Cold Brew Tea

Summer's here, and nothing beats a glass of good iced tea. Except this isn't iced. And it's super simple.

You need the following:
A filtering water pitcher.
Four to six tea bags, depending on how strong you like your tea.
A French coffee press.
A spot in the refrigerator.

Your tea and coffee will never taste any better than the water you use to make them, so I heartily recommend using one of these. They're not expensive, and available at any Target or Walmart, or any decent supermarket. I use a Brita, and no one's paying me to say that. Now, if the fine folks at Brita want to throw me a few filters, I'll sure give them a good home.

Let's talk about the French press for a second. It's a fairly versatile piece of equipment, suitable for coffee, tea, salad dressings, all sorts of good stuff. They're not expensive and you can get one at the same place you got the filter pitcher for less than the filter pitcher costs.

Take the lid off the press. Open the tea bags, leaving the envelopes attached. Twist the strings around each other so they hang together. Place the tea bags in the press with the strings handing out through the spout. If you left the envelopes, they'll stay put. Pour your water into the press to just under the inside of the spout. Put the lid back on and push the plunger down until the bags are about halfway down. Any higher than that and the press won't fit in the fridge.

The best ingredient is love. And tea. And water. And patience.
Mostly tea and water, though.

Place your press in the refrigerator and leave it be for at least four hours. Six is better, eight would be best, and ten would probably be too much. I recommend doing it before bed, but that's up to you.

And now, a short list of things to do while waiting for your tea to brew.

A Netflix binge.
Fold and put away the laundry that's been sitting in that chair since St. Swithun's Day.
Take a long, long, long shower.
While you're in there, master a few selections from Pagliacci, or perhaps The Barber of Seville. I've always like Santa Lucia.
Go read a book.
Call your mother. She misses you.
Zumba class.
Zumbo class. This ties into the Netflix binge.

He thinks you should call your mother, too.

Go outside and look at a leaf.

Play with your children.

Find your favorite person and...well, that's really none of my business.

Time's up! Take the lid off the press. Pull out the teabags and dispose of them. Pour yourself a glass of your tea and enjoy.

Do you like your tea sweet? Seeing as sugar doesn't dissolve well in cold water, we'll put it in at the beginning of the process. Fill a coffee cup about three quarters with your filtered water and microwave for about a minute. Take your cup of water out and add to it two tablespoons of granulated sugar. Stir until the sugar dissolves, then pour your simple syrup into the press. Fill the press up to half way with cooler filtered water, add your teabags, then top off with water. Brew as normal.

Want more tea? Use a regular two quart pitcher and seven or eight teabags.

We will close today's lesson with a word of caution. Don't make sun tea. If you don't know what that is, I'm not going to tell you. Just know that by doing that you are holding your tea at what's called the danger zone for an extended period. Bacteria get super happy between forty and one hundred forty degrees Fahrenheit, or four to sixty degrees Celsius. Heat, moisture and light means germ party, and we don't want anyone to get sick. Stick with the cold brew method.

I think you'll find it's worth the time.

Enjoy!