Has anyone made Sun Tea with loose leaf tea?

[silverdae]

It is spring, and that means Iced Tea season- more specifically, sun tea season.

Do you not know what sun tea is? Simply put, in the morning you place your tea in a large clear container, fill it with water, and sit it out in the sun. By mid-afternoon, you have excellent smooth tea.

I've only done this with tea bags from the grocery though. Has anyone tried it with loose tea? Does anyone have any suggestions if they do brew this way?

Thanks!

Jen

[Anelezel]

I love sun tea!

I would wager that making a gallon of sun tea using loose leaf tea would use an awful lot of tea, I would just stick to the bags.

Also, I've been doing it fridge style this season because I hear that a lot of yuck can grow in regular sun tea. Just do the same prep (6 bags to a gallon) and stick it in the fridge, it still brews and its already cold so you don't have to wait for it

Have fun!

[omegapd]

Welcome to the forum, Jen!

Hadn't made sun tea in years. Used to be the only way my folks made tea. Like was said above, cold brewing seems to have taken the place of it and (hopefully) keeps the bugs out.

[silverdae]

Aezell- Thanks for the recommendation on doing it fridge style. I hadn't heard of that before. It would actually work out better as I plan to do this at work- we're all addicted to iced-tea with our lunches.

Omegapd- Thanks for the warm welcome!

Jen

[silvermage2000]

No I have not I think it would be too time consuming. I do agree with the using the fridge. Or try perhaps putting it where the sun can beat down upon it. What kind of tea do you usually use? Hi and welcome to the forum.

[Susana]

I have a feeling there is already a thread on this somewhere...

sun tea with loose leaf tea is great! I have made many batches and they have all come out great! I usually make mine in Mason Jars or my cold brew pitcher. I have even made it in my office on the windowsill.

It's all about experimenting.

[Ryoruki]

you have to watch out for the bacteria that can grow in sun-tea. it shouldn't matter if you use loose tea or bagged, but use real tea, not tizanes, the caffeine apparently keeps the bacteria at bay for a few hours.

also, never make more sun-tea than you will consume that day. it's also a good idea not to let it sit more than 4 hours in the sun.

overall, for a larger group of people i'd recommend either making fridge-tea with cold-brew bags, or just making regular tea and diluting and icing it down.