When I was a child I never heard of sun tea. When I was in my twenties I heard of sun tea and thought it was some sort of hippy drink. Now I am old and I have been making sun tea for over twenty years. I have tried various forms of sun tea and I have done a lot of experimenting with the making of sun tea until I have now made it a fine art.
Sun tea is a tea that is actually made from the suns rays. When you make sun tea you need some sort of clear container that can let the rays of the sun into the liquid inside the container. The liquid being plain water. A glass container is best because it makes a better tasting tea. Plastic has a flavor all it’s own and it actually adds a plastic flavor to the tea. A large clear glass jar or pitcher is ideal. The container should also have a lid of some sort on it. The lid does not have to be clear but it helps. I have a container that is especially made to make sun tea with. I bought it at a department store and it works well but any large clear container will work.
I fill up my clear container with plain water. The less chemicals in the water the better since chemicals add a flavor to the tea. I use water from our well and it works great. No chlorine in our well water. Spring water works great too. After I fill up my container, I put in two ordinary tea bags per gallon of water. I usually like my sun tea to be plain orange pekoe or earl gray tea but sometimes I do get fancy with other flavors. Raspberry tea is good and so is blueberry. When I make a flavored tea I put in one flavored tea bag for every regular tea bag that I use. So if I use two earl gray tea bags I also add two flavored tea bags. That way the tea is rich in flavor.
After I have my clear container all set up with water and tea I just put the container into a sunny spot for about four hours. If it is real sunny out my tea can be done in an hour if it the day cloudy it can take all day. The tea is done when it is a good color for tea. Some people like tea to be heavy and some like it light. The best way to find out how you like you tea is to experiment with it until you find what makes you happy. Half the fun of making sun tea is the experience you get making it.
When your tea is the color you like you can take it out of the sun, remove the tea bags and pour some into a glass of ice. You can add other ingredients at this time like lemon wedges or sugar. Use as much of the sun tea as you want and then you can store it in your refrigerator for a few days.
Sun tea is a great party drink. You can make several flavors of sun tea and have it at your next summer party.
