Since that tweet, I've tried my hand at combining herbs and fruits listed on the Design Sponge blog to create several teas - with mixed results.
Following the proportions suggested in the blog, I added roughly 2 cups of herbs for each 8 cups of water. Two of my vessels were 1/2 gallon Ball jars, which of course equate to 8 cups and the third vessel was my favorite Takeya Iced Tea Maker.
With lots of herbs in my garden from which to choose, the harvesting was almost the hardest part!
Into the first Ball jar, I slid two long sprigs of rosemary, a cutting of lemon balm that held a dozen or so leaves and 1/2 of a lemon sliced thinly.
I'm crazy about tarragon and I use it in just about everything - especially chicken salad - so I grabbed what I would guess to be about 2 cups worth and jammed it into Ball jar number 2. Ginger and citrus are common complements to tarragon, so I sliced up half a grapefruit and diced an inch or so of fresh ginger.
Finally, in my Takeya, I combined 2 long, full sprigs of Greek Columnar Basil with 1/2 an English Seedless Cucumber, sliced thin.
As alluded to in the photo, the jars enjoyed full sun for roughly 6 hours, then I brought them inside, strained out the herbs and refrigerated the tea overnight.
The next day, very excited to try my handiwork, I poured from the Takeya first and loved the result! I could definitely taste the basil and just a hint of the cucumber. It was very refreshing with just enough flavor to be yummy, but not so much that I felt like I was chewing on a basil leaf.
With this happy test down my gullet, I quickly poured some rosemary/lemon balm/lemon tea and although the rosemary was quite strong, it was enjoyable. After a few sips, I decided it was going to last me quite awhile as I really enjoyed it better at about half strength. Easy enough to do - just pour half a glass of tea and fill with fresh water!
With great anticipation I slopped some tarragon/ginger/grapefruit into my glass (while the Ball jars are great for making the tea, they are not so handy for pouring). I took a huge gulp...
... and immediately spit it out! WOW was that tarragon S-T-R-O-N-G!!! I really wasn't getting much ginger or grapefruit, just LOTS of tarragon. In fact, I found that just a splash of this tea in a glass of clear water was all I needed to tastily quench my thirst. Honestly I used most of it as the liquid in my morning green drinks, which added flavor to the mix without overpowering the fruits, greens and veggies within.
Since that day I've also combined camomile, mint and stevia as well as pineapple sage with pineapple mint. I've also tried my beloved tarragon once more with MUCH less of it in the Ball jar, combined with half a sliced orange. It was quite good.
Of course it is important that you wash your herbs well, even if they are organically grown like mine. It's always good to use organically grown fruits so you are ingesting less toxins, but if you can't get organically grown varieties, either remove the peel (if it's that kind of fruit) or bathe your fruit for 20 minutes in a sink full of water with 1/2 cup vinegar added. Then rinse and prepare for your tea.
It's best to not leave your tea in the hot sunshine for more than 6 hours and indeed some folks do worry that sun tea breeds the bacteria that's often found in tap water. I use filtered water from my refrigerator so I hope this takes away the bacteria concern.You can also cold brew your tea right in the frig!
As another tip, when our crazy Michigan summer weather turned cold last week, I chose to put herbs into my tea ball and brew hot tea. It was delicious and just the tea ball full of pineapple sage and mint made a 4-cup-pot of tea that featured stronger flavors than what brews in the sun.
So ends my review of the process of making herbed water, sun tea, herbed sun tea - whatever you choose to call it!
May you steep well,
Miriam
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