Tea Time to Get Serious

[Dave70968]

Earl Grey with a bit of heavy cream for hot tea. For iced tea, boil 1-1.5 gallons of water. When it hits a good rolling boil, take it off the heat and add two gallon-sized tea bags. Set a timer for six minutes. When it beeps, you'd best be removing the tea bags, or it'll be bitter as all hell. Allow to cool--don't add ice. If you've done it right, you'll have tea with about an inch of visibility, strong enough that when you add ice to your (cooled) tea, it won't dilute it excessively. Drink with lime, and don't pollute it with sugar.

 

[OKMike]

I like Red Rose Tea, great iced or hot. No sugar due to diabetes, but in my youth a friends mom steeped the tea with added sugar and lemons before putting it in the pitcher. That stuff was the bomb.

 

[Waltherfan]

The only time I drink iced tea anymore (black tea) is when I'm eating outside of home. Lipton is fine that way. When I was in England they had some bagged tea that had me swear off any American brand for years. Of course that was over 15 years ago and I can't remember what it was called. Excellent tea though.

Now days, if I'm drinking tea at home it's hot tea. Green tea, either straight or sometimes flavored (Jasmine or some type of mint). Brewing green tea is an art (one that I have yet to master but I'm getting better). The water has to be at the right temperature, the right amount of leaves and the right amout of time.

None of my tea gets sweetened.

 

[WNM]

If your tea isn't on ice and sweet, you're doing tea wrong.

 

[jbarnett]

http://www.adagio.com/white/silver_needle.html?SID=ecd4edc2c0868da9f5bce7b166ff8bdb

 

[Wheel Gun]

If your tea isn't on ice and sweet, you're doing tea wrong.

There seems to be a little "Southernizing" going on with tea drinkers in this part of the country. Having lived most of my life in OK and TX, it was rare when a food server asked if you wanted sweet tea. But, the opposite was true in the deep south--you were either asked or just given sweet tea. But I've noticed lately that more and more restaurants here, when iced tea is ordered, reply with "sweet or 'unsweet". People must be requesting more sweet tea these days.

 

[Hump66]

I add the sugar to the boiling water. Seems to disperse the goodies better, and I can pack more into it.

 

[vdub]

Used to be a Lipton tea drinker but have switched to Luzianne now. Lipton tea tastes funny to me now as well. Might be that I went from two bags to three bags per gallon. Oh well, tastes good!!

 

[Wheel Gun]

but have switched to Luzianne now

Same here. We buy the decaf version and it tastes great.

 

[WNM]

There seems to be a little "Southernizing" going on with tea drinkers in this part of the country. Having lived most of my life in OK and TX, it was rare when a food server asked if you wanted sweet tea. But, the opposite was true in the deep south--you were either asked or just given sweet tea. But I've noticed lately that more and more restaurants here, when iced tea is ordered, reply with "sweet or 'unsweet". People must be requesting more sweet tea these days.

I agree with your hypothesis. I'm a transplanted southern man and sweet teas is becoming more and more available in OK.