Did you ever make sun tea when you were growing up? This is a popular drink that brings back a lot of nostalgia for most people, particularly if you grew up in the Southern United States.
While most tea is brewed using water heated up in a pan or a kettle, sun tea uses the natural heat from the sun to brew the tea at a lower temperature. To make this tea, you can place tea leaves or tea bags in a pitcher, and leave it out in the sun to brew. In this article, we are going to be explaining what sun tea is, why it is popular and how you can make delicious sun-brewed herbal tea at home!
What Makes Sun Tea so Special?
The reason sun tea differs from a typical tea has to do with temperature. When you look at the brewing instructions of a typical tea, it’s almost like following a recipe. The brewing times and temperatures determine what is extracted from the tea leaves and what stays inside.
Some of the bitter components inside the tea leaves are only extracted with hotter temperature water. This means that when you brew the tea with room temperature water, you end up with an infusion that has less bitterness. When you brew sun tea, the water typically reaches a temperature of 130 degrees fahrenheit, which releases less bitterness because it is far less than boiling.
What to Watch Out for When Making Sun Tea
There are a couple of different considerations to make when making sun tea. The first is the sterilization of your tea and teaware. When you brew tea with boiling water, it kills a lot of the bacteria that might be on the teaware, but 130 degrees is not hot enough for the water to act as a disinfectant. This means that it is extra important to make sure that you are using clean ingredients and properly cleaned teaware.
Another consideration has to do with the use of plastic. We have all been warned not to drink water bottles left in a hot car, and the same concept applies here. If you were to use a plastic pitcher to brew your sun tea, some of the plastic can leach out into the water. This is why we recommend you use a glass pitcher when you are brewing your sun tea.
Best Teas to Use for Sun Tea
The classic tea to use for sun tea is a cheap bagged tea, but where’s the fun in that? There are plenty of better alternatives you can use. For example, we know of a few herbal teas that work great when they are sun-brewed. Peppermint tea works particularly well, and so do Chaga and Ivan Tea.
Peppermint Tea
Peppermint is one of the most popular herbal infusions out there and it makes for a great sun tea. This is made out of the dried leaves of the peppermint plant, and they release natural menthol into the water which induces a cooling sensation. This can be very refreshing on a hot day, particularly when the temperature of the drink is a little bit cooler.
Chaga Tea
Chaga is a little less well-known than peppermint, but it works great in a cold brew all the same! This infusion is made from chaga mushroom, which grows on the bark of the birch tree in Northern Europe, Asia and North America. This tea has a taste similar to ripe puerh, and the cooler water can reduce some of its bitterness.
Ivan Tea
Ivan, also known as fireweed, is a large perennial herb that grows throughout Siberia and Northern Europe. It gets the name “fireweed” from the fact that it is among the first to grow on land that has been recently cleared by forest fire. It can be ground up to produce a delicious tea that can help with everything from cold and flu, to high blood pressure. It also works great as a sun brewed tea!
How to Make Sun Tea
Making sun tea is simple, you just need to follow a few basic steps.
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Find a large, glass pitcher and fill it with 4 cups of distilled water
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Take out 5 bags of either chaga, peppermint or Ivan tea (or a combination of all three!)
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Place a lid on top so insects can’t get inside
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Allow the tea to brew in direct sun either outside or on a windowsill for 2-4 hours.
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Remove the tea bags from the pitcher, examine the tea and serve it either with or without ice!
One of the benefits of sun tea is that it won’t be so hot, so you can pour it into an ice filled cup without the ice cubes melting immediately. This makes it the perfect refreshing drink to enjoy in the summertime!
In addition to tasting good, these herbal teas can help you improve your health overtime. If you’re interested in learning more about the health benefits of each herb, you can find articles about it on our blog at BaikalTea.com.
Final Thoughts on Sun Tea
As you can see, sun tea makes for a great drink anytime of year, but particularly in the summer. It’s easy to make, it’s refreshing and it’s a great drink to serve over ice and share with friends.
It also lets you take advantage of multiple different types of herbs, and combine the flavors with one another. If you’re interested in trying this flavor combination for yourself, you can pick up the herbal teas at BaikalTea.com.
We work with a family of herbalists to craft delicious and healthy herbal teas from lake Baikal. These herbs are grown without pesticides or chemicals, and they are wild-foraged on the banks of lake Baikal, considered to be one of the cleanest lakes in the world.
These teas work great individually, but together they are even better. Try your own flavor experiments at home and see how you like the combination.
