Sun Tea

My mom came to visit me a few weeks ago – and with her she brought something from my dad. When I originally talked to my dad about this something, he referred to it as “a box of crap.” You could imagine my excitement. It’s funny – now that ManFriend and I have this house, we have acquired more “crap” from our parents than I could ever ask for. I guess it’s only fair, since they held on to this “crap” of ours for so long…

Fortunately for me, this “box of crap” my dad sent wasn’t “crap” at all – the box was actually filled with brand-new cooking utensils that he had in storage for a few years. A friend of his used to work with Farberware and would bring him this stuff every once in a while. The box contained a baster, a ladle, oyster-shucking knife, 2 sets of steak knives – and a lot more… It was seriously like Christmas in summer.

One of the biggest fans of this blog is my dad, so he knows of my love for mason jars (as seen here). Being that he’s such a thoughtful guy (or the fact he was moving and didn’t have anywhere to put it), he also put a giant mason jar in this box of crap. At first I wasn’t sure what to do with it, but then it dawned on me – this jar would be perfect for Sun Tea.

When I was younger, my mom would make Sun Tea almost every other day. I remember coming home from school, pulling the Sun Tea off the back patio, and pouring myself a huge glass – it kind of became a habit because she would make it so often. I don’t know anyone else that brews their tea like this – I’ve seen people use the stove, the microwave, a homemade brewer contraption thingy – but not this way.

The best part about Sun Tea is there is no aftertaste. Every tea – hot or iced – always has this awful aftertaste to it that just sticks in your mouth and makes everything you eat or drink afterwards taste funny as well. Not this stuff. It’s smooth, natural and refreshing – the way tea is supposed to be.

Not only does it taste awesome, but it is so easy to make because you don’t have to do anything.

Fill your jar with water, approx. 1 gallon (make sure you use something with a lid). Place 6 tea bags in the water (you can add more or less depending on how strong or weak you like your tea).

Place the lid on the jar to tightly secure the tea bags. Make sure you leave the strings hanging outside the jar so they can easily be removed. Then, bring your jar outside and place in a sunny spot on your patio/porch/backyard.

Let it sit for 4-6 hours in full sun. You’ll know that it’s done when it looks something like this…

Or when your dog starts messing with it…

Now it’s ready to drink. It’ll be warm from the sun still, so make sure you add a lot of ice to your glass to ensure proper coolage. I like my tea just slightly sweet, so I add some sugar in my glass first, then ice, then the tea. I’d recommend not sweetening the entire jar since people like varying degrees of sweetness.

So good, you’ll want to chug it.