Some Days You Make the Tea and Some Days the Tea Makes You
By Guest on Jun 23 Filed In Food & Beverage, Guest Blogger, Sweet Consumers 6 Comments
My husband Dave has always been a tea fanatic. It’s his way of avoiding soft drinks and other sugary and carbonated beverages. His love of tea goes so far that whenever we go out to eat, he uses his iced tea glass as a tip meter. As soon as it’s empty and he finds himself thirsty, the meter goes down. I’ve seen him shake his glass, slurp the straw, anything to get the waiter’s attention and his tea glass filled.
Since college he has always made iced tea. At some point, he realized the benefits of green tea and began refining a recipe that involves several different types of tea bags and of course a good amount of sugar. Lately he’s been experimenting with different forms of sweeteners including stevia and honey.
People always love to drink his “Green tea and mint” concoction. His giant tea pitcher even has its own spot in our fridge. I am not allowed to utilize this space even when the pitcher is empty. It must stay in the fridge to remind him to make more tea. I have put things there before only to find them missing and his giant tea pitcher in its place. Well, not always a pitcher, because several years ago Dave found Sweet Leaf Tea. He’s very, very particular about his tea. He’d tried a variety of brands but found them all to either have some weird aftertaste, too much sugar or lemon flavoring, which he hates. As soon as he found Sweet Leaf Tea, I would find a large container of the Mint & Honey tea in the fridge in the pitcher spot. I would ask why he didn’t make his own and he’d just say: “Too Lazy”.
Recently, we decided to cut back on spending and he got back to making tea. Pitcher was back in its spot in the fridge. And yet, even though I tend to be the one grocery shopping these days, I keep finding a bottle of Mint & Honey in place of the pitcher. “Didn’t have time to make mine” and “Needed something to drink” are the excuses I now get.
Now don’t get me wrong, I love me some Sweet Leaf, but this man has a serious addiction. And because of the fact that people are always asking for the recipe, I thought I’d share how he makes his Green Tea with Mint.
- Fill up a 2-quart kettle and boil the water.
- Pour 1 cup of sugar into a gallon-sized pitcher (I know he sometimes uses a sugar/stevia mix, but he is still testing ratios and refuses to give up the measurements).
- Place 2 tea bags each of natural green tea, natural mint tea and decaffeinated iced tea into the pitcher and then pour the boiling water over the bags.
- Steep for 22 minutes (See the nice number pattern here? 2,2,22). Basically don’t let it steep for much longer than 30 minutes.
- Pull the tea bags out and stir it all up. Then add cold water until pitcher is full.
- Pour over ice to enjoy your homemade sweetened green tea and mint iced tea!
- Dream of Sweet Leaf Tea and their delicious flavors you’ll never be able to replicate at home.
Me & Dave @ Sweet Leaf Tea party. Pic by http://annieray.net/
Post by April Stockwell
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by April Riggs, Sweet Leaf Tea Co.. Sweet Leaf Tea Co. said: Ever wonder about those ppl who make their own ice tea? Check out what @StockwellApril 's hubbie does: http://bit.ly/9KC8ot [...]
My husband and his tea….sigh…
The recipe sounds great! I love iced tea. Thanks for sharing about Dave and the recipe.
I love iced tea in the summer – good hints on some other ways to do tea. Have you tried growing mint in your garden or yard???
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