I love iced tea in the summer time. I rarely drink it during the other three seasons, but from June – August, I can’t seem to drink enough freshly made iced tea.
My husband and I got hooked on store bought iced tea years ago, but it was loaded with sugar and at the rate we were drinking it, the tea cut into our food budget. At an average of $2.00 a gallon, the cost adds up when you drink a couple of gallons a week. To save money, I started sun-brewing tea on hot sunny summer days. I now spend $2.40 for a box of 48 tea bags and save almost $10 for the same amount of tea.
I fill my sun tea jar with water and 8-10 tea bags and then set it outside in the morning of sunny days. You can use whatever variety of tea you prefer and also more or less tea bags. You might have to experiment to find the right taste for your preference. We like green tea and on occasion I substitute 2-4 regular tea bags with flavored tea bags.
The tea brews all day and I bring it inside in the late afternoon and pour it into a pitcher. If you like your tea sweetened, stir in sugar to your taste, the tea will be warm from the sun and the sugar will dissolve easily. Place the pitcher in the refrigerator to chill.
I stopped adding sugar years ago and now prefer adding my homemade herb-flavored simple syrup to each individual glass. It is so much better this way.
Don’t spend too much money on a sun tea jar, I see them at yard sales and thrift stores all of the time. I’ve had mine since the early 90’s as you can probably tell by its decor.
As I said, I love my iced tea with herbal simple syrup. I also use the syrup in adult beverages. It’s easy to make, read my post, How to Make Simple Syrup.
Do you drink iced tea? Do you buy it or make it at home?
We drink iced tea for lunch every day of the year. We don’t drink it with any sweetener, but it is always nice to have a simple syrup for guests and potlucks. Thanks for the recipe! I wrote a post recently on how I make my iced tea (http://wp.me/p4viGJ-io) if you’re interested. Love your blog! I’m looking forward to reading more. Thanks, again, for the recipe.
Heather @ My Overflowing Cup recently posted…Cinnamon Skillet Apples
Intriguing! We love sipping on iced tea throughout the summer too, but I always just brew it on the stove top. Never heard of doing it in the sun. Now I want to try it just to say that I did. 🙂
And I love how you broke down the cost and showed how much money it saves to make your own tea. Wow, that’s some significant savings, especially when it’s so easy to make.
Lydia @ Thrifty Frugal Mom recently posted…Our $200/mo. Grocery Budget: What I Spent & Saved This Week (5/31-6/6)
thanks, Lydia! What I like about sun-brewing is that I can put the jar out in the morning and forget about it and go about my day. But my mom always made hers on the stove top. Either way is much cheaper than the store bought version.