I cannot make iced tea.
Without a recipe. A recipe! For iced tea!
Mainly, the problem is that I get the tea steeping then promptly forget about it for the next thirty minutes. This means that my tea turns out bitter. Then I never know how much sugar and water to put in. Because of the bitterness I almost inevitably put in too much water. Weak, bitter tea. Not refreshing.
So, in the sweltering 90's two days ago, I went in search of a recipe (this is rather embarrassing). I found this page with basic instructions on amounts of tea (bagged and loose), water and steeping times. Very well. I did all that, remembering to use a timer to remind myself when the tea should be done steeping. Okay so far.
Then. How much sugar? I did some quick calculating*. My mom used 2 cups, but I was only making a 1/2 gallon. So I did the right thing and cut it back to only 3/4 cup. SWEET! Too sweet. No problem. Add some water, and viola! Refreshing iced tea. It only took a few recipes and a small blow to my ego.
I wrote a recipe card for future reference:
Pour over ice and enjoy!
*I actually did quite a mis-calculation. My mom would put 2 cups of sugar in two gallons of iced tea. For half a gallon I should use only 1/2 cup maximum!
Without a recipe. A recipe! For iced tea!
Mainly, the problem is that I get the tea steeping then promptly forget about it for the next thirty minutes. This means that my tea turns out bitter. Then I never know how much sugar and water to put in. Because of the bitterness I almost inevitably put in too much water. Weak, bitter tea. Not refreshing.
So, in the sweltering 90's two days ago, I went in search of a recipe (this is rather embarrassing). I found this page with basic instructions on amounts of tea (bagged and loose), water and steeping times. Very well. I did all that, remembering to use a timer to remind myself when the tea should be done steeping. Okay so far.
Then. How much sugar? I did some quick calculating*. My mom used 2 cups, but I was only making a 1/2 gallon. So I did the right thing and cut it back to only 3/4 cup. SWEET! Too sweet. No problem. Add some water, and viola! Refreshing iced tea. It only took a few recipes and a small blow to my ego.
I wrote a recipe card for future reference:
"Iced Tea
4 cups boiling water over 8 bags (or 8 tsp.) tea
-steep 5 - 6 min.
Strain out tea and dissolve 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar in concentrate
Add 4 cups cold water to make 1/2 gallon tea"
4 cups boiling water over 8 bags (or 8 tsp.) tea
-steep 5 - 6 min.
Strain out tea and dissolve 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar in concentrate
Add 4 cups cold water to make 1/2 gallon tea"
Pour over ice and enjoy!
*I actually did quite a mis-calculation. My mom would put 2 cups of sugar in two gallons of iced tea. For half a gallon I should use only 1/2 cup maximum!
I have my recipe for iced tea in my cookbook! It seems stupid but everytime I make it, I forget the amounts, so I put it there. I also put one c. of sugar to a gallon. CAndice
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip. I think we like ours a little less sweet than that--I've been using somewhere between 1/2 and 3/4 cup to the gallon.
ReplyDelete