Iced tea

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

I think iced tea might be the greatest non-alcoholic drink on earth. I pretty much always have one of those 52-oz. QT cups filled with iced tea with me wherever I go. I know some people think it's bland, but I've just always loved iced tea since I was a little kid. Unsweetened, of course. I can take or leave the lemon slice.

It's just the perfect drink, really. Sweetened and/or carbonated drinks can be enjoyable in small doses, but they're not particularly quenching. Coffee is OK in the morning, but again, not a real thirst-quencher, and I start to feel cracked-out after much more than two cups. Water just gets boring after a while. Tea, on the other hand, has zero calories, quenches your thirst, and provides enough caffeine to keep you going throughout the day without making you feel like a twitchy basehead by 10:30 am. I brew it myself and go through a gallon of iced tea every 2-3 days.

I've always enjoyed the fruit-flavored unsweetened iced tea that you can sometimes find in restaurants, but it's next-to-impossible to find something like that to brew at home. I did a little experimenting and mixing & matching and finally came up with a "recipe" that I like. Others have also complimented me on my tea, so I figured I'd share it with you guys. Let me know what you think:

Ingredients:
1 gallon of water (Depending on where you live, it's probably worth it to spring for RO or purified water. Colorado tap water is excellent, but I've dumped a full gallon of tea down the drain that I tried to make with Arizona tap water)
1 gallon-size or 3 family-size teabags of black tea (I found the gallon-size bags at Sam's Club. I buy Lipton, but Nestea and Tetley are both good too)
1 individual-size teabag of Celestial Seasonings Wild Berry Zinger herbal tea (you can substitute Raspberry Zinger if you prefer)

Bring water to a boil in a large covered pot. Remove lid. Add tea bags. Use a spoon to dunk them a few times. Replace lid loosely on pot and allow to steep. Remove teabags and pour into a pitcher. Pour over ice and enjoy.

I usually let it steep for a few hours, until it cools down to close to room temperature. Putting the lid on loosely, leaving just a small crack for steam to escape, helps avoid losing a lot of your brew to steam while allowing it to cool much faster than if the pot was completely covered. You could always make sun tea if you prefer, but I'm just impatient. I'm surprised at how much "zing" you can get out of just one bag of the Celestial Seasonings tea. When I first tried this recipe, I used three bags and it was super-tart. Even two is pretty tart, but one seems to provide the perfect subtle fruitiness.

[smackaholic]

Big fan of sun tea here. And sorry, but lemon slices, the more the better are mandatory. Sugar is optional. In the winter, I switch it over to hot tea with honey. It does not cure colds, but, it makes them a little more tolerable.

[Screw_Michigan]

Mike, do you notice a caffeine buzz when you drink your homemade iced tea?

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

Mike, do you notice a caffeine buzz when you drink your homemade iced tea?

Nothing noticeable. Like I said, 2+ cups of coffee will get me pretty jittery, but I don't notice anything from the iced tea. I'm guessing if I just dropped it cold turkey, I might be kinda cranky, but no buzz to speak of. I think my ever-present big-ass cup works more like a steady IV drip...

[jiminphilly]

Once in a while when I'm out to eat I treat myself to an Arnold Palmer.

But otherwise, rack unsweetened iced tea.

[War Wagon]

I pretty much always have one of those 52-oz. QT cups filled with iced tea with me wherever I go.

QT as in Quik Trip? Didn't realize they had them outside of the midwest. I freaking love QT and will drive out of my way to get there... where I will also fill my 52 oz. QT jug with crushed ice and unsweetened freshly brewed Lipton tea.

Used to brew my tea at home but have gotten lazy and just buy gallon jugs of Red Diamond at the grocery store. 2 per week.

I've found that many people who drink both coffee and tea will put sugar in one but not the other. I load my coffee with cream and sugar but like my tea straight up. And I know people who do the opposite.

I very seldom drink carbonated beverages unless it's a Jack and Coke.

[mvscal]

Big fan of sun tea here. And sorry, but lemon slices, the more the better are mandatory. Sugar is optional. In the winter, I switch it over to hot tea with honey. It does not cure colds, but, it makes them a little more tolerable.

Try adding a bag or two of Earl Grey tea into the mix. Oil of bergamot gives it a nice citrusy kick.

[Mikey]

Big fan of sun tea here. And sorry, but lemon slices, the more the better are mandatory. Sugar is optional. In the winter, I switch it over to hot tea with honey. It does not cure colds, but, it makes them a little more tolerable.

Try adding a bag or two of Earl Grey tea into the mix. Oil of bergamot gives it a nice citrusy kick.

I've been known to use a bag or two of Constant Comment.

I'm not supposed to drink Earl Grey, believe it or not, because bergamot along with grapefruit has a potentially dangerous reaction with the enzymes that break down Lipitor.

[Goober McTuber]

Mr. Coffee, Hamilton Beach and others produce iced tea makers. If you drink a lot of iced tea, they're kind of handy and relatively cheap. My parents bought me one when they were visiting many summers ago. Pour in the water, put tea bags in the basket, fill pitcher with ice to the designated level, and five minutes later you have a pitcher of iced tea.

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

I pretty much always have one of those 52-oz. QT cups filled with iced tea with me wherever I go.

QT as in Quik Trip? Didn't realize they had them outside of the midwest. I freaking love QT and will drive out of my way to get there... where I will also fill my 52 oz. QT jug with crushed ice and unsweetened freshly brewed Lipton tea.

Yep. QuikTrip is the shit. Pretty much the only convenience store I've found that actually brews their iced tea. That bag-in-the-box fountain iced tea is just fucking nasty.

Plus, I love how every QT has the exact same layout. I guarantee if I went into a QT in Missouri for the first time, I'd know exactly where to find everything. If I was the investing type, I'd buy stock in that company. I can't tell you how many times I've gone to a Circle K and I'm the only person in the store. Whenever I go to QT, there's always a line at the counter.

[War Wagon]

Yep, and you know that when you go into a QT it's going to be clean, well stocked, and reasonable priced, at least for the items you go to a convenience store for. Not only would I buy stock in that company, I'd consider getting a part time job there if I ever needed one.

oh, and their coffee is as good or better than you'll get anywhere and always fresh.

[MiketheangrydrunkenCUfan]

Since this thread got bumped, it's probably worth noting (for Wags' sake) that QT now carries fresh-brewed black mango iced tea, both sweetened and unsweetened. The unsweetened is fucking dope...

[trev]

No fruit sweetened tea is ok for me. Tastes like unsweetened koolaid. These days besides green and black tea, I'm liking English tea. All iced of course.

[Goober McTuber]

Oh, come on Trev. Everyone knows that your first choice would be Long Island Iced Tea. By the pitcher.

[War Wagon]

Since this thread got bumped, it's probably worth noting (for Wags' sake) that QT now carries fresh-brewed black mango iced tea, both sweetened and unsweetened. The unsweetened is fucking dope...

yeah, I've seen that and have thought about trying it but haven't had the gumption yet. I'm pretty set in my ways but based on your recommendation, next time I'm going all in.