Use a large glass jar with a lid or a 'Sun Tea' jar. During the summer months, 'Sun Tea' jars with spigot pour spouts are easy to find in kitchen or discount stores. This recipe is for 1/2 gallon of tea, but can easily be doubled. I prefer to make smaller batches, so we don't get tired of the flavors.
Recipe makes 1/2 gallon of iced tea
4 tea bags of regular black tea (Tetley, Salada, etc.), tied together for easy removal
a BIG handful of herbs (I never bother to measure the herbs; add about 2 cups of fresh herbs with stems)
Good choices:
lemon verbena (personal favorite) lemon balm mint - 'Kentucky Colonel', chocolate mint, blue balsam mintor any favorite mint [pennyroyal should not be used]. Add 2 quarts of cold water. Cover the jar and put outside in a sunny spot. After 3-4 hours, remove the tea bags and herbs. Store the tea in the refrigerator or pour over ice cubes* and serve. Enjoy your tea!
*Ice cubes: Make these when you make the tea. Put individual leaves or small sprigs of herbs, or edible flowers in the individual compartments of an ice cube tray; cover with cold water and freeze. Use mint leaves with mint flavored tea, lemon verbena leaves with lemon verbena flavored tea, etc. Johnny-jump-ups and borage flowers look especially nice in lemonade.
-A recipe from Rhonda Haavisto
