Sun Tea

Directions

Place tea bags into a clean 3 quart clear glass jar. Make sure to leave the paper tags on the outside of the jar. Add the water and screw on the lid. Let the jar of tea stand in direct sunlight for 3-4 hours or until the tea reaches the desired strength. Remove the tea bags and discard. Add sugar to suit your taste, then serve over ice. Refrigerate any leftover tea. Use within 2 days. The longer you let the tea sit outside the darker it will steep. Your preference will tell you exactly when to bring it in. Keep in mind sun tea is not as strong but more mellow than regular iced tea.

The best choice is a glass sun tea jar with a metal screw-top lid. Gallon size glass jars can be hard to find. So if you cant find a galloon glass jar, a variety of glass jars will work to make sun tea. Any recycled juice or food jar, a large Mason jar, or any other jar that can be closed securely will work. I used a pickle jar I purchased from Walmart. It's a Mt. Olives 80 oz Jar. I just cleaned it really good with bleach and soapy water. Then I ran it through the dishwasher on the sterilize cycle. Works great! I found it in the over sized food section for $3.78.

Information for Sun Tea Brewers:

1. Always us a clean glass jar and not a plastic jar. Make sure you choose a jar that has a metal lid and not a plastic one. Always place your sun tea jar in direct sun light.

2. Scrub your sun tea container with hot soapy water after every use I always clean mine by hand and run it through the dishwasher after each use.

3. If you want you can use distilled water instead of tap water if that is a big issue.

4. Don't leave the sun tea to brew for more than 4 hours.

5. The key is not allowing sun tea to sit out and come to room temperature. Refrigerate and drink as soon as possible. Don’t prepare more than you can drink in a day or two. Throw out the leftovers after day two.

6. Also throw away tea that has turned thick and syrupy or that has ropey strands, which are bacteria. I mean who would drink that anyways it really is common sense here.

Recipe and photo courtesy of Tina Butler, Mommyskitchen.net. For step-by-step instructions for this recipe and more, click here.