Anyone have a good iced tea🍹 recipe?

Big pot

Fill with water

Put on stove

Boil

Put 5 or 6 tea bags in it and let it sit

Let it cool

Pout it into pitcher - diluting it with more water.

Cheap and easy drink.

Brew a pot of really great tea. Cool to room temperature, then chill.

R1 Measurements, dear - especially with how much water you add to dilute. Regular tea bags or the big ones specifically for iced tea? And do you have a preferred brand of tea? Also, do you add any sugar or no?

Since I was warned by an ER doc that sun tea is associated with salmonella and other nasties, I've been cold brewing overnight in the fridge. Just add an extra teabag or two and stir once or twice. The result is mellow, well chilled and delicious.

They have giant tea bags for making iced tea. I have a gallon sized pitcher I fill with water, then I dump the water into a pot, and add sugar. Bring it to a boil. After it starts boiling, I turn the gas off, add 2 of the giant tea bags, and a few sprigs of mint. Cool to room temperature, then chill.

R5 How much sugar? I tend to either add too much or too little. And do you use Lipton?

I add about a half a cup of sugar. Its not too sweet. You can always taste it when it becomes cooled enough to drink, and add more sugar if you want while its still warm. I think the mint adds enough to where I dont need it too sweet.

I use Luzianna Iced Tea bags

Place four cold brew Lipton tea bags in a two-quart pitcher filled with good water. Put pitcher in fridge for several hours. Result is perfect iced tea. I don’t use sweetener, only lemon. I think it’s more refreshing that way.

Making iced tea seems extremely laborious to me. Gold peak sweet tea is really good

Try PG Tips brand tea bags, OP. Really nice flavor.

Make some simple syrup, i.e., dissolve some granulated white sugar in hot water (stovetop). The volume ration of water to sugar is 1:1. Just add as much simple syrup into your iced tea as tastes good to you.

If you really want to be fancy, you can garnish with fresh mint.

R10 I said I think the store bought ones are gross. Gold Peak and Arizona included.🤢

The brand of tea bags makes the difference. Lipton’s is trash-you May as well drink piss. I agree with r11-PG tips brand makes good iced tea. Yorkshire Gold makes the best hot tea in my opinion, but it’s not great iced.

2 litres of water--8 cups-- takes about 8 teabags, OP. Just start out with like 3-4 cups of boiling water then pour over the bags then let steep for FOUR MINUTES NO MORE NO LESS. Then you press the teabags with spoon while removing them to get all the tea out. Then add the remaining water to a jug, pour the tea-infused water into that--so you don't shatter the jug--then sweeten.

If you are doing chamomile or some other herbal tea let it steep until it's cool--at least 10 min.

It's better to boil sugar with an equal amount of water until dissolved to create a syrup rather than add sugar directly to it.

Add the syrup to taste. For a 2 litres--8 cups--you're going to need at least 3/4 c. syrup or else it's gonna be weak.

If you're a total doormat pussy you can add honey instead of sugar.

If you do sweeten it you then MUST add lemon or lime or citric acid or something acidic or it will taste like shit.

R14 Do you prefer a specific brand of tea?

Buy fresh LOOSE tea. Use a tea ball. Look up on the internet the temperature of water to use. Boiling water is too strong for many teas. It's good for Assam however. Also pay attention to how long you steep the leaves. Also check to see if the tea needs a 30 second flush before steeping.

That's it, really. Get creative with different kinds of sweeteners.

If you have a Brazilian grocery in your town, buy a box of Mate Leao teabags. Terrific green tea. Brew eight teabags in a pot of boiled water overnight, then chill. Add sugar to taste. Absolutely delicious.

You can leave it on the counter and not boil nor put it in the fridge.

I’m a southern boy and I drink Lipton instant iced tea. My grandmothers would disinherit me if they weren’t already dead.

Green tea sitting in water overnight sounds like a bitter brew.

Be careful not to oversteep black teas. They contain tannins which can cause nausea and possibly throwing up a bit. It's not so much an issue with hot teas since we sip those. But we drink iced tea much faster. I learned the hard way.

The bottled iced teas always taste tangier because the contain citric acid. I put a pinch or so in mine.

Those bottle iced teas taste so fake even when they claim to be pure.

The Leaf teas on the square bottles are the best of the lot.

This is the only way to make iced tea.

Ingredients

2 cups ice cubes, plus more for serving

2 ounces vodka

2 ounces gin

2 ounces white rum

2 ounces blanco tequila

2 ounces triple sec

2 ounces maple syrup

2 ounces fresh lemon juice (from 1 large lemon)

1 ½ ounces fresh lime juice (from 1 lime)

¼ teaspoon kosher salt (Diamond Crystal), plus more to taste

8 ounces Coca-Cola

Lemon and lime slices, for garnish

Preparation

1) In a large pitcher, combine the ice, vodka, gin, rum, tequila, triple sec, maple syrup, lemon juice and lime juice. Add the salt, which accentuates all of the flavors. Stir with a wooden spoon until the pitcher feels cold to the touch and the ice has dissolved slightly, about 30 seconds. Top with the Coca-Cola.

2) To serve, pour the cocktail into individual glasses filled with fresh ice, and garnish with lemon and lime slices. Sprinkle with more salt, if you’d like.

Only Southerners drink this shit.

Tea is supposed to be enjoyed hot!

[quote] Measurements, dear - especially with how much water you add to dilute. Regular tea bags or the big ones specifically for iced tea? And do you have a preferred brand of tea? Also, do you add any sugar or no?

R1, O.My.God. Are you a guy?

I use about a 3 qt pot. It holds maybe 10-12 cups of water. But that's at the rim. I don't fill it that high and some gets boiled off.

I use cheap tea bags cause I use sweetener and lemon so who cares. The box lasts forever and I have been very frugal during this pandemic. I just checked my cabinet - I've been using Tetley Classic Black Tea. It's perfectly fine. I only add my sweetener & lemon as I make each glass. I add nothing to the pitcher so I can serve it to others as they like. My sweetener is Sweet n Low - it is not absorbed by the body hence no calories. And it is a zillion X sweeter than sugar.

I put in 5 or 6 regular size tea bags once it boils (turn off after it boils) and let it steep for a while - I've even left it overnight when I forget it. The tea is nice and strong so I can dilute it some when I pour it into the pitcher - I cannot believe I just did this but I went and got my tape measure - the glass pitcher I use is a wide 8.5-9 inches tall. Plus I can also fill an additional 3 cups or so in a high 4 cup measuring glass. So that much tea can last almost a week depending on how much I drink.

You can eyeball how strong the tea is by just seeing how dark it is. Too light and It's too weak. It should be darkish. Adjust for your own preference. Use more tea bags if you want it stronger. Squeeze the tea bags in the diluted part and both containers should be strong enough. I don't like weak tea so if that happens with the additional container then I might mix some tea from the pitcher in the glass.

So good and refreshing.

Thanks for the tips about the black tea and tannin. I usually just let it sit for a few hours sometimes less. But I always slowly sip my iced tea. I like to savor it.

R25, are you an alky?

Why do you ask (hic), r28?

[quote]Only Southerners drink this shit.

Bullshit. Don’t confuse iced tea with sweet tea.

Just follow the brewing directions on the box of China Mist Passion Fruit Black Iced Tea.

There are four large bags in one box. Each bag makes a half-gallon.

Best iced tea I've ever drank.

You mean, "Best iced tea I've ever done drank."

6-7 Constant Comment teabags

5-6 C water

Set in fridge for 10-12 hrs.

garnish with an orange slice

This produces a very clear tea, not too strong, with no bitterness.

does not need sugar, but sweeten if you must

pour over as much ice as you like (good without too)

I have a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea maker. Put the water in, put ice cubes in pitcher, put the tea and sugar in the basket, turn it on, 10 minutes later Iced Tea. My favorite tea is the one below. I use both loose tea and tea bags

40 years ago southerners were the only ones drinking iced tea, sweet or not.

I use loose leaf Assam and add about 20% loose mint leaves. Currently I am using spearmint, but will also use peppermint sometimes.

I do prefer iced tea mixed with lemonade. The mint works well with that as well.

I have learned to do just about everything wrong.

I only drink the tea endorsed by Burl Ives!

My grandma use to make Southern sweet tea ......however it would probably make your A1C hit the roof.

R34 I like that brand as well, after receiving it as a gift. It's a bit heavier on the spice than the Constent Comment. BTW, I find this hilarious that a "Mr. Coffee" tea machine exists!

Only trash drink cold tea

Drink your Russian Tea I gave you for Christmas!

[quote]40 years ago southerners were the only ones drinking iced tea, sweet or not.

We were drinking it in North Jersey 60-70 years ago.

Scottish people are not allowed to have iced tea.

I've been cold brewing hibiscus flower tea. Very easy and delicious.

Iced hibiscus tea is great.

Any fans of iced green tea?

[quote] Making iced tea seems extremely laborious to me. Gold peak sweet tea is really good

Lazy bastard, too fuckin lazy to boil water. What else do you find to be “extremely laborious?” Getting up to use the toilet?

You can just sit it on the counter for an hour.

Similarly - does anyone have a good recipe for ice? Mine just lacks flavor and gets watered down.

Is OP the same Dorothy Parker level wit who created the scintillating DL thread about how to fry a hamburger?

There are a couple (one?) food thread trolls.

[quote] Only trash drink cold tea

Where did this crazy ass meme come from? Some British aristo freezing their buns off in a cold damp castle?

What do DLers think of iced coffee? I remember being given cold coffee in a can when I was in Cambodia so weather is a lot to do with it.

I take a brutalist approach— twelve cups boiling water over 12 bags of Barry’s Gold, let it sit on the counter for an hour, fish out the bags, and pop the pitcher into the fridge. I drink it unsweetened.

R52 it’s true. Most of the world laughs at the idea of cold tea.

[quote] Similarly - does anyone have a good recipe for ice? Mine just lacks flavor and gets watered down.

Actually, you could make your ice cubes out of iced tea (so that your iced tea never becomes over-diluted).

[quote] What do DLers think of iced coffee? I remember being given cold coffee in a can when I was in Cambodia so weather is a lot to do with it.

I love iced coffee but don't make it at home. I tend to drink iced coffee a lot quicker than I do hot coffee. Maybe it's the straw.

okay now I have to go make some ice tea.

While I love iced tea and love hot coffee, I loathe iced coffee. Go figure.

I will sleep better tonight, knowing this r58.

R15: Any brand will do. If you are using loose leaf then just use 8 rounded teaspoons and strain through mesh, cheesecloth or paper towel set in a strainer after it's steeped for four minutes.

General consensus on the thread seems to be 1 tea bag per cup of water.

okay my iced tea is ready. so good.

I use a green tea bag. I let it steep a while (green tea can steep a long time). I put a teaspoon of honey into the hot tea and mix it. Then I put a little peach syrup in the hot tea — it’s made by Torani and is easily gotten on Amazon). Then I pour this over a lot of ice in a tall glass.

I like the triad of the green tea and the two sweetnesses, but the important thing is to go light on them because you don’t want it too sweet.

You should add a squeeze of lime juice to that, R63.

Scratch that. Really small amount of grapefruit juice.

[quote]Regular tea bags or the big ones specifically for iced tea?

99% of the responses are for regular tea bags

I have a 64 oz mason jar. I use three teabags, usually Barry’s decaf, or two Barry’s decaf and one Earl Grey or another flavored tea — hibiscus, ginger, peach, etc. Boil a kettle of water, pour into mason jar, let cool on the stove and chill in the fridge. Occasionally I will add honey and/or lemon but generally prefer without. I do this just about every day.

First you need to find a TRUE Southerner. Not someone who moved their, but someone raised there for at least two/three generations.

Yankee trash don't know nuthin' bout making no iced tea.

OP - Lipton cold brew tea bags make iced tea that tastes exactly like the kind you get in restaurants. I don't know what kind of gold-plated taste buds you have but there is no tea that magically makes iced tea that tastes any different from that.

I think Red Rose tea bags are good tea, reminiscent of the old A&P variety. A&P sadly went bankrupt a couple of decades ago, it was originally a tea company. Other than that, PG Tips are good (loose tea, I don't think they make bags). Lipton is perfunctory, dependable, but it's not very interesting. Lusianne is a little different, interesting, but I wouldn't want to have to use it regularly. Tetley tastes industrial to me and I would avoid it. There is a commercial brand, sold only to restaurants, I think, called "Royal Cup" and it is surprisingly good, if you can get someone to sell you a box of teabags. The old Constant Comment that Granny had, loose tea, was interesting stuff, with pieces of dried orange peel and bergamot in it. I bought some tea bags a while back (the bags seem to be all you can get now), for the nostalgia kick, and I could tell that the flavors are being "phoned in" by some kind of chemicals, or maybe they are just using clove powder because it's cheap; I thought the stuff was disgusting, basically. It's made by Bigelow, and I can vouch for the fact that Bigelow's "green tea" (in tea bags) is really nothing more than lawn grass clippings, dried and put in gauze tea bags. Again, it's disgusting stuff.

Here's a useful tip about making iced tea: I use a stainless steel, 2-quart, pot. Fill it up, bring the water to a boil, take it off the heat as soon as it reaches temperature, then put in 5 regular-sized teabags. Steep it for about 3-5 minutes and remove the teabags, so the stuff doesn't get bitter. After a few minutes, I fill up my kitchen sink with tap water and immerse the saucepan into the cool water, to a depth that the pot will almost float but not tip over. It will cool your tea perfectly in about 10 minutes. If you think 5 bags makes it too strong, add a little fresh water, but I dislike watery tea. I keep it in the fridge once it's cool, it's OK in there for a couple of days, but the unrefrigerated stuff tastes better.

If you cool your hot tea with ice it is going to damage the flavor. It's mysterious, but it wrecks it, for me.

The stuff used to be called "orange pekoe" tea, and a dollop of orange juice suits a glass of iced tea really well, the flavors go together, even better than lemon in tea. Just a tablespoon or so.

For green tea, don't ever put boiling water on it. Water needs to be significantly below the boiling point for green. If the water is too hot, the tea is acidic enough to really irritate your stomach and the tea will be very bitter.

[quote] Other than that, PG Tips are good (loose tea, I don't think they make bags).

PG Tips does make tea bags, r69. They’re weird pyramid shapes.

^Thanks, I'm interested. Messing with the tea dregs is kind of a pain in the ass.

I fill my two quart pitcher with water and pour into a pot and boil. I use 10 tea bags of Lipton Tea since I like it a little strong. Remove tea bags from pitcher after five minutes and place in refrigerator.

If you're looking for a basic iced black tea recipe, Cook's Illustrated has a really good technique. Tastes better than cold brewing and is fairly fast

Serves 4 1 ½ tablespoons loose-leaf black tea 3 cups boiling water 1 cup ice water Lemon wedges

1. Place tea in medium bowl. Add boiling water and steep for 4 minutes. Add ice water and steep for 1 hour. Strain through fine-mesh strainer into pitcher (or strain into second bowl and transfer to pitcher). Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days.

2 To serve, pour into ice-filled glasses and garnish each serving with lemon wedge.

[quote]The stuff used to be called "orange pekoe" tea,

Orange pekoe refers to the grade/quality of tea leaf.

For the love of god, do none of you live in a town or city with a decent tea seller? And you can but it online as well.

And the person who thinks green tea can steep for a long time is likely buying garbage green tea.

Try Verdant tea online.

R64 sometimes I use a bit of lime juice instead of the peach syrup, but I think it’d be an alternative rather than an addition.

Don't you find it cloying without an acidic component? Or does the syrup have that built in?

I am R64

Those store-bought ones give me the shits. Not sure why.

The syrup sort of does, r78, but that’s why I just use a little honey plus a little syrup, so it’s not too sweet.

It’s like the now defunct Starbucks peach green iced tea, which I loved.

[quote] I’m a southern boy and I drink Lipton instant iced tea. My grandmothers would disinherit me if they weren’t already dead.

What did they die of?

Unsweetened iced tea is disgusting. It doesn't taste of tea, it tastes more like putting your tongue on the points of a battery, layered with the taste of dust and mold.

The bottled versions are even worse.

Green tea, hibiscus tea, Early Grey, decaf, orange-cinnamon...what shit is this?

Do sweeten it with a syrup made of boiled water and sugar. Strong tea. Sweet syrup. And, not only it's cool, some lemon and ice.

As for brand of tea, iced tea is fairly forgiving so long as it's a basic type that comes in a box with 120 bags for cheap.

Pleasant thread until r83 left her fecal odor in the room

[quote] For the love of god, do none of you live in a town or city with a decent tea seller?

A TEA SELLER?

For the love of god, do I have to go to a special shop for every fucking item on my grocery list.

Luzianne brand is good, I put two large bags in six to seven cups of boiling water, let it steep a few minutes, then pour it into a carafe and let it cool at room temperature until dinner. Fridge the rest of it and it's good the next day.

I don't understand the obsession with sweet tea. It's gotten so bad that I can hardly get a regular glass of iced tea at a restaurant, I get some gross sweet tea instead and people look at me funny when I say I wanted unsweetened. We don't need to put sugar in everything.

[quote]For the love of god, do none of you live in a town or city with a decent tea seller?

The next village over does. We have an armourer, wheelwright, cobbler and apothecary.

Now, can anyone share a recipe for ice, and recommend they type of water to use and where to procure it?

Re the ice, yes: it is MUCH better, when it's coming from an automatic ice maker, if you rinse it off with fresh water before you use it. I helps to wash away the "freezer burn" taste that it picks up in the freezer. Also, don't let it sit around in there for more than a few days before using it. There, happy?

If we had a thread on ice it would turn into a bloodbath between the automatic ice maker stans and the plastic ice cube tray devotees.

R40, My parents had this Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker. It was really poorly designed. The water wouldn't go into the pitcher, but instead would run down the side of the unit and all over the counter, something to do with surface tension I guess.

Honestly, cold brewing overnight in your fridge is so much simpler and cheaper. I just use 4 large Luzianne tea bags per pitcher. I don't add sugar, that was one of the main reasons I switched to Iced Tea over soda to begin with.

Celestial Seasonings Red Zinger cold brews nicely too, you won't even miss the sugar - it has a naturally fruity taste to it to begin with. Also no caffeine if you're trying to avoid that.

^I LOVE fruity things, personally.

Yankee trash like iced tea, not tea syrup.

By the glass…

2 Bigalow Oolong or tea bag of your choice in 8 Oz of boiling water for 3 min. Pour over tall glass of ice. Add lemon or sweetener of choice.

I use Bigalow organic green tea for health benefits

*** UPDATE ***

Because of this thread, I bought a box of Lipton cold brew tea bags. As far as the amount of water, I'm using less water than instructed. I like a concentrated tea.

Anyway, pretty good. Easy, inexpensive.

Yuk cold brew bags suck.

Why do they suck? I have contemplated them before….R97