In the cloudless Soviet and post-Soviet childhood, many probably quenched their thirst with "grandmother's" tea, yes with honey, and with lemon, chilled in the hot summer season. A little matured, the youth switched to sweet gas drinks (which, incidentally, do not quench thirst, but, on the contrary, even cause it - nutritionists have recently come to this conclusion). But today, world-famous beverage companies again offer us to mourn, releasing several items of ice tea in plastic bottles. But you can cook it yourself: it will be tastier and cheaper at times. How to make ice tea at home, our today's article will tell. We hope that natural and refreshing ice tea will become your favorite drink in the warm season.
A bit of history
With this drink, people have been quenching thirst for more than a century. According to legend, he was "invented" by an entrepreneur from St. Louis. At the fair in 1904 there was terrible heat, such that no one wanted to look at hot drinks (and did not want to taste them). Then the enterprising R. Blechinden threw ice tea into hot tea, and the drink became, as they say, snapped up. And another entrepreneur from Switzerland, Max Sprenger, thought of pouring a thirst-quenching drink into bottles for sale and storage. But did you know that no less tasty drink can be made with your own hands? How to make ice tea at home? There are some simple and sure ways.
How to make iced tea at home - recommendations
By the way, today it is considered not quite right to simply add ice cubes to a hot drink. Such an action creates a temperature contrast in it, which can become a destructive factor for the enamel of your teeth. In addition, true tea connoisseurs say that such treatment significantly impairs the taste of the “drink of the kings.” But just in case, we’ll give you this old recipe, suddenly who decides to check the recommendations of experts in practice?
The original recipe (1904)
How to make ice tea at home? In a teapot, previously doused with boiling water, put a couple of small spoons of good loose black tea. Brew uncooked boiling water (80-90 degrees) for about 15 minutes. In a cup add a spoonful of honey, a slice of lemon, pour tea. Throw a few pieces of ice into a bowl of tea. That's all. You can quench your thirst.
Iced tea: recipe and composition
You can cook “Ice Tea” and other recipes. For faster preparation of the drink, take an empty half-liter container and put it in the refrigerator to cool. And in the freezer we put a steel tablespoon. In a small amount of hot water (but not boiling water, otherwise the tea may become tasteless) we brew a couple of packages with a drink (or a few small tablespoons of friable). Packaged can be used with various additives: bergamot, jasmine, for example. Each time you will get a new taste. We brew not too long: 5 minutes. In a cup with tea leaves after we put a spoon from the freezer - cold metal quickly takes the heat of the drink. Now pour our tea into a chilled container. Put sugar to taste and stir thoroughly. Bring to volume with cold mineral water. Squeeze out the same juice from half a lemon. If you’re not afraid of losing tooth enamel, add a few ice cubes and you can drink it.
With lemon and mint
This kind of ice tea does not at all involve ice in its composition. A refreshing effect is achieved with citrus and peppermint. We brew black tea (loose or in bags) according to the traditional method in a teapot with a half-liter capacity. But the amount of infusion compared to the usual take an increased - approximately doubled. We insist tea for a long time: during this time it will have time to cool down a bit. Pour 100 grams of sugar into tea (less may be to taste). Stir thoroughly. By the way, sugar can be successfully replaced with three tablespoons of honey. So your “Ice” will turn out as useful as possible. Squeeze juice out of one lemon . In a plastic "one and a half" with a twisting lid we put several leaves of fresh mint. There, we carefully pour lemon juice and tea through the watering can. And from above we add the necessary amount of mineral water with gas. It should be a dining room, not salty. Now you know how to make ice tea yourself. Ice tea with mint and lemon should be immersed in the refrigerator to reach the desired temperature. And you can immediately use it, but then the mineral water for diluting the drink should be icy.
Slowly
And this is a recipe on how to make iced tea at home tasty, without rushing, with feeling and arrangement. It will turn out super-soft in taste. And also - very useful, since it is practically not subjected to heat treatment. But for its preparation will have to be patient. So, let's take loose tea and in a glass dish for infusion, fill it with purified water, a little higher than room temperature. Then we remove the tea to insist (for example, you can put it on the windowsill, under the sun's rays, or you can leave it in this position all night). An indicator that the tea is brewed will be the saturated color of the future drink. How to make iced tea at home? What products are needed for this yet? We take one lemon per liter of water (juice must be squeezed out of it), several large spoons of liquid honey. All this is mixed with tea brewed in such a cold way. We remove the capacity in the refrigerator, having previously filtered it. When the tea has finally cooled, you can drink it.
Healthy drink: storage and consumption
How to make iced tea yourself? Of course, there are many recipes for its preparation. But if everything is done according to the rules, then one should remember the ancient Chinese wisdom: drink tea only at the temperature at which it was prepared. And in our case, it is iced tea. Therefore, it is so important in this context to use the cold method of brewing tea, so that one fits the other as much as possible. For the rest, try and experiment, according to your tastes and culinary imagination, using various additives to “Ice Tea” that you like. For example, ginger with honey and lemon, or bergamot, or jasmine goes very well with such a drink.
You should also remember about the shelf life. It is best to drink immediately. Since, despite the powerful antiseptic, it is still not worth saving for long periods (unlike store options, which can be stored unopened unopened for up to a year). But our drink is fresh and healthy. Therefore, immediately drink it to your health, quenching your thirst. In extreme cases, it can lie in a bottle in the refrigerator, but not more than a day.