Go through the article and learn how to brew iced tea in order to get a refreshing and energising glass of tea as and when you feel like revitalizing your senses.

How To Brew Iced Tea

With the summer season just round the corner, you can start preparing and experimenting with your favourite beverages. One of the most famous of all beverages for summer seasons is ‘ice tea’. Tea is the beverage loved and enjoyed by people from all parts of the world and in all four seasons. Therefore, there can be no better soother than brewed iced tea on a warm summer day. Though, there are many bottled varieties of iced tea available in the market, but home brewed ice tea has its own essence and quality. If it is only the bottled form of ice tea that you ever had, you are missing out on the refreshing, livening and the best of all qualities of homemade brewed iced tea. There are many variations that you can bring to this classic summertime beverage to suit your taste buds along with taking in natural health benefits with every serve of this beverage. Mentioned below are some essential tips to brew iced tea, or rather the various methods to brew various forms of ice tea.

Brewing Iced Tea

Classic Unsweetened Iced Tea
Classic unsweetened iced tea can be brewed using black or at times orange pekoe tea. The unsweetened iced tea as the name suggests is brewed without any sweetener and is served usually along with lemon in a tall iced tea glass. You can serve sweeteners or sugar alongside to be mixed in by people who want to, after the tea gets brewed, cooled and poured over ice.

Traditional Brew
The traditional method of brewing iced tea uses eight cups of boiling water. Once the water reaches the boiling point, remove it from the stove and let it settle. Then place 8 tea bags in a glass pitcher and pour in the water over the bags. Let the tea bags steep for ten minutes and then remove them from the pitcher and let the tea cool down to room temperature. When cool, add equal amount of ice and pour it into tall iced glasses. You can garnish your ice tea with lemon wedges and can offer sweetener on the side.

Sun Brew
Sun iced tea is another popular form of brewed ice tea and uses sola power to brew. Put the tea bags in a large glass jar with a cover and add water. Seal the jar to prevent the tea from getting contaminated and then place the sealed container outdoors in open sun for about an hour or more. The direct sun rays will brew the tea giving you delicious iced tea ingredient in a short while. Sun tea is considered to be smoother and rich in flavour than teas brewed with hot water.

Sweet Tea
The sweet tea brewing is more famous in the Southern part of the United States. Sweet tea is a unique method of brewing which uses ample amount of sugar that is cooked in black tea before it cools down to the room temperature. Adding enough sugar turns the brew into a sugar and tea leaf syrup. This is then reconstituted with water to add on to the taste and is served with ice and lemon wedges. To brew sweet tea, four cups of water should be boiled and then a cup of sugar and ten tea bags added to it. Let the tea steep for a while and then remove the tea bags and let the tea syrup come to room temperature. Add water to reconstitute the mixture and to achieve the desired amount of sweetness.

Green Iced Tea
Green tea is one of the popular of all brewed teas because of the various health benefits the tea holds. The tea is usually brewed using a cold water process in order to preserve all its health benefits. To brew the tea, use double number of tea bags as recommended on the tea box for the suggested amount of water per cup of tea. Place the tea bags in a glass container that can be sealed and pour cold water. Now seal the container and place it in the refrigerator for 45 minutes. Serve the tea over ice and offer sweetener on the side.

Thai Iced Tea
It might be a bit difficult to search for Thai red tea leaves but the search is worth because of its benefits. Thai tea is traditionally seasoned with star anise, cinnamon and vanilla and provides a sweet and creamy treat. To brew Thai tea you will need six cups of water, a cup of tea, ¾ cups of sugar, 6 tablespoon cream and same amount of condensed milk. You will have to boil water over the tea and let it steep for 3-5 minutes until the mixture turns bright orange in colour. Strain the liquid into a clean pitcher and stir in sugar. Let the tea cool to room temperature and then refrigerate after covering the pitcher. You can add one tablespoon of condensed milk and cream before serving the tea.

There are many condensed beverages available in the market to quench your thirst and relieve your senses in the summer season. However, if you are looking for something healthy along with being refreshing and delectable, you must learn how to brew iced tea and enjoy various flavours from across the globe.

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