How to make summer sun tea

In North Carolina, summers get hot. Like really hot. Our heat index the past 3 weeks has been 3 digits. Lots of sun rays and also humidity which makes it feel even hotter. I’ve found a great way to utilize that solar energy to make a wonderfully delicious summer sun tea without having to heat up your stove top inside the house.

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Summer sun tea, the how-to

This is the best part: it’s incredibly easy.

If you like your brewed tea sweet, add your sugar or sweetener before setting it outside so that it may dissolve easier.

If you prefer your tea unsweetened, set your pitcher of water outside in direct sunlight and let God handle the rest.

Fill a pitcher (preferably glass) with water and as many tea bags or loose tea canisters as you prefer, your sweetener if desired, and a covering to keep out bugs. Set your pitcher outside in direct sunlight for at least 2 hours. God’s sunlight and heat will do the rest for you.

Once the tea has steeped well and sweetener dissolved, bring the pitcher inside, remove covering and tea. Finally, give the tea a good stir and serve in a glass over ice to enjoy.

Options for sweetened tea

Here are a few options for how to sweeten teas:

• raw cane sugar
• local raw honey
• agave
• stevia
• steer clear of chemically made artificial sweeteners at all costs

What makes sun tea taste better?

There’s not accurate science behind this one; just personal experience.

Sun tea tastes way better than stove-top or kettle boiled water tea.

Personally, I feel like you can taste the sunshine. That probably sounds a little hippie-dippy for most readers but it’s true.

The tea tastes more herbal even when it is simple, cheap black tea in individual bags from the grocery store.

Maybe the same sun that grew those leaves/flowers/herbs compliments the water in a way that can’t be explained or perfected; just trusted. Perhaps it is the long steep over warm, not hot, heat that creates such a delightful flavor.

Moreover, the color won’t be as bold and dark in a black tea version and thus, probably not as “strong” but the flavor is unique and more powerful in my opinion. You’ll just have to try summer sun tea for yourself and find out.

If you’re using tea bags with string…

This idea works if you pitcher has a handle:

then tie the bags together and around the handle for easy removal of bags after steeping is complete.

Types of coverings for the pitcher

To keep the bugs out of your possibly sweetened tea pitcher, you can use any covering you prefer:

• a tea towel
• plastic wrap
• reusable bowl covers
• tin foil
• your pitcher’s lid
• screened-in porch, patio, or deck

What type of tea can I make summer sun tea with?

Tea can be made from a host of dried leaves and flowers and even spices. Many contain medicinal and healing properties but do your own research and also know this is my Disclosure statement for such talk as this.

Some options for tea, that are absolutely not exhaustive here, are:

• black tea
• green tea
• dandelion leaves
• echinacea
• lavender
• hibiscus
• lemon balm
• spearmint
• peppermint
• ginger
• chamomile
• calendula
• rose
• so many more!

This summer sun tea recipe works well with any of these and more.

If you grow some of these herbs and flowers listed above, you can dry them out so easily in your own home and store them for future teas! Here’s how you can air dry them thoroughly and store properly.

Should this summer sun tea be served cold?

Since it’s summer, you’re likely looking a refreshing summer beverage. In that case, this is a great tea to serve iced.

However, you can certainly steep this tea and serve it the temperature at which it reached in sunlight that will generally be fairly warm.

What to do with spent tea bags or loose tea?

Compost the spent tea, of course!

Alternatively, if you do not have a compost system set up, go dig a hole in your garden or flower bed and bury and cover the leaves! The soil knows how to break those leaves down into food for the soil microbiome which will produce more garden goodies or flowers for you next year.

Turning kitchen scraps into garden richness is a way to have zero waste from your kitchen. Here are a few ways I try to do this with:

eggshells

lemons

chicken bones

If you liked this summer sun tea idea, try these next:

Strawberry Syrup

Lavender Lemonade

Winter Berry Mocktail

Christmas Coffee

Ginger Ale (bonus: cold-fighting cough syrup recipe)

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Glass pitcher– because I try to avoid heating up plastic of any kind when I can

Reusable Coverings– also great for replacing those split Pyrex bowl covers!

Loose tea canister/steeper– add any dried flowers or herbs or leaves to steep

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