A Quick and Easy Ice Tea Recipe
Let the Sun Brew Your Tea
For me there is nothing better than a cold glass of ice tea with lemon. Upon moving to Arizona a couple of decades ago, I learned how to use our abundant sunshine to make ice tea. All you have to do is take a gallon size, glass container with a lid. Try to find one with a wide mouth as that makes it easier to remove the used tea bags. Fill the jug with water, drop in 4 - 6 tea bags and set the container outside in the sun. On hot summer days the tea will brew fast, so 4 bags usually work best and are less likely to result in over brewing. During the winter months I usually use 5 or 6 tea bags. During the summer the water heats quickly and the tea can be brewed in as little as 3 - 4 hours as the 105 to 120 degree Arizona daytime temperature alone will heat the water. During the winter it usually takes 5 - 6 hours since the weather is cooler and you have to rely more on the glass magnifying the rays of the sun to heat the water. Once the tea is done, bring it inside, remove the tea bags and pour into a covered pitcher. Then add the contents of one, 12 ounce, can of frozen concentrated lemonade. This not only gives the tea the desired lemon flavor but also provides the necessary sweetening. For araspberry ice tea, use a single, 12 ounce, can of frozen concentrated raspberry lemonade. Stir and place in the refrigerator to cool. While this works best in hot and sunny climates, visiting friends from up north who have taken the idea back home with them tell me it works just as well in colder northern climates. Brewing times are longer and during winter, when the temperature is below freezing, you simply place the jug in a sunny window inside.
