The weather sprinted ahead of Spring today, but thankfully I saw the forecast and loaded up my new inexpensive 3L pitcher with copious amounts of oolong leaves for iced tea. At one point it was near full, but I didn't have the foresight to snap a quick picture. Since tomorrow will be another relatively hot one, I'm planning on changing up the recipe later today once the pitcher's contents are tapped out.

The Process

My production technique is very simple: drop in a guestimate of loose tea, fill with water, and place in fridge (ideally overnight). Sun tea would certainly brew faster, but after reading online a few years ago that you need to be careful with bacteria I figured I'd just take the longer and just-as-easy route of refrigeration.

The Tea

As for types of tea, my leading preference is for oolongs as they don't get bitter no matter how long the tea leaves remain submerged. I like green tea as well, but you definitely need to sample periodically and might need to remove the leaves to avoid it being overly bitter. For something with no caffeine, rooibos or mint are nice options I've used many times before. It's worth mentioning I prefer unsweetened for all of the above; if you use sugar or honey, you might need to alter the process a bit.

I'm certainly biased since my brother owns it, but check out Stone Leaf Teahouse if you're looking for high quality loose leaf tea.