Summer's coming...
May. 31st, 2006 11:34 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sailorzeoWeatherbug's telling me it's about 82 degrees outside. Okay, that could be one indication that summer's near. But there's another one.
In the past week or so, I've made four batches of iced tea.
That's a sure sign of summer. I generally don't care for iced tea in winter, but in summer, I love it. So far, I've made two batches of vanilla-almond black tea (Archer Farms brand from Target), one batch of half vanilla-almond, half plain, and my latest is a combination of Celestial Seasonings Mint Magic and plain tea.
I start with eight teabags. Usually I'll mix and match flavors (four and four or two and six). Teabags go in the ~4-cup blue polycarbonate bottle (that hard, clear plastic). Come summer, it's my "brew bottle." Boil water in kettle, pour over teabags. Cap bottle, let brew five to thirty minutes (brew time is dependant on my attention span and short term memory). While tea is brewing, get 8-cup glass carafe, fill to base of neck with ice. Let sit on counter while tea is brewing. Once tea is done, carefully pour over ice, keeping bags from falling in carafe.
As for sweetener, if I'm using sugar or honey, I put it in with the teabags and hot water, so it dissolves. If I'm using stevia extract, I put it in the carafe after I pour the tea in. I don't use a lot (well, by my coffee sweetening standards!), about half a tablespoon honey or sugar per cup, or one drop of stevia per cup. Matt doesn't care for really sweet tea, and that's usually enough sweetener for me (I can always add more as I'm drinking).
When summer truly hits, I'll be making about two batches a day.
In the past week or so, I've made four batches of iced tea.
That's a sure sign of summer. I generally don't care for iced tea in winter, but in summer, I love it. So far, I've made two batches of vanilla-almond black tea (Archer Farms brand from Target), one batch of half vanilla-almond, half plain, and my latest is a combination of Celestial Seasonings Mint Magic and plain tea.
I start with eight teabags. Usually I'll mix and match flavors (four and four or two and six). Teabags go in the ~4-cup blue polycarbonate bottle (that hard, clear plastic). Come summer, it's my "brew bottle." Boil water in kettle, pour over teabags. Cap bottle, let brew five to thirty minutes (brew time is dependant on my attention span and short term memory). While tea is brewing, get 8-cup glass carafe, fill to base of neck with ice. Let sit on counter while tea is brewing. Once tea is done, carefully pour over ice, keeping bags from falling in carafe.
As for sweetener, if I'm using sugar or honey, I put it in with the teabags and hot water, so it dissolves. If I'm using stevia extract, I put it in the carafe after I pour the tea in. I don't use a lot (well, by my coffee sweetening standards!), about half a tablespoon honey or sugar per cup, or one drop of stevia per cup. Matt doesn't care for really sweet tea, and that's usually enough sweetener for me (I can always add more as I'm drinking).
When summer truly hits, I'll be making about two batches a day.
