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Throughout the spring and summer months, many tea drinkers enjoy letting their tea steep in the sunlight and no wonder this brew got the name sun tea. Quite a few people's first experiences with iced tea are through this method. Therefore, it must be good. Sun tea evokes a feeling of longing for the past. An indicator of summer for some is the presence of a jar of tea brewing on the porch. The finished product is on par with other iced tea brewing methods in flavour. Many find the final outcome a mildly flavoured tea that can be enhanced with sugar or combined with different tea types.
What is sun tea, and how to make it?
Simply said, it's iced tea that has been brewed by letting tea leaves or bags steep in water that has been left out in the sun. The process is easy enough; all you have to do is put your tea leaves and water in a clear pitcher and let the sunlight do the rest. The entire process of making the beverage ends there. Watching the tea's varied colours and flavours gradually stain the water is aesthetically pleasing.
The taste of sun tea
It is common practice to use either black tea leaves or a black tea bag to prepare this beverage. Compared to teas produced with hot or boiling water, teas made with sun have a more subtle flavour. This is because the temperature of sun tea rarely rises above 130 degrees Fahrenheit. White and green tea, the most delicate of all teas, are brewed at temperatures between 150 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Typically, sugar cane is used to provide sweetness to the tea, and fruit is blended in to give it a more vibrant taste. Rosehip, jasmine, hibiscus, and peach flavours are among the most sought-after.
Sun Tea Recipe
Ingredients:
- 4 to 8 tablespoons of loose leaf tea or 4-8 tea bags
- 1 gallon of purified water
- 1 large glass pitcher
- Sweeteners (cane sugar, brown sugar, simple syrup, etc.)
Sun tea in mason jars, Image Source: katerecipebox.com
Method:
- Begin early in the morning by cleaning and disinfecting the glass pitcher. Once its sterilized, pour it with purified or boiled water
- Add the loose tea or tea bags and put on the lid of the jar
- Now put it carefully in a clean place under direct sunlight and let it sit for 3-4 hours. Keep a check on the sunlight, and if needed, shift the jar to let it get the sun.
- If the flavour is how you like it, transfer the tea to a container and place it in the fridge. Tea can be sweetened to taste.
- Serve in a tumbler, tall glass, or mason jar and enjoy on a hot sunny day. Refrain from storing the sun tea for beyond a day.
Potential dangers and how to avoid them
Sun brewing presents a delicious conundrum because the sun only gets hot enough to liberate some of the solids from dried leaves and blooms but not hot enough to be deemed a safe brewing procedure.
Brewing tea at temperatures lower than 195 degrees Fahrenheit, unless the tea is kept cold, can lead to the formation of bacteria that are dangerous to humans. The concern is that the tea never gets hotter than 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The likelihood of being ill from drinking this tea is low, but it could still be contaminated with harmful, rope-like germs. This alone is enough to make many people look into other tea-brewing techniques.
In the event that sun tea is still appealing, here are some measures you can take to lessen the likelihood of bacteria growing in it:
- Choose a container that has been sterilized and cleaned correctly.
- Choose either sterile distilled water or water that has been boiled to eliminate any microorganisms.
- The maximum time it can sit out is 4 hours.
- Sift and store in the fridge for same-day consumption.
