Refrigerator Ice Tea
Hubby is a huge ice tea fan, as is the Princess ... they love when I pick up the Arizona Tea when it's on sale but that doesn't seem to happen often anymore. I have an issue with paying $3 for a gallon of tea, you know? So we have sort of been on a dry run for tea lately.
Then I thought, geesh, the pantry has a gazillion bags of tea ... and we ARE in the beginning stages of a Pantry Challenge again, so what the heck, let's make our own ice tea!
Ok. I know, it's easy to do. Years and years ago, we used to do the sun tea thing ... then the jar broke, poolside one year. That sort of took all the fun out of that process!
Then I would do the brewing method with boiling water but Hubby said I never seemed to get it right, not to mention, it created a steam bath in the kitchen ... so I stopped all together and we went the Arizona Tea route ...
Fast forward to the New Year and well, I need to get the savings account fat again and to also get the pantry under control. The pantry is just a mess and I really need to take some time and organize it while we are still in the beginning stages of the Challenge so I know what I have to work with ...
So ... I decided to start making tea again for Hubby and Princess ... and I'm sure the Boy, girlfriend and boyfriend will be drinking some too ...
4 cups water, room temp (you can use water from the tap or filtered, or spring, whatever you prefer. Me? I use tap)
4 tea bags
Using a 1 quart size mason jar (which is 4 cups), place tea bags so that the tags are hanging over the outside of a large pitcher. Fill with 4 cups of water. Place top on, making sure the bags are secured so they don't fall in the jar.
Put the lid on the jar and place in refrigerator for 6 hours minimum (I started doing this in the morning so that it could do it's thing while we are all at work). I am thinking of buying some 2 quart size jars as all of my large jars are in use with storage for raisins, nuts, chocolate chips ... all kinds of good stuff shoved in the back of the pantry. Oh, did you not see that picture above?
Obviously, you can and should use a larger container. Just remember that it's one bag for each cup of water.
When ready to serve, remove the bags, do NOT squeeze them. I've been told that's what makes the tea bitter but not being a big tea drinker, I can't really say if that's true or not ...
I do NOT sweeten the tea. If you prefer sweet tea, you can certainly stir that in before putting in the fridge (the sugar will dissolve faster with the room temp water) ... alternatively, you can make a batch of simple syrup (1 cup sugar 1 cup water, heated til dissolved) and keep that in the fridge.
Next up will be flavored teas ... Princess and Hubby love the Arnold Palmer Arizona Tea (half lemonade half tea) so that might be first up ... although I'm thinking of Pom Tea for ME to try and see if I like tea that way ;-) ...
Then I thought, geesh, the pantry has a gazillion bags of tea ... and we ARE in the beginning stages of a Pantry Challenge again, so what the heck, let's make our own ice tea!
Ok. I know, it's easy to do. Years and years ago, we used to do the sun tea thing ... then the jar broke, poolside one year. That sort of took all the fun out of that process!
Then I would do the brewing method with boiling water but Hubby said I never seemed to get it right, not to mention, it created a steam bath in the kitchen ... so I stopped all together and we went the Arizona Tea route ...
Fast forward to the New Year and well, I need to get the savings account fat again and to also get the pantry under control. The pantry is just a mess and I really need to take some time and organize it while we are still in the beginning stages of the Challenge so I know what I have to work with ...
Third shelf down on the left side ... those are all tea bags with more going all the way to back of shelf ... that's a lot of tea, trust me!
So ... I decided to start making tea again for Hubby and Princess ... and I'm sure the Boy, girlfriend and boyfriend will be drinking some too ...
4 cups water, room temp (you can use water from the tap or filtered, or spring, whatever you prefer. Me? I use tap)
4 tea bags
Using a 1 quart size mason jar (which is 4 cups), place tea bags so that the tags are hanging over the outside of a large pitcher. Fill with 4 cups of water. Place top on, making sure the bags are secured so they don't fall in the jar.
Put the lid on the jar and place in refrigerator for 6 hours minimum (I started doing this in the morning so that it could do it's thing while we are all at work). I am thinking of buying some 2 quart size jars as all of my large jars are in use with storage for raisins, nuts, chocolate chips ... all kinds of good stuff shoved in the back of the pantry. Oh, did you not see that picture above?
Obviously, you can and should use a larger container. Just remember that it's one bag for each cup of water.
When ready to serve, remove the bags, do NOT squeeze them. I've been told that's what makes the tea bitter but not being a big tea drinker, I can't really say if that's true or not ...
I do NOT sweeten the tea. If you prefer sweet tea, you can certainly stir that in before putting in the fridge (the sugar will dissolve faster with the room temp water) ... alternatively, you can make a batch of simple syrup (1 cup sugar 1 cup water, heated til dissolved) and keep that in the fridge.
Next up will be flavored teas ... Princess and Hubby love the Arnold Palmer Arizona Tea (half lemonade half tea) so that might be first up ... although I'm thinking of Pom Tea for ME to try and see if I like tea that way ;-) ...
Looking forward to sharing with some of
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Well hello from another South Floridian. Lol Great blog! I actually happen to find it while searching for frugal blog link ups.
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