How to Make Refrigerator Iced Tea

It's been a long, hot summer in St. Louis. Too hot for too long. Enough already!

All that heat makes me thirsty, and that means I want something cold to drink. My summer drink of choice is iced tea. It's refreshing, easy to make, and has health benefits that have been talked about more and more in recent years. Black, white and green teas all have antioxidants that are believed to have cancer fighting properties. Hooray for tea!

Now for the bad news.

Did you know?  Sun tea can facilitate the growth of harmful bacteria.

For years I made jar after jar of sun tea during the hot months, because it's so easy to make and it doesn't heat up my kitchen like the traditional boil-water-and-brew technique. Now the door has slammed on making sun tea, because it's not considered to be safe. Brother! 

According to the Centers for Disease Control, using the sun to brew tea can facilitate the growth of bacteria. Have you ever made tea that developed white-ish, slimy stuff after it had been in the fridge for a few days? That's bacteria--yuck!

This isn't a problem with tea that is brewed with boiling water, because that water is hot enough to kill the bacteria. Water needs to be heated above 195 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes to kill the bacteria. Sun tea doesn't get hotter than 130 degrees--just hot enough to give the bacteria a growth boost, but not hot enough to kill it. Snopes.com is a reliable source for verifying or dispelling rumors and urban legends, and supports the view that sun tea is unsafe.

So, there are 2 safe ways to brew tea: the boiling water method and refrigerator tea. I had never heard of refrigerator tea until a few years ago, and I have been making it ever since. I drink it year round, because it's easy and good for me.

Why I like refrigerator tea:

• Like sun tea, it doesn't heat up my kitchen in the summer.
• It's easy as can be to make.
• There's no need to cool it down--it's cold from the beginning.
• The tea tastes great! Smooth without bitterness.
• There are unlimited, easy ways to make your own tea flavors. I explain how in another post.

Here's how to make your own refrigerator tea. It's so easy, it almost feels silly to walk you through this. But, here goes.

First you need to gather these supplies:

• a jar or pitcher.  I use 1 or 2 quart mason jars with plastic lids that are easy to screw off and on.
  1 quart mason jars, view on Amazon
  2 quart mason jars, view on Amazon
  white plastic lids (fit both jar sizes), view on Amazon

• tea (either tea bags or loose tea)

• brewing basket for loose leaf tea, view on Amazon

• water (you can use tap water, but I prefer to use filtered water from my Brita pitcher); no need to boil or heat the water, leave it at tap or room temperature
  Brita water filter pitcher, view on Amazon 

Here are the step-by-step photos:

First you need to select your tea.  You can use any kind of tea. Tea bags are very convenient. Here are a few from my kitchen. I like to use plain ol' Lipton, or something similar, if I'm going to be adding my own flavors. I usually make a jar of decaf tea for drinking in the evening.

I also have a supply of loose leaf tea. I prefer it to tea bags, but either is fine.  My friend, Christy, got me started on Adagio teas a few years back. I particularly like their berry flavors for iced teas.

view on Amazon:  ♦berry Adagio tea    ♦more Adagio teas    ♦organic leaf tea

If you're using tea bags, simply put them in the jar with their tags hanging over the edge.  Fill the jar with water. Done! Into the fridge it goes. I use 4 tea bags to make a 1 quart jar of tea; 8 tea bags for 2 quarts.

If you're using loose leaf tea, I recommend one of these cool brewing baskets. (Christy introduced me to these, too.) They're actually made for resting on the rim of a tea cup or teapot for making hot tea. But they're also a perfect size to rest on the rim of a Mason jar. You spoon the leaf tea into the basket (1 teaspoon per cup, so 4 teaspoons for a 1 quart jar), and . . .

. . .pour water directly into the basket until the entire jar is filled. When the tea is finished brewing, you can pull out the basket and no bits of tea leaf will be left behind.

Another option is to use a tea infusion pitcher--a pitcher and brewing basket all-in-one that was recommended by Yummy reader, Molly.

view iced tea infusion pitcher on Amazon

The jars with the tea bags or leaf tea basket now go into the fridge for at least 6 hours, and up to 12 hours. I often put a couple of jars in the fridge at night, and it is ready in the morning. Or, if I make it in the morning, it will be ready in time for dinner. The only down side of refrigerator tea is that you do have to plan ahead at least 6 hours.

Now it's time to put up your feet, grab a good book, and
cool yourself down with a cold, refreshing glass of refrigerator tea.

If you like flavored teas, I think you'll enjoy these:

• Cinnamon & Spice Refrigerator Iced Tea
  (my absolute favorite iced tea--naturally sweet with NO sugar!)
  
  
  
• Flavored Iced Tea Recipes  (8+ easy flavors!)
   

Make it a Yummy day!
Monica 

Refrigerator Iced Tea

By Monica              Servings: 4 1-cup servings

Ingredients

• 4 tea bags or 4 teaspoons loose leaf tea
• 4 cups tap or room temperature water

Directions

Use a 1-quart Mason jar or pitcher.

--If using tea bags: hang tea bags inside pitcher or jar with strings hanging over the rim (for easy removal later). Add water making sure that tea is immersed, cover, and put in fridge for 6-12 hours. Remove tea bags and serve.

--If using loose leaf tea: add 4 teaspoons tea leaves to a tea basket, tea ball or tea filter bag. Rest over top of jar or pitcher so the tea will be exposed to the water, but it can easily be removed after the tea has steeped. Place in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours. Remove tea leaves, and it's ready to serve.