marry me, michael...
try adding some orange juice (or sunquik orange concentrate) and a bit of grenadine syrup. makes a world of difference!
Add a touch of light Rum (Bacardi) and a fresh slice of ginger root.
I've used oolong for lemon iced tea with great success. It's somewhere between green and black tea and has the perfect flavor for it.
What size tea bags are those? :)
To a southerner, the whole thing looks a bit weak, but I guess if you were trying to recreate nestea in a can you probably accomplished it.
I love Cooking for Engineers, but my Southern sensabilities were taken aback when I read that you actually wanted a can of that lemon iced "tea" stuff.
A echo the previous question about tea-bag size. The look like regular size. Like the previous poster indicated, we Southerners like our iced tea strong: "as dark as molasses and just as sweet." So, I use four Lipton Family-Size teabags to make a gallon of iced tea. I don't care for it being too sweet, so I use about 1 1/3 cups of sugar for a gallon. And leave out the lemon altogether. Otherwise, your method is familiar, especially the long steeping times which I'm sure would shock a tea purist. That being said, I do frequently enjoy a traditionally prepared cup of hot tea. Lapsang Souchong is the best!
Why not add the sugar at the start? Sugar dissolves much more easily into boiling water.
I make a gallon of ice tea everyday. I dissolve 3/4 cups of sugar into 4cups of boiling water. Then in another container I boil 2 quarts of water and add 12-13 Lipton tea bags and let sit for 2hours. The two need to be seperated because the tea will get stronger as it sits. Then combine 1/2 cup of lemon juice or 6 medium squeezed lemons. If you like tea sweeter add more sugar, but no more than 2 cups.
I'm not sure - I didn't experiment with sugar first, so I don't know if it will affect the brewing/taste. Dissolving the sugar was never a problem because after even two hours, the water is still quite warm. The sugar dissolves pretty rapidly as you stir it in.
The long steep time does seem pretty unusual to me. I use two lipton family size bags for a half gallon pitcher of tea, and only let it steep for about 10 minutes, and it tastes great to me. Then again, I do put in a full cup of sugar.
I've never thought about adding lemon juice to the tea itself because I always keep fresh lemons around to slice into wedges and drop in each glass.
This is a perfect opportunity to be using good whole-leaf tea instead of teabags which generally contain fennings, the broken bits of tea leaves that sell the cheapest. I'd use an ounce of tea for a quart of water (plus a little, since the tea itself will grab about a quarter cup of water and you don't want to squeeze out the tea-- bitter!). You can filter it out as you add it to the pitcher (use a coffee filter or a clean paper towel, possibly a double layer).
As for sweetness, it depends on whether my brother-in-law (sweet-tea drinker) and/or my sister (lemon only) will be around. I like both tastes, but you can't add sugar to a cold liquid, so I make a simple syrup with a whole lemon, washed and sliced, a cup or less of sugar, and maybe 2/3 as much water as sugar, plus mint leaves if I have any: Throw the water and sugar on the stove, bring to a boil, add lemon and mint and kill the heat, and let it cool. It doesn't keep forever, and it doesn't freeze solid, so alter the amounts appropriately for what you can use.
I understand the longer steep times---when I make solar or "sun tea" I leave the water sit in the sun all afternoon with the tea bags in it. I often use green or oolong tea however, and use fresh herbs from my garden--lemon balm, or mint, or whatever the family wants at the moment. We're growing orange mint this year, also.
You can add the lemon or lime to the water when you add the tea bags if you're not going to sweeten the tea. I try not to add sugar to stuff that I drink. ;)
I'm working on a new recepit for my tea. My sun loves tea...Not sure when I can make it to the grocery. Good Ideals here...I'll return soon....
I just tried this recipie...i thought that maybe there wasn't enough lemon; I was right! That's because you converted 2 fl oz into 30mL, when it's closer to 60mL (59.1470594 mL according to Google). I just thought i'd let you know...
Thanks for catching that! I apparently had it correct in the article, but when it came time to making the summary, I made the wrong conversion.
Fixed!
just a thought. instead of boiling all that water at first, boil a small amount and put your tea bags in. let steep five minutes. remove bags, add sugar. dissolve sugar and then immediately add ice cubes and shock the tea. later, at your convenience, add the extra water, lemon juice, or whatever.
your iced tea looks cloudy. Make sure you do not add ice to HOT tea. It must first be allowed to cool to room temp. Then add ice if needed.
just anote for the more technical
acidic water will make tea go bitter
a small amount of baking soda 1/8 - 1/4 teaspoon
per quart should be plenty should make for much darker tea
I have been doing 6 cups of water 2 tetley round tea bags and 3 min steep time with a bit of backing soda in the water before the tea bags
then you add a bit of lemon again to bring the ph back down a bit or just to flavour of choice
but then again I'm from the far north EH so we may like it a bit differnt here
Well I tryed out your recipe and it taste really delicious.But the problem is that do you know how to make the taste that is kinda like the Snapple Lemon Tea because the tea that I have maded from your recipe taste sweet,have the lemon taste but I'm missing the tea taste I think...
Well this is what I put in:
2 quarts of water
2 ounces of lemon juice
2 bags of lipton natural Tea (not family tea bag)
1 cup of sugar
How can I improve this?I just want the taste near the Snapple Lemon Tea.....
i love iced tea but i do not always have the time or patiece to brew my own...so i buy the nestea brewed unsweetened tea in the refrigerated section of the supermarket & add my own honey & lemons!!!
the lemon flavor is great for picnics & large groups because it is easy to transport & serve!
A cup of white, granulated sugar weighs about 175 grams or 6 ounces. That's about 665 Calories of pure non-nutritive food calories. YIKES!!! Talk about candy!
The reason you are missing the tea taste is you are making two quarts of tea with the amount of tea bags one would use to brew two or three CUPS of hot tea. You need much more tea. You should use at least 5 tea bags, maybe 8 for two quarts of iced tea, especially once the ice starts to melt if you want to maintain the taste of the tea.
got a coffee maker? pop a few tea bags in the filter and hit it. instant hot tea. pour a mug and add your sweetener of choice, lemon, or other flavors to your liking. i'm a proponent of apricots and toffee or caramel, like the ashton i used to smoke. =)
but what about that strange and southern iced tea, otherwise known as sweet tea? water flavor is important; if you're lucky enough to have delicious well water, use it. use less water and more tea and boil on stove in pyrex or glass. i know, i'm a little superstitious about metal flavoring things (cast iron has that effect on some). you're going for a dark tea concentrate, which you'll sweeten and dilute to taste later. view the guidelines above for how much sweetener (.75-2 cups/pitcher) and amount of tea.
I was raised on traditional southern iced tea. However, in high school many years ago, a friend invited me to her home for lunch. This family was originally from Mexico. The ice tea served that day was a beautiful mixture of tea and lemon/lemonade... a sweet drink. I thought it was wonderful. I have tried to duplicate this tea, on a number of occasions, but never have found the correct proportions of tea to lemon. Does anyone know the secret?
Hi, Why not contact the friend? Great recipes people! Thank you for posting them, ~~Mafi
I chose to start with the original recipe provided. What is a good maximum amount of time to steep the tea bags? You mention at least 1 hour. I just did this, and the pan is still more than warm yet. Is it actually ok to complete the mixture now? Or, should I wait another hour, or more, untill the tea has cooled more, or completely? Thank you, ~~Mafi
Ok, I followed the recipe, and did with the 1 hour "at least". Smells good! Can't wait to taste it tomorrow. If you have a suggestion for maximum amount of steeping. I will give that a shot too. I will let you know how this first batch has turned out. Kindest Regards, ~~Mafi
Hello,
My husband and I tasted our first brew of homemade, Lemon Iced Tea, today. It was very nice, and I, myself, do not like tea of any sort. I made it as a surprise for my husband. He loved it, and so did I. It has a very even blend of just the right amount of everything. Not too much tea tasting, not too sugary, not too lemony, not too watery. It is JUST RIGHT!
I have already made another batch for tomorrow. We deffinetly enjoyed it, and certainly will time and time again from here on in.
Funny, I went shopping with our daughter tonight. I happen to pass a shelf of bottled Lipton Lemon Iced Tea. All that pass through my mind was..."ha ha, mine taste better than yourrrrrs"!!!...Ha! I could not resist having a cocky moment. :-)
Thank you so very much for sharing the wonderful recipe! I have to say, "This Was A Good Thing". Kindest Regards, ~~Mafi
I have no clue how this is going to turn out.
I did everything the same except add the lemon juice.
The tea is quite lemony already. Wish me luck! ~~Mafi
ps: doesn't anyone post here anymore???
I too am from the South and speaking for my family, we like our tea strong and sweet. This may not be 'traditional' tea to most but the way I make it is:
In 3 quarts of boiling water steep 3 family sized tea bags for 6-8 minutes.
Pour 1 1/2 cups sugar into gallon jug then pour tea on top of sugar and stir or shake to dissolve. Add 1 1/2 gallon of orange/pineapple juice. Add enough cold water to cap off gallon. Chill.
We had a variation of this at a restaurant in Nashville. The restaurant called it 'Fling Tea' and I've been making my own variation of it since.
DO NOT STEW THE TEA
tea bags brew in less than a minute, loose tea no more than three minutes, this REALLY makes a HUGE difference in how the tea tastes, and try using the lemon zest instead of the juice, if what you are going for is the flavor of Snapple, try Typhoo tea, use a vegetable peeler on the lemon, probably one good slice of peel should do it, you dont want any white (pith) remove tea leaves or bags first, then drop in the lemon zest, its the oil from the outside of the peel that has the lemon flavor you are looking for, three quarters cup sugar for two quarts tea should make it sweet as Snapple, and refrigerate for a couple hours, ice will only make it taste like melted ice, yuck
This is what i do. when i make tea i do everything but add the sugar and lemon juice. instead i make a simple surip with fresh mint springs. i'll add that in and use the left over surip at night for juleps.
That sounds like what I do too. I like to make it as healthy as possible but try to retain the good taste of the tea.
Goodness, I never thought iced tea meant so many different things to so many people.
How I make iced tea depends on the quantity I need. For Mock Sun Tea I use a gallon sized glass jar, 18-20 regular sized lipton or Red Rose tea bags. Add 2 quarts boling or almost boiling purified water, let steep for 5 minutes, then fill the jar to an inch from the top with cool water and let it sit for at least 1 hour. Remove tea bags, do not squeeze, add 1 cup of sugar stir to dissolve. At that point I transfer it to my gallon size tupperware pitcher and refrigerate it. My family members add lemon slices or juice and/or mint when they serve up their ice filled glasses.
I prefer to add mint to the jar after adding the cool water, but not everyone loves mint as much as me. I also LOVE to serve my tea over crushed ice with sliced Meyer lemons and plenty of mint from my garden.
I have used loose teas of all different varieties, most take 4 tablespoons to the gallon of water. Using loose tea gives more body to the tea, a almost creaminess. Bottled or purified water does matter. I never use tap water as it leaves a bad after taste from minerals.
Personally, I prefer lime to lemon. It's more bitter and less sour, and I think it tastes better.
Hi. I enjoyed the Lemon Ice Tea recipe which I've been reading some years after it appeared.
Did you know that in Canada a quart has 5 cups, i.e. it is 40 ounces, and not the same in the US where it is 4 eight-ounce cups and = 32 oz.
The confusion only occurs if you do not include the actual number of ounces you intend or a metric quivalent in your recipe.(You have done that for the lemon juice ingredient.)
Remember,the same problem occurs with pints. Two pints equal one quart in both countries but in Canada a pint or half-quart equals 20 ounces.
Most of this doesn't matter since Canada went metric years and years ago but in recipes it really can still count - your Nestea re-creation would be quite different and paler and weaker with 25% more water to start.
Engineers, can you include
Hello, I'm bumping this post up for the sugar amt. In the recipe, it states 3/4 cup sugar. How much would that be for non-nutritive sweeteners (saccharine) which are much stronger than plain sucrose. Does anyone have any experience?
On the bags of Splenda, it has a conversion for you.
We all differ on our tea desires. I use a gallon size glass tea jug, place 8 teabags in it and let it set in the sun all day. Some times I use 5 or 6 regular tea and add 2 or 3 mint tea bags. I use 1 1/2 cup sugar and 4 oz bottled lemon juice for personal flavor. Then enjoy!
I'm southern but my dad was English so I like ice tea and hot tea. I've always been a tea addict but I can't take the caffeine, so I use naturally decaffeinated for both.
I also can't use white sugar cuz of arthritis (it's poison), so I use either a little raw sugar or dark brown sugar just to take the edge off. With hot tea I'll use honey. I add it after I take the bag out, dissolve it, then I'll pour it into a 10-12 oz glass for iced & put ice in to fill the glass.
I agree, a coffee maker makes great tea concentrate and filtered water tastes the best. I use 1 teabag to 6 oz, steep 5 mins. For a quart I use 6 bags. Only use glass, no metal so there's no leaching.
I can add ice cubes to my concentrate and it doesn't get cloudy. Amazing--it's the sediment in the tap water that makes it cloudy. Since I use filtered water, there's no sediment.
If it's a little strong or weak, then I might add a little juice to flavor it--like mango or peach, cranberry, etc.
I love lemon but I just read something that said never add lemon to tea for health reasons, but it didn't say why & I didn't want to buy the report, so I'm searchin the net for info and that's how I wound up here! I also have added a little bit of Koolaid lemonade mix to flavor it when I didn't have any liquid or the real fruit. Maybe that wouldn't have the same health issue.
Isn't it great that everybody loves makin tea--hot and cold?! I collect teasets--esp. hand painted ones--have since I was a little girl; my Cuban grandma turned me onto it. We used to have tea time everyday.
One year I gave my sister a handpainted Russian teaset from St. Petersburg--just beautiful. When I come to visit and she's stressed I make her bring it out and we have tea time to relax. I also bought a handpainted teaset from a Polish concentration camp survivor who wrote a book about his experiences there--Julius Tomsit and his wife. Lovely set, lovely couple.
Well if I find out anything about that lemon health issue I'll come back and post it; maybe someone else will find it too.
Have a good day!
blondeaccountant
lame larh eyy . haa . it's iced lemon tea . not lemon iced tea . don't know english urh ? ishk ..
Hi,
Internet is global. I have picked up your receipe from New Zealand.
We use Metric measurement as does 90% of the world. As an engineer you will understand units of measurement. Could you please convert the strange units 'Quarts, ounces, cups' to litres, millilitres or grams.
Cann't wait to try. Sounds good.
Thanks Bruce Hodgson.
This is the best kind of tea I have stumbled upon,
Everything was perfect.
Thank you so much!
It tastes just like Liptions Iced tea with Lemon to me!
My favorite tea, so, pretty awesome.
(:
The crap they put in tea bags isn't fit to drink, warm or cold, sweetened or unsweetened.
Personally, I prefer my iced tea unsweetened. I normally use a Formosa Ooolong of good quality, and make it in batches of 2 1/2 gallons. The Ooolong is great, because you can pretty much boil the water, dump the tea into the water, and then just let it sit. It won't get bitter, even if you leave the tea leaves in overnight. Usually, I let it sit for up to an hour, then fill up the sink with cold water, put the pot with the tea into it to cool it down. Add some freshly squeezed lemon juice once the tea is cold, pour into pitchers (I got two of the model you got in your picture), and stick them in the fridge.
I go through 1-2 batches a week, more in the summers. Great with most types of food, and guilt-free. :-)
Here is the best recipe.
2 quarts water
10 organic green tea bags
2/3 cup sugar
1 small fresh squeezed lemon
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
bring water and tea bags [u:5a5454af34]to[/u:5a5454af34] boil and remove immediately from heat. Add baking soda ( The baking soda neutralizes the acid or tannin in the tea making it smoother to drink. This cuts down on bitterness from accidental over-steeping and reduces cloudiness in the tea.) Add sugar to the pitcher and then the hot tea and stir well. Stir in lemon juice. Put in refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Enjoy
check out www.icedlemontea.com for interesting recipies. I am personally a fan of HK style iced lemon tea
I read somewhere that in the 1800s iced tea was made with green tea (grown in America too) and hot tea with black tea. Both work great and flavored tea like Earl Grey (orange oil) is nice as well.
Anyhow here is my current method:
2 tablespoons tea leaves
2 quarts boiling water (electric kettles rock!)
1 glass coffee pot (like the ones used for automatic makers - glass = no bpa)
medium sieve
round filter paper for automatic coffee maker
Black tea: put the leaves in the pot and pour in water
Green tea: put the water in the pot, wait a bit to let it cool to about 180F then put in the leaves to avoid shocking the tea and increasing bitterness.
Let this sit until it reaches room temp - an hour or so. I have left it longer and it does not seem to make a difference.
In a gallon jug, mine is plastic Rubbermaid brand, put in about 1/3 - 1/2 cup sugar if you like it and dissolve in a few cups of water, fill up about half way with cold water. put the filter paper in the sieve and pour the tea from the pot through the filter and into the jug. Stir and refrigerate.
For a while I used hot or warm water in the plastic jug then realized it was not a good idea because of BPA. I should probably get a big glass pitcher too.
ive only ever drunk liptons until i came upon your recipe,i wont be buying anymore!Thanks for a delicious,refreshing drink.
What Is The REFRACTOMETER Reading ? I use one in the kitchen left over from my lab days....it goes from 1% sugar to 50%. I prefer Tetley Tea..English style.
Hi,
I found the following iced black tea recipe on the Red Rose tea website:
1. Bring 3 cups of fresh water to a rolling boil.
2. Add the water to a teapot with four black tea bags.
3. Steep for 3 to 5 minutes, according to taste. Remove tea bags.
4. If you enjoy your iced tea sweetened, stir in 1 cup of granulated sugar until it dissolves.
5. You may also add ¼ cup of fresh lemon juice for a citrus flavour.
6. Allow the hot tea to cool down, then add 5 cups of cold water to your mixture.
Hi, I have made this tea four times and each time it gets better.. I don't like to mess with something someone else has perfected... I love your tea and it's what I was looking to make.. easy, have all the stuff and it's made in no time flat.. Thanks so much... you made my summer iced tea a pleasure for me...
Thanks for posting this recipe :) I tried a halved version a couple days ago in case I couldn't get it to turn out, but it was amazing. I'm currently waiting for the tea to steep on another full batch.
Hi there, for me this is spot on and the kids love it. 9 and 10 years old and they can make it themselves which i a bonus.
thanks.
I wonder if this would taste EXACTLY LIKE liptons did (Before adding MALTODEXTRIN FOR NO REASON!!)
Okay so if im making half the amount, do i steep for half the time?
No, if you are halving the water and the amount of tea, then you should steep for the same amount of time.
Could your tea be any weaker? I enjoy iced tea, not water flavored with lemon and tea. So not call this iced tea as it is not! Shameful recipe! To make true iced tea you use about 14-16 per gallon/4 quarts, and 7-8 per half gallon/2 quarts for tea.
Btw Bruce, do not insult is Americans. We have our own system of measurement we like just fine.
I am never paying for Nestea again. This taste the exact same!!! Thank you! :)
I made this with 3 bags of Twinings Earl Grey and it came out really nice, next time I'll try to add a bit more lemon though.
I just made a full gallon of this tea from sun tea that was left outside for 3 or 4 days. I made it with 6 regular tea bags, and doubled the sugar and lemon juice. It is the best glass of tea I've had on a very long time!! Thank you for the great recipe :)
We have been in the retail loose tea industry for years. We owned a loose tea shop in our home town for 4.5 years and now have developed a 1 min. loose tea/herbal brewing technology that has been taste by the best palates in the industry. No mess or waste. By the cup, consistent every time. We are going to be launching it to the foodservice industry in the near future. It takes up 10 in. of counter space and requires no plumbing connection. 1 TBS of loose leaf in 9 oz. water, brew in the machine for 1 min, pour over 24 oz. tumbler full of ice. The best iced tea you will ever have!
Ive been told (And it worked for me) that adding baking soda as you bring the water to the boil, prevents some of the tannins from being released from the tea. This means you can steep the tea for longer without as much risk of the bitter tannins coming out. This really pays off if you're trying to make a low sugar version.
Im sure it does....... Baking soda is useful for many things!
Try putting honey (adjust the amount to suit your taste -start with about 2 or 3 tablespoons) into the water right after you take it off the heat, stir it in, then add two or three chai spice tea bags for 10 - 20 minutes. Let it cool & chill in fridge......
The ingredients are simple, but the proportions are critical. For 2 quarts of water, we'll need 3/4 cup (150 g) sugar, 2 ounces (60 mL) lemon juice, and two bags of black tea. The lemon juice can be fresh, but I used bottled juice since I always have a bottle handy in my kitchen.
Bring two quarts of water to a rolling boil.
Drop the two tea bags into the water and remove from heat. Cover with a lid and allow steeping for at least 1 hour. Although, in general, black teas should not be steeped for this long because of the excessive release of bitter tannins, this did not seem to be an issue when brewing this much tea with only two bags. Using more bags with a shorter steep time generated a different flavor profile that did not blend as nicely with the lemon juice.
Once the tea has been sufficiently steeped, remove the tea bags and add the sugar and lemon juice. Stir until the sugar completely dissolves.
Pour tea into a pitcher and add ice cubes until the volume has returned to two quarts.
Refrigerate until completely chilled (at least four hours) before serving.