Sweet Southern Sun Tea

Hon­est­ly I don’t remem­ber hav­ing a whole lot­ta sun tea grow­ing up. In fact, it was a on going joke that my mom could­n’t make good tea. She always seemed to scald it on the stove and it had a burnt taste. She was even gift­ed a fan­cy tea mak­er one year for Christ­mas which did help.…buuuut when it quit work­ing she all but quit mak­ing tea. 

I start­ed mak­ing tea again about 7 years ago when Josh and I were first mar­ried. Tea for this gal is best served cold and sweeeet. South­ern style I guess you could say. And my favorite way to brew it is in the sun. Yep, good ole fash­ioned sun­shine. I was first intro­duced to this con­cept b y my moth­er in law who always has a pick­le jar full of tea in the fridge. I enjoy mak­ing my tea in the morn­ing that way it is ready by mid after­noon, just in time to fin­ish up your mow­ing and sit to cool down on the porch. Sounds divine does­n’t it? I hope you enjoy this method, I know my fam­i­ly sure loves it.

• Grab a gal­lon glass jar, like this one linked HERE. An old pick­le jar works per­fect­ly fine, just make sure it’s a glass con­tain­er for the best flavor. 

• Fill with warm water and and stir in 1–2 cups of sug­ar, depend­ing on your pre­ferred lev­el of sweetness.

• Place 4 fam­i­ly sized tea bags, of your choice, in the water, keep­ing the string hang­ing over the edge for easy removal. Seal with lid.

• Place your jar in direct sun for a few hours until seeped. Don’t let it sit all day, or it will sour. I’ve found the 3–4 hour mark makes the per­fect brew. 

• Serve over ice, infuse wth fresh lemon or oth­er fruits as desired.

Your tea will look a lot like this right after prepping.

This is how dark my tea became after about 3 hours in the sun on 60 degree afternoon.

CHEERS!

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