Yesterday we went to Chanticleer:
http://www.chanticleergarden.org/
and I wanted to make a special picnic to take along. I’ve been wanting to make Earl Grey Supreme as a hot brewed iced tea for so long, but my frugal angel (I have a frugal angel and a decadent devil on my shoulders – at war!!!) balked at using all those leaves. Well, the decadent devil won and I made it. The frugal angel has her 2 cents in there, and I did two steeps of the leaves thinking I do that when I have it hot.
So – that was 4 tablespoons of leaves (!!!), 4 cups of water, 5 min, then 2 cups of water 5 min.
A few tablespoons of sugar thrown in, let it sit out a few hours to cool, then refrigerated. When I took it on the picnic I got my container and filled it half with ice, then poured the tea over and put it in the cooler. Some of the ice melted, but not all.
The angels and devils were all happy because it was the most delicious iced tea I’ve ever had! Not too sweet, the pithy citrus gave that pleasantly bitter taste sort of like Campari which is soooooo refreshing when it’s hot (the heat went to 101 yesterday!). Not the least bit perfumey or overwhelming. The tea tasted of quality and was of the perfect strength. The leaves were just fine being brewed twice.
And I didn’t really need to get all upset because even this special picnic divine decadence winds up being under 35 cents an 8 oz glass including the sugar. No biggie!!!
The one thing that bugged me, though, is my iced tea got cloudy! I know it has something to do with the tannins and cold, and that it happens even more with a better quality tea because it has more tannins, and I also know it’s just an aesthetic thing, but does anyone have a way they avoid this? I’ve heard a pinch of baking soda, a few drops of boiling water before serving (impossible at a picnic but maybe at home I can do this if we had company). Any others? Thanks!
