Classic Iced Tea

Classic Iced Tea Recipe

Though the oldest printed recipes for iced tea that we know of are made with Chinese green teas, today most Americans prefer Indian black teas. For a brew that doesn’t cloud, use bottled or filtered water and brew the infusion strong, but don’t let it steep for too long, and cut it with cold water after the tea leaves have been removed. If it clouds anyway, stir in a about a cup of boiling water into the tea and it should turn clear.



Ingredients
2 quarts bottled spring water or filtered water
1/4 cup loose black tea leaves or 8 standard tea bags
Sugar
2 lemons, thinly sliced
8 leafy sprigs mint

Instructions
1. Bring 1 quart of water to a boil in a teakettle. Put tea leaves in a deep, heatproof bowl or large teapot. As soon as the water begins to boil, pour over tea leaves, stir, and let stand 4 minutes. It will be very strong.
2. Pour liquid through a fine wire-mesh sieve or coffee filter into a pitcher. Add remaining quart of water and stir. Cool completely and serve over ice with sugar or other sweeteners, lemon and mint passed separately. Yield: 2 quarts (10 servings).

VARIATION: Southern Sweet Tea—Stir 1/3 to 2/3 cup sugar into the tea after straining it into serving pitcher. Stir until sugar dissolved. Add remaining water and cool. Sweetened tea is more perishable than unsweetened. Store it well sealed in a glass (not plastic) container in the refrigerator.

Recipe by Damon Fowler, "Relish America's Harvest," May 2007.



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