heat.
People are a bit creeped out these days to do a true sun tea, and as they should be, the perfect temperature for growing bacteria is in that 75°-140° range, so yeah, optimal conditions for brewing creepers in your tea. This is why it is so important to use only highly clean, filtered, preferably reverse osmosis, water. Spring water, no. Tap water, oh, heck, no. Also, be sure your container is clean, plastic is not good for this, use only clear, clean glass.
Also, nice to know: you don't actually need the sunshine to make a good sun tea. Although there is this summer romance associated with it. You set up your tea on the back porch, go run around all day & come home to a lovely caramel colored dream. It's like magic.
With a clean container, good tea, clean-as-saint-theresa-water, and about 8-10 hours, you'll have a great batch of tea for drinking on ice & no heat to speak of. I actually like doing cold extractions even when its not hot out just for the simple fact that you can get rich flavor with no tannins. So, sun or no, you can have your tea & drink it to. Put it together before bed & wake to it in the morning. Its okay, no one will judge your nightshade tea.
As with all tea brewing, you need to be sure your proportions are good. For sun teas, I typically do a mix of either black or green tea with herbs, like mint or lavender, or both. I love to do black tea with cinnamon & roses, Japanese sencha with mint & tarragon, the tea in the picture is Chinese green w/lavender, mint & dried stevia leaf. I work in proportions, so this recipe below will really only be useful to you if you're using looseleaf.
Either way, brew your tea & pop it in the fridge immediately when its done. Try to drink it within 24-48 hours of brewing. If you see a little ribbon forming, that's a nasty little strand of bacteria forming, pitch it out. While it most likely won't make you sick, unless you have immune problems, it will most certainly will not make for a pleasant arena in your belly.
cold extracted iced tea or sun tea
per quart of clean water:
1/4-1/2 cup of tea & aromatics
(per gallon of water, there should be about a cup or so of tea, depending on strength of tea)
suggestions:
green tea w/mint & lemongrass
earl grey w/lavender
green tea w/mint, lavender & sage
herbal blend of mint, lavender, roses, sage & lemongrass
dream a little dream & make it into tea!
how to make it:
-clean a large glass or ceramic container using boiling water or a sanitizing solution & rinse well
-add your tea to a reusable cloth tea extracting bag or large paper one, you can also use those funnel shaped coffee filters & secure the top
-add cold, clean water to your container, drop in tea & cover securely
-steep 4-6 hours in sunlight, or up to 8. steep 8-10 hours indoors at room temperature
-remove tea bag, squeeze liquid from bag into tea container, discard bag. sweeten to taste, or don't, refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
-serve over ice with a plate of cookies & i'll be right over.
As my friend from Chile says, "what is it you American's say about lemons? Yeah, make something better out of it." So, I vote for heatwave sun tea. Nothing is quite more refreshing in the oppressive heat than a glass of cool tea.
And nothing is quite more oppressive on hot days than heat coming from the kitchen. Sun tea is actually just another way of saying "Cold Extraction." A long, low or no heat extraction of tea which will render a delicious tea with no tannins, full flavor & no heat.
People are a bit creeped out these days to do a true sun tea, and as they should be, the perfect temperature for growing bacteria is in that 75°-140° range, so yeah, optimal conditions for brewing creepers in your tea. This is why it is so important to use only highly clean, filtered, preferably reverse osmosis, water. Spring water, no. Tap water, oh, heck, no. Also, be sure your container is clean, plastic is not good for this, use only clear, clean glass.
Also, nice to know: you don't actually need the sunshine to make a good sun tea. Although there is this summer romance associated with it. You set up your tea on the back porch, go run around all day & come home to a lovely caramel colored dream. It's like magic.
With a clean container, good tea, clean-as-saint-theresa-water, and about 8-10 hours, you'll have a great batch of tea for drinking on ice & no heat to speak of. I actually like doing cold extractions even when its not hot out just for the simple fact that you can get rich flavor with no tannins. So, sun or no, you can have your tea & drink it to. Put it together before bed & wake to it in the morning. Its okay, no one will judge your nightshade tea.
As with all tea brewing, you need to be sure your proportions are good. For sun teas, I typically do a mix of either black or green tea with herbs, like mint or lavender, or both. I love to do black tea with cinnamon & roses, Japanese sencha with mint & tarragon, the tea in the picture is Chinese green w/lavender, mint & dried stevia leaf. I work in proportions, so this recipe below will really only be useful to you if you're using looseleaf.
Either way, brew your tea & pop it in the fridge immediately when its done. Try to drink it within 24-48 hours of brewing. If you see a little ribbon forming, that's a nasty little strand of bacteria forming, pitch it out. While it most likely won't make you sick, unless you have immune problems, it will most certainly will not make for a pleasant arena in your belly.
cold extracted iced tea or sun tea
per quart of clean water:
1/4-1/2 cup of tea & aromatics
(per gallon of water, there should be about a cup or so of tea, depending on strength of tea)
suggestions:
green tea w/mint & lemongrass
earl grey w/lavender
green tea w/mint, lavender & sage
herbal blend of mint, lavender, roses, sage & lemongrass
dream a little dream & make it into tea!
how to make it:
-clean a large glass or ceramic container using boiling water or a sanitizing solution & rinse well
-add your tea to a reusable cloth tea extracting bag or large paper one, you can also use those funnel shaped coffee filters & secure the top
-add cold, clean water to your container, drop in tea & cover securely
-steep 4-6 hours in sunlight, or up to 8. steep 8-10 hours indoors at room temperature
-remove tea bag, squeeze liquid from bag into tea container, discard bag. sweeten to taste, or don't, refrigerate for up to 48 hours.
-serve over ice with a plate of cookies & i'll be right over.
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