The
Perfect Iced Tea
Black tea is the classic
foundation for iced tea, but try experimenting with blended and
flavored teas, green teas, and herbals. Here are two methods for
making sure your iced tea is perfect every time. When you brew
iced tea in the traditional manner, with hot water, the tea will
often become cloudy when chilled. If this happens, add a little
boiling water to the chilled tea and give it a stir. If you want
your chilled tea to be crystal clear, use the cold water method.
For iced tea to be the same strength from start to finish, use
ice cubes made from leftover tea.
4 cups (1 Quart) cold water
1/4 cup loose black tea leaves, or 4 tea bags
ice cubes
sugar
syrup for sweetening (recipe follows: optional)
Hot-water
method
In a saucepan, bring 2 cups of the cold
water to a boil. Remove from the heat and add the tea leaves.
Stir, cover, and let steep for 5 minutes. Stir and strain the
mixture through a fine sieve to remove the tea leaves. (For
crystal-clear tea, strain a second time through filter paper–the
kind used to make drip coffee.) Pour the strained tea into
a pitcher containing the remaining 2 cups of cold water. Stir,
and pour into tall glasses filled with ice cubes. Sweeten
with Sugar Syrup if desired.
Cold-water
method
Fill a large glass container with the tea and cold
water. Stir well and chill overnight.
If you used loose tea, strain the mixture through a fine sieve to remove the tea leaves. (For crystal-clear tea, strain a second time through filter paper–the kind used to make drip coffee.) Refrigerate until serving time. Stir, and pour into tall glasses filled with ice cubes. Sweeten with Sugar Syrup if desired.
Sugar
Syrup
In a small saucepan, combine 2 cups water and 2
cups sugar. Bring the miexture to a boil over medium heat. Simmer
until clear, about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool
to room temperature. Store indefinitely in a covered container
in the refrigerator. Use in iced tea according to taste.
Lemon
Sugar Syrup
Follow the recipe for Sugar Syrup, stirring in
the zest of 3 small lemons, peeled in strips, after the mixture
reaches a boil. Proceed as directed, straining and discarding the
zest after the liquid has cooled.
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