sun tea

[BerryGirl]

Living in the DEEP south, my DH is a big fan of iced tea-- the more sugar, the better. I know some raw foodists make sun tea. How would I make this? What kind of tea leaves are ok to use? Could I use agave to sweeten it? I'm trying to slowly but surely integrate more and more raw foods into both of our diets, and I know sun tea would be a great addition for both of us.

[shakti17]

yum! i love sun tea! it has all the sun's energy that you can taste. I make it with fresh herbs - like mint leaves. i suppose dried herb teas could work - camomille, etc. my favorite was chapparal! wow! i was living in the desert then.

i would buy one of those big glass jars that has a spicket to pour - they usually sell them at k-mart type stores with different designs. put a lot of herbs, cover w water - put in the sun! yes - agave makes a great sweetener. lemonade is yum too - lemon water and agave.

[Kris]

Hi Berry Girl,

I too am from the South, originally, and always loved my grandmother's sun tea. Now that I live in the Pacific Northwest, there isn't really enough sun to make sun tea! :p But this is how I would make it if I could:

Put some water in a big glass jar. My grandmother always used a gallon pickle jar, thoroughly washed to get rid of the pickle smell, of course. Put in a big handful or loose tea leaves or whatever herbs you'd like to use. If you're using tea leaves, it is possible to find some raw teas, though they probably won't be labeled as such. Although all teas come from the same plant, white teas are the least processed and most likely to be raw. Green teas are the next least processed and much easier to find (and much less expensive) than white teas, but are not truly raw if that matters to you.

Put the lid on the jar, and put it outside in a sunny spot for a few hours. The sun will gently warm the water and help the tea to steep. When the tea is the desired strength, you can mix in some agave or honey, then pour it over ice and enjoy.

Hope that helps.

[BerryGirl]

I know that this summer we'll get plenty of sun to brew tea-- I just hope oppressive humidity doesn't throw the whole thing off in some way. Thanks for your help!

[rawpriestess]

this is how you make sun tea regular

take a one gallon jar or bigger, add water, drop in tea bags leave in the sun, add sugar etc.

so to make raw sun tea take a one gallon jar or bigger, and drop in mint leaves, camomile flowers etc. and leave in the sun and instead of adding sugar, agave' nectar sounds perfect.

you leave in the sun several hours to brew.

[Pamelraw]

Hi I use stevia herb that is very sweet to sweeten my tea. I put a handful of mint and a handfull or two of stevia leaves in with my tea leaves to let them all steep together and YUM!
You can buy the seeds or plants online or at your local Home Depot Nursery.
Pam