Tea Time

My favorite summertime beverage is iced tea. I grew up drinking it. I remember watching my mother make it. Measuring out the scoops of powder into a Tupperware pitcher, filling it with water, and waiting not-so-patiently for it to chill.

I grew up on the powdered mix. And there's nothing wrong with that. But over the years, as I developed a taste for hot tea as well, my love for the powdered mix began to wane. It started to taste a bit too sweet for me. And the sugar-free mix tasted, I don't know, just ... off ... somehow. So I decided it was time to bite the bullet and start making iced tea from "scratch."

I wasn't really sure where to start, though, so I turned to the Internet. (What did homecooks do before the Internet?) One of my go-to sites is allrecipes.com, and it didn't disappoint. I found a recipe I thought I could handle, and tweaked it to suit my tastes. Then I altered is some more to make a different flavored iced tea -- Peach.

And I don't think I'll go back to the powdered mix ever again.

Lemon-Mint Iced Tea
Recipe altered slightly from allrecipes.com
Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

• 8 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 11 tea bags (I like Lipton.)
• 1 peppermint tea bag (I like Celestial Seasonings.)
• 1/2 cup frozen lemonade concentrate

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat; remove from heat, then stir in sugar until dissolved.
2. Add tea and peppermint tea bags, and allow to steep for 1 hour.
3. Remove the tea bags, stir in lemonade, and chill.
4. Serve tea over ice.

Peach Iced Tea
Recipe modified from the Lemon-Mint Iced Tea
Makes 2 quarts

Ingredients:

• 8 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 11 tea bags
• 1 peach tea bags (I like Bigelow.)

Directions:

1. Bring water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat; remove from heat, then stir in sugar until dissolved.
2. Add tea and peach tea bags, and allow to steep for 1 hour.
3. Remove the tea bags and chill.
4. Serve tea over frozen, sliced peaches.

Note from the Cook: I originally made both recipes with 12 regular tea bags and 2 flavored ones. But the flavor was a bit strong for me, so I cut it down to 11 regular tea bags and 1 flavored. It better suits my tastes. So you may need to do the same.