Nothing Like a Tall, Cold Glass of Iced Tea

  I am from the south and we like our iced tea. I make a gallon of iced tea for my husband daily. He likes his sweet but not southern sweet. I use artificial sweeteners since he has to watch his sugar. He also likes flavored tea, like peach tea. I am more of a green tea fan and I drink mine straight, no sweetener at all. However you like your tea, the art of making a good glass of tea is one that not all have mastered. Many times the tea you get out in restaurants is very weak. My husband calls it brown water rather than tea. Some places have mastered the art of a good glass of tea and we all have our favorite places to purchase a tall, cold iced tea.
     With the pandemic people have had to resort to making their own tea at home or wait in a long drive thru to get an iced tea. How do you make the best glass of iced tea? The key is in the steeping. I typically brew my tea in the microwave. Many people swear that on the stove in a pan is the best way to make tea. My all time favorite way to make tea is in the sun. Yes, sun tea is a real thing. It works best if you have a glass gallon jar. Fill it with filtered cold water and put your tea bags in. If you use small, one cup tea bags as I call them, put 5 or 6 bags of tea into your gallon container. I have started buying the gallon tea bags from Amazon and I just have to put one bag in the gallon jar with water. Any day that has lots of sunshine is a perfect day to make sun tea. Set the gallon jar in the sunshine and wait. You will see the tea start to develop to a beautiful golden brown. If it is a warm sunny day, you can typically brew a gallon of sun tea in half a day. If the clouds fade in and out, I just let it set all day. If you put it out in the morning, you can bring it in by 5:00 in the evening to make your tea.