Best tea for iced tea (real tea conversation only please)

[Tap]

Title says it all! 

 

Best tea for iced tea.....and if you would like to add how you make it, that would be a bonus.

[Lori D.]

mmm… Childhood memories of sun tea as ice tea!

 

Take several (3-4) regular (black tea) Lipton tea bags tied together and hang down into the water in a 1 gallon glass jar with a metal lid; set out in the sun for several hours -- 4-6 hours in the summer (8 hours if in a northern or cloudy area) -- bring inside, remove tea bags, place in the refrigerator over night. Next day load up a tall glass with ice cubes, pour the tea over, and drink straight, or add sugar and/or lemon as desired.

 

Good Earth, Sweet and Spicy variety, also makes terrific sun tea / ice tea. Make it as sun tea as above; no need to add any sugar or lemon. They now have a lot of tea flavors that all look like they would make great ice tea. :)

Edited June 10, 2016 by Lori D.

[AmandaVT]

By real tea, do you mean loose? I use teabags, not sure if you're counting that?

 

I use a big mason jar (64 oz)

4 black tea bags (I like PG Tips)

1 twinings orange pekoe

 

Let steep about 5 minutes or so and then cool. Serve over ice. Sometimes, I put a bit of sugar at the bottom of the jar before I pour in the water. But I like my tea unsweetened generally.

[momacacia]

I think McAlisters uses Lipton.

[zoobie]

I like Luzianne family size bags. I order from Amazon usually because we make it by the gallon. I microwave about 3 cups of cold water in a glass measuring cup for 3.5 mins then add 6 bags and a little bit of baking soda (maybe 1/4 tsp or less). The box calls for 1 bag per quart, but I like it strong. Let it steep while I'm making dinner, then pour it over ice cubes and fill pitcher to 1 gallon line. If you want sweet tea, start with 1/4 cup of sugar to 1/2 gallon of tea unless you want the tooth achingly sweet kind. Then it's 1/2 cup per 1/2 gallon. Mix it in the hot water to dissolve.

[Acorn]

I used to love sun tea but then read it's a bacterial soup. I'm hesitant to serve to kids. Do you think it's a real concern?

[zoobie]

By real tea, do you mean loose? I use teabags, not sure if you're counting that?

 

I use a big mason jar (64 oz)

4 black tea bags (I like PG Tips)

1 twinings orange pekoe

 

Let steep about 5 minutes or so and then cool. Serve over ice. Sometimes, I put a bit of sugar at the bottom of the jar before I pour in the water. But I like my tea unsweetened generally.

I assumed she was differentiating between the euphemistic type of teA. ;)

[bolt.]

I use "tea haus" online, and make either their "Celon OP (orange pekoe) decaf" or "Canadian breakfast tea" at 1.5 strength and 1 minute extra steep. Then I pour it over an equal volume of ice and add sweeteners.

 

http://theteahaus.com

 

I also have the habit of adding in my leftover breakfast tea to my iced tea (within reason -- for a few days per jug, before its time for a fresh jug).

 

I'll also make all kinds of fruit/herbal 'teas' to ice. I usually let the kids pick.

Edited June 10, 2016 by bolt.

[Arcadia]

Everyone in my family have different favorites. We go to Teavana to sample their iced tea and can't decide on one.

 

We do like iced fruit tea.. So we make individual servings with honey, whatever flavor of tea bags, warm water to steep, lots of ice cubes to chill.

[The Girls' Mom]

Lipton or Luzianne are my favorites for traditional Southern style iced tea.

[AmandaVT]

I assumed she was differentiating between the euphemistic type of teA. ;)

 

Ha! Didn't even think of that kind!! :-) 

[fraidycat]

I used to love sun tea but then read it's a bacterial soup. I'm hesitant to serve to kids. Do you think it's a real concern?

Personally, no. I don't see it as a concern.

 

What kind of bacteria? We need beneficial bacteria to survive, which we get in part from the foods we consume.

 

But, if you're not comfortable serving it, just make regular tea with hot water then chill. :)

Edited June 11, 2016 by fraidycat

[Tap]

By real tea, do you mean loose? I use teabags, not sure if you're counting that?

 

I use a big mason jar (64 oz)

4 black tea bags (I like PG Tips)

1 twinings orange pekoe

 

Let steep about 5 minutes or so and then cool. Serve over ice. Sometimes, I put a bit of sugar at the bottom of the jar before I pour in the water. But I like my tea unsweetened generally.

Any kind of tea is fine. This board uses tea as a euphamism for sex, and any post about tea (as a food) quickly turns into a thread full of double entendre .  I just want to talk about tea, without a thread full of that.

[Ellie]

Title says it all! 

 

Best tea for iced tea.....and if you would like to add how you make it, that would be a bonus.

 

I use loose Lipton tea. Yes, loose. Who knew Lipton made a loose tea? ;-)

 

So, for a gallon of iced tea, I use three tablespoons of loose tea. The tea goes in the infuser of a pitcher, but that isn't necessary. You can toss it right in the pitcher. A small pitcher, maybe a quart. I pour the boiling--yes, boiling--water right over the tea and let it steep for four minutes. I time it. :-) I take out the infuser with the tea leaves in it, and pour the tea into the big gallon pitcher, through a tea net like this. There are lots of little particles that the net catches. :-) Finally, I add two trays of ice (about 4 cups) to the big pitcher,  and fill the pitcher the rest of the way with water. I like to sweeten mine, so I add Splenda (or other sweetener) at this time, stirring while the water fills up. Lots of steps, but total time is less than 15 minutes, counting the amount of time it takes for the water to boil. And it's ready to drink, no waiting for it to cool down.

 

Of course, I have to fill the ice cube trays and wash (with hot soapy water) the pitcher I steeped the tea in, and toss the used tea leaves and wash the infuser, so clean-up adds a few more minutes, but you might not be as OCD as I, lol.

 

This tea stay fresher than any other iced tea I have made. I used to use cold-brew tea bags, but the loose tea stays fresh longer. It's also less expensive. :-)

[ktgrok]

Lipton or Luzianne are my favorites for traditional Southern style iced tea.

 

Yes. And I use the method from Hillbilly Housewife http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/perfecticedtea.htm

 

I made tea just today. I boiled a small pot of water and then took it off the heat and let 3 family sized tea bags (luzianne decaf) steep  for 9 minutes. While that was steeping I put some ice, some water, and 1/2 a cup of lemon juice in a big pitcher. When the tea was done steeping I added my sweetener (I used Swerve which is sugar free, I used 1/4 cup which is equal to about a 1/2 cup of sugar) to the tea concentrate. Then dumped the tea concentrate into the pitcher, topping off with enough water to make 3 quarts. 

[rebcoola]

We use Red Rose Tea to make sun tea.

[brehon]

I used to love sun tea but then read it's a bacterial soup. I'm hesitant to serve to kids. Do you think it's a real concern?

I remember my mom and grandmother making sun tea every day when I was a child. They would have a batch already to go in the icebox and a batch sitting on the back porch brewing. They could drink iced tea like no one's business.

 

In fact, now that I think on it, my mom used to make a batch of sun tea and a pitcher of Kool-aid everyday. The original style of Kool-aid, none of this sugar free stuff. This is what my brother and I and any friends who came over drank. <brehon gets lost in good memories for a while>

 

Anyway, no one ever became sick because of sun tea in my family. One of the rites of passage while growing up was graduating from Kool-aid to iced tea around, oh, say 10 or so.

[Cinder]

My favorite is this flavored green tea from Republic of Tea. I prefer it unsweetened. Luckily no one else in the family likes iced green tea--all for me!

[brehon]

Gee, Tap, I never answered your question. My family used/uses mainly Lipton for iced tea, sometimes Luzianne.

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 30, 2016 by cathey

[Acorn]

I remember my mom and grandmother making sun tea every day when I was a child. They would have a batch already to go in the icebox and a batch sitting on the back porch brewing. They could drink iced tea like no one's business.

 

 

 

Anyway, no one ever became sick because of sun tea in my family. One of the rites of passage while growing up was graduating from Kool-aid to iced tea around, oh, say 10 or so.

I'm fine with ages 10 and up, once they have more body mass and developed systems. I've made it for decades without considering the food poisoning angle but now I wonder. Whenever, there is a "Should I eat this?" thread, I'm almost always "it's fine" though. Starting would boiling water would be safer but harder for the kids to do. The "fun" of sun tea was making it myself as a child.

[Baseball mom]

I use the Lipton tea bags that make a gallon.  I fill a small pot with water.  Add a tea bag.  Bring to a boil.  Take off heat, toss tea bag, add sugar to hot tea and stir.  Add to gallon pitcher and fill with water. 

 

Also use Luzianne

[Emba]

I like Tetley's tea best, better than Lipton. ETA: I also use Luzianne quite a bit.

Edited June 10, 2016 by emba56

[Emba]

I once wrote a blog post on how I make iced tea:

 

https://meditationsandbread.com/tag/iced-tea/

[Arctic Bunny]

I use loose lady grey tea from Tea Desire (which ties in nicely with the double entendre, lol) and also make it with their herb basket wellness blend, the peach fruit infusion and the berry fruit infusion. I steep it for hours, until it's cool, then add simple syrup to taste.

[frugalmamatx]

If I'm brewing from scratch, I use whatever tea bags I have. The key for me is to MIX black tea & green tea - 2-3 black and 1-2 green. Then make sun tea with it. 

 

That being said 99% of the time I cheat and use the Luzianne ice tea concentrate. $1 each and they make a gallon in seconds that tastes decent. We can go through 2 gallons a day easy around here if dd's friends are here. 

[brehon]

I'm fine with ages 10 and up, once they have more body mass and developed systems. I've made it for decades without considering the food poisoning angle but now I wonder. Whenever, there is a "Should I eat this?" thread, I'm almost always "it's fine" though. Starting would boiling water would be safer but harder for the kids to do. The "fun" of sun tea was making it myself as a child.

Well, the "graduating to iced tea" rite had nothing to do with health concerns in my family and everything to do with "you're now in double digits". I mean, that pitcher of Kool-aid I mentioned had, what, a cup or more of sugar in it and sat out on the counter all day. Of course, this was <ahem> decades ago. I think the bigger question in my mind is should young children drink more than an occasional glass of iced tea regardless of how it's brewed.

 

I brew sun tea, though not on the scale my mom did, and let my younger kids (under 10) drink the occasional glass. My t(w)eens mainly choose water, though they'll drink iced tea at supper. For me, this isn't high on my list of concerns; but, everyone has different thoughts and comfort levels and, like most things, there isn't one right way. :)

[J-rap]

We've had regular Lipton black tea infused with tons and tons of fresh mint leaves.  Ice it, and when you pour it, strain out the mint leaves.  It's very refreshing!

[Ellie]

I like Tetley's tea best, better than Lipton. ETA: I also use Luzianne quite a bit.

 

I can't find loose Tetley. :-(

[Seasider]

Luzianne, but I prefer to use the individual size bags instead of the family size ones. More to unwrap but I think the taste is better. And make it in a stainless steel pot. Seriously.

[IfIOnly]

My favorites are peppermint and green tea. I use 1 Tbsp. loose peppermint per half gallon. For the green tea I use 4 teabags per half gallon. I use Tbsp. or so of honey to sweeten a half gallon. Mmm.

[Pawz4me]

Warm a quart sized pot with warm water.

 

Bring 3 to 4 cups of water to a good boil.

 

Place 3 Lipton family sized tea bags in the warmed pot and pour the boiled water into the pot but not directly on the tea bags. Allow them to steep for 10 minutes.

 

Meanwhile partially fill a gallon jug with water and sweetener of your choice. Add some ice if you plan to drink it soon.

 

Once the tea has finished steeping pour the concentrate into the gallon jug. If you need more to make a gallon run some water (gently) over the tea bags and add it to the jug. Continue until it's full.

 

Resist the urge to squeeze the tea bags. Or if you must (it IS tempting) do it gently. Squeezing too hard can make your tea a little bitter.

 

If sugar is your sweetener of choice you may get better results adding it to the hot tea concentrate and stirring well before adding it into the jug. We use just a little Splenda, and it tends to dissolve better than sugar.

[FriedClams]

I use green tea at home. If I make black I prefer Luzianne. They took good care of their employees after Katrina, so I'm a fan!

[Jann in TX]

DD likes fruity sweet tea so we add 4 regular bags of Lipton (reg. or decaf. depending on time of day) and 1 bag of Bigelow Perfectly Peach tea to boiling water. Let it steep for 5 minutes, remove bags and add 1/2 cup sugar, stir, then add water to make 2 quarts. 

[lllll]

nm

Edited November 30, 2016 by cathey

[Suzanne115]

We use Tetley loose tea.  We get it from amazon.  We like it better than Lipton's loose tea.  We keep thinking we will try something from Teavana, but we haven't yet.  My mom bought me this tea maker - http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/breville-one-touch-tea-maker/ 

I never would have spent so much on a tea maker, but we really love it and use it all the time.

 

 

Suzanne

[sarasue7272]

Put some water in a pot on the stove

Add some tea bags (Lipton or luzianne ) sans paper tags

Boil water, although simmering is better, a few minutes

Turn off heat and leave it there until the rest of dinner is about finished

Put sugar into pitcher

Pour tea into pitcher, hopefully it's still warm enough to dissolve sugar

Add cold water

 

I have never in my life added ice to the pitcher or seen anyone else do so. Whenever I'm at someone's house and they use this steeping method you all speak of, the tea is weak. I like it strong.

Once I used a copycat chickfila recipe, it was very good, although so specific with amounts!

[Vida Winter]

Rather than make sun tea, just fill a pitcher with cold water and add teabags. Chill overnight in the fridge. You'll have clear, cold tea in the morning. We switched from Lipton to Red Rose a couple of years ago when Lipton's quality took a dive.

 

[Allearia]

I use Lipton for iced tea. I like it very strong and unsweetened or with just a pinch of sugar.

[knoxinsox]

 Easy method: I have a plastic gallon tea pitcher and  put a scant 2 cups sugar and 4 family sized tea bags in the bottom.  I use 2 regular and 2 decaf.  l also use Walmart brand tea bags, unless there is a sale on Luzianne or Liptons.  Pour boiling water over, stir to melt sugar and steep for 12 minutes.  Fill with cold water and enjoy.  We drink at least a gallon a day.  Not southerners, but we live in the south and this is good enough to take to church potlucks and get compliments on.  

[Lady Marmalade]

I like Luzianne family size bags. I order from Amazon usually because we make it by the gallon. I microwave about 3 cups of cold water in a glass measuring cup for 3.5 mins then add 6 bags and a little bit of baking soda (maybe 1/4 tsp or less). The box calls for 1 bag per quart, but I like it strong. Let it steep while I'm making dinner, then pour it over ice cubes and fill pitcher to 1 gallon line. If you want sweet tea, start with 1/4 cup of sugar to 1/2 gallon of tea unless you want the tooth achingly sweet kind. Then it's 1/2 cup per 1/2 gallon. Mix it in the hot water to dissolve.

 

Why do you add baking soda?

[Debbi in Texas]

I use Lipton family size tea bags. Fill tea kettle with filtered water and add one bag. Bring to a rolling boil and turn off heat. Let kettle sit for tea to steep for a couple of hours. Put 2/3 cup sugar into a half gallon sized pitcher, then add the tea.

 

 

[zoobie]

Why do you add baking soda?

Because my granny did. Something about making it less bitter. I should try two batches and see if it makes an actual taste difference to anyone else, but it is cheap and makes me think of her. :)

[Arcadia]

Today is National Iced Tea Day apparently

https://news.starbucks.com/news/deals-at-starbucks-and-teavana-for-national-iced-tea-day

[lllll]

nm 

 

Edited November 30, 2016 by cathey

[Serenade]

We've had regular Lipton black tea infused with tons and tons of fresh mint leaves.  Ice it, and when you pour it, strain out the mint leaves.  It's very refreshing!

 

 

This is my favorite iced tea.

[Lady Florida.]

For good old southern sweet tea, I like Luzianne. I buy the family size bags.