Things You'll Need:
- Loose/bulk teas in various flavors, such as orange spice, mint, blueberry, raspberry, green, and black
- A tea ball/tea infuser
- A sun tea jar or pitcher
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Step 1
Check out your local food co-operative or natural foods store for deals on any kind of tea, not just those intended for iced tea. The cost of loose/bulk "hot" tea is typically pennies per ounce. We also purchase green tea in unbleached tea bags in boxes of 100+ units. Buy 1-2 cups of bulk tea flavors that suit you, keeping in mind that you'll probably want to combine flavors in each jar of tea you'll make. Save your receipt so you can quickly figure out the cost per Tbs or tea bag of each flavor. (There are 16 Tbs in one cup.)
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Step 2
Choose a combination of tea flavors -- we use the equivalent of 6 tea bags per gallon of sun tea. 1 Tbs loose/bulk tea = 1 pre-made bag of tea A favorite combination in our household is: 2 parts green tea, 2 parts uncaffeinated fruit teas, 2 parts mint tea
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Step 3
Place loose/bulk tea in the tea ball/infuser, remove tea bag strings (if any) from bag teas (if using any), and drop all pieces into the bottom of your sun tea jar. Our jar fills from the top and has a spigot at the bottom for easy pouring.
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Step 4
Fill jar nearly to the brim with fresh water, secure lid, and set jar outside for 2-6 hours in an area that receives daylight. Note: The weather need not be sunny to produce good tea.
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Step 5
When tea is sufficiently brewed, remove tea bags and discard. Refrigerate tea or pour over ice and enjoy. Just for fun, add up the cost of the tea/tea bags you used (here's where the receipt is useful), multiply the value by 16 (ounces per glass), then divide by 128 (ounces per gallon). This gives you the cost of a 16-ounce glass. I guarantee it'll make your Snapple seem outrageously expensive!
Comments
goldiec said
on 9/10/2009 Thanks for the great tips on How to Make Cheap Iced Tea! 5* I love tea!