To take full advantage of the warmth of the summer sun, try making a fresher-tasting version of iced tea using solar energy instead of boiled water. A technique that sweetly coaxes out the essence of your tea with the rays of the sun creates a cleaner, smoother, more refreshing iced tea.
Instructions for sun tea
- Place filtered water and tea bags or loose tea in an infuser in a large glass jar, cover with lid.
- Place it on a sunny windowsill. Let this sit until the water is infused and the colour changes.
- The timing of this depends on the strength of the sun, but usually takes a minimum of 2 hours. Generally, when it comes to steeping, the longer, the stronger.
Sun tea flavour options
My favourite kinds are herbal fruity teas that have berries or citrus. I use one tea bag or 1 tsp loose tea per 1 cup purified water. Add some fresh squeezed lime or lemon juice and ice cubes.
To sweeten these up for kids you can try adding half fruit juice (cranberry is especially pretty, white grape is naturally sweet and clear, pineapple is fun and tropical), and add honey or agave to taste.
