Sun Tea

Yes, I have taken the final step into hippie-dom from which there is no turning back - a few days ago I made my first batch(es) of sun tea.

For the uninitiated, sun tea is an infusion of tea leaves, herbs, fruits, etc added to water in a jar and left out in the sun to steep gently over a period of at least a few hours. It uses the sun's warmth to steep the tea and is a milder form of brewing than with boiling water so add more tea than you normally would.

And, the jars sure look pretty out on the back step.

For my first experiments I made two kinds of tea, each in a large (I am guessing 1 litre) mason jar...you could put just about anything in here, I am guessing. I will have to experiment again the next time the sun makes it to this part of the world...

Lemon Ginger Tea
the rinds of 2 lemons which have already been squeezed
1/2 inch of ginger, cut into thin rounds
1 heaping tablespoon of loose oolong tea
water


Garden White Tea
large handful fresh mint
half as much lemon balm
5 lavender flowers on their stems
1 heaping teaspoon loose white tea
water


Combine together in jar and steep in the sun for 3-6 hours. Strain the liquid into a clean container. The tea can be consumed warm or chilled (will keep in the fridge for about 2 days).

Garden White Tea and Lemon Ginger Tea

There's less lemon tea because I drank it before I remembered to photograph it!