This sounds delightful! I will definitely give this recipe a try!

Thanks,
Maria

Black currant makes great sun tea, I think. I second the idea of subbing 1-3 bags of lemon, orange, peach or mint. I often make it with 2:1 plain tea to Constant Comment (orange spice).

I keep reading that making sun tea is unsafe. That bacteria can grow in it because it doesn't reach a temperature of 190 degrees or more. It only gets up to 130. I don't want to get ill. Can I make sun tea, but add boiling water when I bring it in from out doors and have it be safe?

I also have one of those sun tea jars from the 70's that has a spiggot on it. I cleaned the container with hot soapy water, but I didn't bleach it. Should I transfer the tea to a different container instead of using the spiggot since other sites have said that the spiggots can get really nasty?

A friend of mine made Sun Tea just last year and she and her daughter were fine. I just don't want me or my family to get sick.

I have made Sun Tea for years and until now have never heard of a concern.

I usually refrigerate it as soon as I bring inside and we consume it so quickly it usually doesn't last 2 days around here!

We have NEVER been sick and I give it to all my children who enjoy it.

It's so easy to make that if you have concerns after 2 days throw it out and start a new batch.

jmo :-)

Dee

I would like to know if a plastic container may be used for sun tea rather than glass.

I have drunk suntea for years and so has my mom and her mom. If it is going to be more than a few days old, keep it cold. I make mine in a clear plastic pitcher and just put that right into the fridge. I use 7 bags though, I like a dark flavor.

I love drinking sun tea it's my favorite passed time at my grandma's house in the summer while I"m basking on the porch. Finally I can drink a taste of heaven without going to my grandma's home. But... they do say there's nothing like a grandma's cooking...Right?

My two young daughters and I just made sun tea with Celestial Seasonings Mango Darjeeling Black Organic Tea, at my 11 year old's suggestion. I was just going to use regular Red Rose (which my mum always did) It turned out heavenly!

It won't spoil the tea to put fruit in it. My grandmother always cut up slices of lemon and put it in the bottom before she set it outside. It gives it a great flavor.

What tea bag size does this recipe call for - Single or Family? I also don't know where to find a large glass container, I don't want to buy a plethora of pickles and throw them out. /giggle Thanks for this wonderful post. I grew up enjoying sun tea and can't wait to recapture that southern home flavor. Thanks.

Regular size tea bags. Regarding the glass jar, I use large juice jars. ~Elise

Joey, if you don't have a large (gallon or half gallon) size glass container...you can always use something like a small 1 quart glass jar w/lid and make a concentrate.

Just make sure you use the correct amount of tea bags for the final amount of tea you plan to make. Then after the tea has "brewed"...just add the concentrate and the proper amount of water to your serving container along with whatever other extras (sugar/syrup, honey, etc) you desire.

I use this method all the time whether I'm making sun tea, or regular "boiled water" iced tea. Using a smaller amount of water means it takes less time and energy to "heat" your liquid.

Living in Florida, I make sun (green) tea year round! I usually make it in a quart jar (left over from some store-bought juice). Never use plastic, as the heat could release carcinogenic chemicals into the brew. I leave it out for only an hour or two because it gets really hot! I then bring in in and pour a bit of natural sugar in it, and let it cool down (sometimes I take the bags out, sometimes I leave them in) before putting it in the frig as I don't want to heat things up and run the frig unnecessarily. Occasionally I have not consumed it within 2-3 days and it gets an off-taste that means it's time to throw it away. I've never been sick by drinking over-stored tea.

Yes, there is a risk of dangerous bacteria growth in sun tea. Sure, not everyone will get sick, but there is still a risk, so just be careful. Like if you are pregnant or have a weak immune system.

Here is an article from Snopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp

Sun tea, mmmmm! I've been making it for years and was surprised and skeptical to hear that it could potentially make a person sick! It hasn't stopped me and my family from enjoying it during those hot summer days! Sadly, there are a lot of people today who have never known real fear or worry (think about our parents and grandparents during the Depression) so they make up things to be scared about! I just want some proof! Who has actually gotten sick from sun tea? And if it's someone who drank a glass of ancient, smelly, stringy tea from the back of the refrigerator, do they really deserve the press?
After all that, my favorite recipe! A couple of large, regular tea bags, and a couple of chai tea bags. Steep in the sun. Serve with a splash of milk and a touch of sugar over ice.
Ahhh.....

I have been making sun tea using the below recipe for more than 25 years. There is no wrong in the types above; however, here is what I have found to be true.

I use distilled water in a one gallon plastic jug with a spigot. I prefer glass, but cannot seem to find one presently. After every two or three gallons of sun tea made I clean the bottle and spigot thoroughly with a bleach/water mixture.

The Celestial Seasonings "Zinger" teas are the tastiest I've found. I use eight bags per gallon of water and leave in the sun for three to four hours, no longer. I have found that in very hot, sunny climates that the taste becomes less than fresh after that amount of time. I do remove the bags immediately upon bringing indoors as most teas get bitter if the bags are left too long. I have tried both ways.

My children have grown up on this and continue to thrive.

Isn't lemon a natural preservative? When you make pies or homemade jam or really anything where you are boiling down the fruit, isn't lemon juice almost always an ingredient? So my thought is if you put lemon in there wouldn't it prolong its refrigerated shelf life? I mean fruit goes bad much quicker than sun tea would I'd imagine.

My mom used to make this when I was a kid but I haven't had it in so long. I'm really thinking about making some but don't want to go through the trouble if it only lasts 2 days.

Throwing it out is a waste and I don't want to use up my tea bags even making a half or concentrated serving just to throw some of it out.

Lemon is acidic, like vinegar, and acid is a natural preservative, if you have enough of it. I don't think there would be enough lemon juice in this tea to help preserve it though. My guess is that if you added what you needed, it wouldn't taste like tea any more. ~Elise