How To Make Sun Tea That Will Make Everyone Love You

August 8, 2010

Sun tea
I made an impromptu batch of sun tea, so I thought I’d share my approach for making it special. There’s a bonus tip at the end for something extra special.

  1. Fill a glass pitcher or container with filtered water.
  2. Add a quarter cup sugar and stir. You may desire no sugar, or more, but I like just a little to enhance the ensuing flavors.
  3. For a 1 gallon pitcher, toss in three or four standard Lipton tea bags, or use your favorite brand. I try to start with a straightforward tea leaf, one without any exotic or strong flavorings.
  4. Next, I collect several herbs fresh herbs and tie them together and toss them in the pitcher. For the batch pictured here, I clipped some thyme, Rosemary and lemon balm from my own container garden. Rinse your herbs thoroughly before adding, of course.
  5. Tea always tastes better with lemon and a little spice. Therefore, cut a lemon in half, and poke two or three cloves into the skin of one lemon half and then toss it in the pitcher. You could even poke the lemon with a cinnamon stick as well.
  6. Once all ingredients are added, cap the pitcher, ensuring an airtight seal, then let it sit in direct sunlight for six hours. The capped seal will help the heat and flavors build up inside.
  7. Remove the herbs and tea bags from the pitcher, because they’ll get soft and nasty after a while, but you can keep the lemon half if you desire.
  8. Chill the pitcher of tea and serve over ice. It’s best to serve this sun tea in a nice glass with garnish, such as a small lemon wedge, mint leaves or even other herb sprigs you used to make the tea. Drink your sun tea within two days.

* Bonus Tip: Sun Tea Wine Cooler

  1. Mix equal parts sun tea and chilled, light white wine, such as a sauvignon blanc, or even a light bubbly.
  2. Serve over ice and garnish as noted above.
  3. Drink because it’s delicious!
  • http://www.attentionmax.com maxkalehoff

    Indeed, boiling water will work, too. The difference? First, the slow seep
    tends to marry the flavors in a more complimentary and delicate fashion.
    Boiling can result in some of the herbs

  • http://datamining.typepad.com Matthew Hurst

    Max – sounds great. But, can you describe the benefits of the sun approach versus, say, hot water?

  • http://www.attentionmax.com maxkalehoff

    Indeed, boiling water will work, too. The difference? First, the slow seep tends to marry the flavors in a more complimentary and delicate fashion.
    Boiling can result in some of the herbs becoming to aggressive in flavor if you're not careful. Third, there's something slow and primal about sun brewing. Fourth, it's set and forget; easy to do if you have no fire. Lastly, you couldn't call it win-brewed if you boiled. Come and try some!

  • Julybaby84

    Thanks. Tried this yesterday with over 300oz and found 6 cloves was a bit too much. Two sticks of cinnamon and a couple of oranges and apples worked well.

  • Pingback: Container Garden Update