I couldn't live through summer without iced tea. And believe it or not, when I was a teenager, though real tea was clearly better instant tea made a pretty quick tall glass and didn't offend me (it would now).
Sun tea was all the rage for awhile but it's been a long time since I've been offered a glass so I presume we're all over that by now. For my personal tastes, the mellowness that others loved about it was what I liked least. It was too dilute, especially when combined with ice the way we Californians with ice makers fill every cold drink to the brim with ice.
I stumbled over my favorite iced tea method when I finally worked in an office with a instant hot water tap AND an icemaker. I could make half a coffee cup of strong tea, then fill it with ice (while still hot). Somehow, pouring the hot tea over ice stopped it at it's freshest and tea-iest with, what in wine terms you'd call forward fruitiness and firm tannins. Letting it cool first is less fruity and more tannic. It's the same principal someone else eventually figured out when they invented an iced tea machine for the Mr. Coffee appliance line, but I knew it first. Water quality is important too--chlorinated tap water high in minerals makes terrible tea. Here in Washington our tap water's good enough, but in Los Angeles I used bottled water for my tea.
Anyway, I still make my tea that way. Oh I'll make a quart sometimes and let it cool off for later cups at a moment's notice, but that first cup of strong hot tea poured over ice is always the best and most refreshing. I'm drinking one right now, hence this post.
So how do you make your iced tea? And what tea do you use?
