Every time I’ve brewed iced tea it always tastes super weak sauce. Canned/packaged iced teas taste wayyyyyy too sweet to me. I just want ice cold flavourful tea with a tiny bit of sweetness. How do you do that?
I’m sure Lipton iced tea is full of artificial colours and emulsifiers and possibly even fats for some reason, in addition to excessive amounts of sugar. I’m not going to defend that crap. No one should drink that stuff.
So here is what I do. I’m sorry, I’m about to be wordy.
I take my stock pot and fill it with water.
One tea bag, is for one cup of tea, yes? So how many cups of tea water are in your pot?
My stock pot uses around a gallon of water, I am completely guessing but it’s somewhere not much more than a gallon. I use 6 to 7 tea bags for this.
You boil the water, turn it off once it’s bubbling and make your tea, as normal with many tea bags.
Once the tea bags have done their job (for me 3-4 minutes) you’ll discard the tea bags and add your sweetener while it’s still hot. I usually use sugar and/or honey. You’ll have to measure this to your own taste. For sugar, personally I put about a half cup, maybe a bit less. Honey I measure more prudently because the local stuff is expensive. Anyhow. Do this while the its still hot and stir. At this point I like to add fresh lemon juice if I have it and stir that in too.
Here’s the part you’re not going to like. You have now just prepped the tea. Set it off to the side for an hour at least. Just, let it cool to room temperature. Once it’s, at minimum, lukewarm, you can then transfer it to a container for the refrigerator, and pour yourself a glass over ice.
Iced tea requires forethought.
Or like the other person said, use more tea bags to make it stronger so that when the ice melts it’s not garbage water. Though I find this method wasteful because you need double the tea bags, and you just end up with lukewarm tea anyway because the ice melts so fast
Just make a big pot, and wait. It’s like proofing bread. No, you dont have an active role in the step, but it is vital for good bread. Have patience and you’ll get good iced tea for at least a few days.
I have a pitcher at home just for this, and basically do the same for iced coffee (though I leave coffee black). I brew a pot in standard home fashion and set it off to cool, then refrigerate it.
Making a larger quantity makes the wait seem more sensible to me. I felt silly writing this out, but I hope it helps
Every time I’ve brewed iced tea it always tastes super weak sauce. Canned/packaged iced teas taste wayyyyyy too sweet to me. I just want ice cold flavourful tea with a tiny bit of sweetness. How do you do that?
I’m sure Lipton iced tea is full of artificial colours and emulsifiers and possibly even fats for some reason, in addition to excessive amounts of sugar. I’m not going to defend that crap. No one should drink that stuff.
There are other teas than Lipton premades, come on, are your seriously asking > How do you do that?
Because I make a mildly sweet tea kind of often and I will teach you if you’re serious.
Yes I’m serious. I think my issue is that I use hot water to brew the tea and then ice to cool it down which makes it too watery!
So here is what I do. I’m sorry, I’m about to be wordy.
I take my stock pot and fill it with water.
One tea bag, is for one cup of tea, yes? So how many cups of tea water are in your pot?
My stock pot uses around a gallon of water, I am completely guessing but it’s somewhere not much more than a gallon. I use 6 to 7 tea bags for this.
You boil the water, turn it off once it’s bubbling and make your tea, as normal with many tea bags.
Once the tea bags have done their job (for me 3-4 minutes) you’ll discard the tea bags and add your sweetener while it’s still hot. I usually use sugar and/or honey. You’ll have to measure this to your own taste. For sugar, personally I put about a half cup, maybe a bit less. Honey I measure more prudently because the local stuff is expensive. Anyhow. Do this while the its still hot and stir. At this point I like to add fresh lemon juice if I have it and stir that in too.
Here’s the part you’re not going to like. You have now just prepped the tea. Set it off to the side for an hour at least. Just, let it cool to room temperature. Once it’s, at minimum, lukewarm, you can then transfer it to a container for the refrigerator, and pour yourself a glass over ice.
Iced tea requires forethought.
Or like the other person said, use more tea bags to make it stronger so that when the ice melts it’s not garbage water. Though I find this method wasteful because you need double the tea bags, and you just end up with lukewarm tea anyway because the ice melts so fast
Just make a big pot, and wait. It’s like proofing bread. No, you dont have an active role in the step, but it is vital for good bread. Have patience and you’ll get good iced tea for at least a few days.
I have a pitcher at home just for this, and basically do the same for iced coffee (though I leave coffee black). I brew a pot in standard home fashion and set it off to cool, then refrigerate it.
Making a larger quantity makes the wait seem more sensible to me. I felt silly writing this out, but I hope it helps
Wow thank you for the very detailed reply! I’m saving this!
You need more tea bags is likely the thing.