Recipe: Iced Tea Concentrate
Love homemade iced tea but hate the work? Have a small fridge and can't afford to have the space filled with a jug of cold tea? Like to have a special non-alcoholic beverage to offer unexpected summer guests? Iced tea is one of my favorite summer drinks. This is how I cut down on the effort in order to maximize my relaxation time. It's easy and can be scaled up or down, as needed!
What You Need:
- a large pot
- orange pekoe teabags
- water
- a stove
- sugar (optional)
Take the pot and fill it with water -- the amount of water depends entirely on the size of your pot. I use a 4 litre saucepan most of the time, though have used an 8 litre stockpot before. Add your tea bags to the pot of water. If you're using a 4 litre pot, use 6-8 tea bags. If you are using a larger pot, add a few more. I'm an East Coast girl at heart, so I use Red Rose or Tetley, but any orange pekoe tea will do.
Cover the pot, set it on the stove and bring to a boil. Once it is boiling, uncover the tea, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes or so, then remove the tea bags and bring it back to a hard boil. Boil the tea until the quantity in the pot is reduced by half.
At this point, you can either pour the tea into a storage container or you can sweeten it a bit first. For a 4 litre saucepan, I add 1/4 cup of white sugar and simmer until it has dissolved completely. For a larger pot, I add more. Sweeten to your preference -- honey works well, too.
I let my tea cool a bit and then I pour the concentrate into a glass milk jug and keep it in my fridge. It will keep for a couple weeks in this manner. When you're feeling the need for an iced tea, pour a splash in your glass, top with ice cold water, add a slice of lemon, and you're good to go!