I remember drinking sweet tea by the gallons as a young child. This was when hot tea was an occasional treat. We would sometimes experiment by adding a little milk to our sweet tea and calling it "creme d'tea" and act like we were fancy. If we were really feeling hardcore, we'd heat it in the microwave for an "authentic" tea party.
In college, I didn't have space in the tiny refrigerator in the dorm room to make sweet tea, nor the ingredients, now that I think about it. So the habit fell away and was replaced by hot Earl Grey and other black teas. Now, years later, I occasionally make a flavored iced tea, but even in the Georgia summer, we still regularly drink hot tea for relaxation and taste.
But right now the temperatures have quickly spiked from highs in the 40s to highs in the 80s. While my body is adjusting to the new temperature, my desire for hot beverages has dwindled while my desire for the light flavor of these delicious teas has not. So, do I make the switch back to sweet tea?
When considering what to drink, I like to compare the beverage's sugar content to how much cake I could be eating if I traded the beverage for water. Food decisions are largely emotional, so comparing different aspects of beverages to something that I emotionally equate with special occasion, fattening foods, I make different decisions than if I just look at the facts with no comparison. With all that said, if I use 1 3/4 cups of sugar for a gallon of sweet tea like I was raised to do...that's quite a bit of cake. Hot tea, on the other hand, I lightly sweeten...so not as much cake. (See how I do math?)
So I boiled the water and poured the tea. I selected a light, aromatic jasmine. But when I had sweetened the cup with a dollop of honey and brought it to my lips, I couldn't bear the thought of guzzling the hot beverage. And that gave me an idea.
I grabbed a glass and filled it with ice. After leaving the tea to cool for a minute or two, I dumped it over the ice. Now all morning, I've been sipping on that cup of iced jasmine tea. Soooo....now to experiment. What types of tea would be incredible iced? I feel I have an entire summer to compile a list! So here are a few I have on hand that I think might be fun to try. Drink up and comment what you think about hot teas that you enjoy!
Spiced teas--green chai, coconut green chai, Mary Twinnings spiced black tea, masala chai with mango nectar
Special teas--green tea with blueberry, blueberry tea, oolong, jasmine, white mint, chamomile
Black teas--Earl Grey, loose leaf black tea infused with fruit
