Do you not like iced tea? When that’s the case, you might not be able to make the most of the summer season. If there’s anything that Homo sapiens love in summer, it’s iced tea. And beaches, of course! So are you one of those people that just can’t get enough of iced tea? If yes, then do you know how to make iced tea?
If the second answer is in the negative, then you should probably keep reading. A large pitcher of iced tea tastes even better than iced coffee. If you’re a coffee lover, then you probably got offended by that statement. But you have to agree that nothing beats the taste and flavor of iced tea on a hot, sunny day.
Featured image courtesy of organicfacts.net.
Choose the Best Ingredients
Without high-quality tea and filtered tap or spring water, you cannot prepare a nice pitcher of iced tea. Because these two are the main ingredients of the drink, aren’t they? Everything else is just an accessory, not a necessity.
This means that you don’t need to pick those supermarket or commercial brands. These types of products are highly unreliable when it comes to quality. They contain broken, tiny, low-grade leaves that give you a flatter taste and less complex flavor.
Instead, what you should be buying is the pyramid or triangular-shaped tea bags that have larger leaves. You can even purchase loose tea. The consistent size of such tea offers an even and balanced brew.
On the other hand, tea bags are also a great option. They come with smaller leaves that tend to infuse quickly. Plus, their taste and flavor are more intense and bolder. So it all stems down to convenience.
Since we’re talking about convenience, you should know that you can also get the best iced tea maker for the job. This way you don’t need to go through the trouble of making iced tea.
But nevertheless, I am going to discuss the different ways of sprucing up this refreshing drink!
How to make iced tea? The 2 Different Methods
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How to make lemon iced tea? Or how to make sweet iced tea? The answers are all in this section. You can prepare the drink using multiple routes, but I have listed down the two most common techniques. Just pick one depending on the amount of time you have.
Once you master all the different methods, you can become one of those drink bloggers. The community is quite large, so get that camera for YouTube videos and jump on the bandwagon!
The Hot Brew Method
With loose tea, pour a hot cup of water inside another glass or pitcher with two tea bags. Let this steep for at least five minutes before straining the drink to eliminate the leaves.
Then add a cup of cold water to the tea. This does an excellent job of diluting the drink. The final step is to serve the tea with ice.
When using tea bags, you should follow the same steps. The only difference is that you don’t need to strain the drink to remove those leaves. All you have to do is get rid of the spent tea bags. (Benefits of unsweetened iced tea)
The Cold Brew Method
Pour two cold cups of water into a large pitcher. And in it also goes one tablespoon of the loose tea or a single tea bag. Then place the pitcher in your refrigerator for not less than 12 hours. You can leave it overnight as well.
The following morning, the only thing left to do is pour the refreshing drink over ice and savor the delicious taste.
How to sweeten up the iced tea?
Photo credit: gadgetguy.com.au
When you’re doing your laundry, why do you opt for the best smelling laundry detergent? I mean you can easily use any regular laundry detergent. So why the need to pick the best smelling one?
Likewise, you can always enjoy traditional iced tea as well, right? But we like to mix things up, don’t we? So here’s how you can do that!
Instead of adding granulated sugar to the drink, opt for simple, sweet syrup. Sugar crystals take a lot of time to dissolve, so it’s better to use syrup for the drink.
To prepare the syrup, simmer equal portions of water and sugar on your stove. Wait for the sugar particles to dissolve. Once that happens, you can add as much as three tablespoons into the pitcher of iced tea. Feel free to add more or reduce some depending on your personal preferences.
Many people choose sweeteners such as maple syrup or honey over liquid sugar. Even agave sounds like a great option, doesn’t it?
Health Benefits of Chamomile Tea
Chamomile Tea, aka Manzanilla Tea, is a widely-consumed beverage due to its health benefits in the body. It was used in ancient days by the Greeks, Egyptians and the Romans to cure minor wounds. Nowadays, it is used as a natural and herbal treatment to treat various conditions in the body. Check out this article, 27 Chamomile Tea Health Benefits.
Conclusion
So now do you know how to make iced tea? I hope you do!
Before I end the article, I would like to share my way of serving the refreshing drink. I like to serve iced tea over huge cocktail-style cubes of ice. An orange slice, peach wedge, or fresh mint sprig make the drink look more presentable while also adding more flavor. After all, summer pleasures are bright and colorful, aren’t they?
What type of iced tea is your favorite? Would you mind sharing its recipe with us here? Please leave all your thoughts and comments in the section below.
About the author: Barbara Davis started writing about pregnancy and motherhood a few years back. Her work struck a chord with many parents around the world. So she decided to expand her base creating content for another one of her true passions in life. She loves food just like you and everybody else. And her goal is to make the cooking experience for busy moms more fun and less frustrating.
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