# Tell me about tea and iced tea **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 6, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833 "2009-10-06T17:57:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/21 "2009-10-08T19:44:41Z")
In my experience the easiest way to make consistently good tea is with a [Mr. Coffee iced tea maker](http://www.mrcoffee.com/Product.aspx?pid=46). It’s very easy to use and doesn’t require you to boil water. I usually use the Luzianne tea bags - just look for the standard black (or green) bags in a box that say “for iced tea” [like this](http://www.luzianne.com/luzianne-tea-24-cnt-family-p-38.html?=). Often I will use some black tea bags and some flavored tea bags to flavor my tea- Celestial Seasoning’s Wild Berry Zinger is my favorite. Add lemon, lime, and sugar to taste. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/22 "2009-10-08T19:55:37Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Do they just generically sell “Tea”? Not “earl grey” or “English breakfast”, etc? What style of tea is iced tea typically made from? Most generic teas are black tea. Look at the small print on the box. I like my tea lightly sweetened and with lots of lemon. Half-tea, half-lemonade is great. I’ve also done 2/3 tea, 1/3 orange juice. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/23 "2009-10-08T20:12:21Z")
**SenorBeef** : Dude! You live in Las Vegas! Solar tea. Get a one-gallon jug. All through my teens and twenties I used a glass apple juice jug. You can also buy sun tea pitchers (some with a spigot at the bottom). Fill the jug with water. Push three or four tea bags into the jug so that they are free within the limits of their strings. Lay the tag-end of the strings on the rim of the jug and screw on the top. (Or put on the top, depending on what you’re using.) Set the jug in the sun for a couple/few hours. Remove the bags and chill in the fridge. I used to drink iced tea with two teaspoons of sugar. One day I was going on a boat dive off Anacapa Island. I learned that adding sugar to the jug sometimes resulted in a slimy-feeling texture to the tea. Not often, but often enough I didn’t want to repeat it. What to do? I decided to just grimace and drink the tea unsweetened. Well, it’s 85 or 90 degrees on the boat, and I had salt water in my mouth after the dive. I can’t tell you how good that unsweetened tea tasted! Ever since then I’ve preferred unsweetened iced tea. Give it a try! It will definitely reduce your sugar intake. 😉 I’ve tried sun tea with different teas, but in the end it was just a nice cold drink on a hot desert day. I ended up just using Lipton bags. Nowadays, no longer living in a desert, I tend to drink water for my cold drink. Good tap water in this village. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2009, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/24 "2009-10-08T20:13:49Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > English Breakfast (or Irish Breakfast) pretty much is “just tea”, or perhaps a bit stronger than normal, but it doesn’t have any extra flavorings added like Earl Gray or Orange Pekoe. Orange pekoe is just a specific grade of black tea. It does not contain added flavorings. (Despite the name, it is not “orange” in either color or flavor.) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/25 "2009-10-09T00:26:18Z")
I’m certain I’ve seen Orange Pekoe that listed orange rind as an ingredient. Maybe those were just made by a tea company that Didn’t Get It. ---
**Author:** ![BrandonR](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/26 "2009-10-09T00:31:41Z")
Being from the South, I consider sweet tea to be the nectar of the gods. That said, I figured drinking sweet tea constantly wouldn’t be too good on my teeth and all so I tried using all Splenda but the taste was off. I now use [this](http://www.splenda.com/page.jhtml?id=splenda/products/blend.inc) as my sweetener and it tastes just fine. I make sweet tea with [Luzianne tea](http://www.luzianne.com/luzianne-tea-m-127.html) bags (specially formulated for iced tea!) and the aforementioned half-the-calories sugar/Splenda blend. It’s mighty tasty. ---
**Author:** ![Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8edcca/32.png) [@Superfluous\_Parentheses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superfluous_Parentheses)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/27 "2009-10-09T01:09:35Z")
Mint. Fresh. Put in cup. Pour boiling water over it. Wait for a few minutes. Drink. If you want ice tea; remove the mint after 10 minutes or so. Remove the mint, put in fridge, then drink. With regular tea instead of mint, do more or less the same thing, except you may want to add some lemon and/or mint. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/28 "2009-10-09T11:21:49Z")
I’ve been drinking hot tea by heating up water in a microwave and then putting in a tea bag after it gets hot enough because I don’t have a kettle handy. I was thinking about getting one - but does it actually make a difference? Hot water is hot water. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 11:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/29 "2009-10-09T11:54:08Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I’m certain I’ve seen Orange Pekoe that listed orange rind as an ingredient. Maybe those were just made by a tea company that Didn’t Get It. Maybe you’re thinking of Bigelow’s Constant Comment, which is black tea with orange rind and “sweet spices.” ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/30 "2009-10-09T12:01:48Z")
What’s the amount of water one tea bag can properly flavor? I ended up getting a big mug, probably 50% bigger than the one I was using before, and the flavor is still pretty strong. How much could you adequately flavor with 1 bag? ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/31 "2009-10-09T13:41:22Z")
Help me out here. What’s the problem with putting a little sweetener in tea\*? No-one would think to eat, say, a steak without a little salt/pepper. Obviously you don’t want to make yourself a cup of tea-flavored sugar, but then you wouldn’t want a steak that’s got too much salt. What about sweetener is so anathema to tea? \*My brother makes the same argument about coffee: black, no cream/milk or sugar/sweetener. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [October 9, 2009, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/32 "2009-10-09T14:36:00Z")
For the OP, Honest Tea is a commercial iced tea that is significantly less sweet than most others. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/33 "2009-10-12T03:47:10Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Do they just generically sell “Tea”? Not “earl grey” or “English breakfast”, etc? What style of tea is iced tea typically made from? Orange pekoe/Pekoe cut Black Tea. Many brands just say “iced tea blend,” though. My southern family buys its tea by the 96-gallon pack. That lasts us about 96 days, as we make a gallon a day. I lament not being able to drink it, as I have to drink the decaf variety. Still, the higher class do tend to make their own iced tea blends. And the amount of tea you can get out of a bag depends on the size of the bag, obviously. When you buy it, you are usually told how much it will make. Ours is the industrial strength one-gallon bag, which is easier to buy in bulk. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/34 "2009-10-12T04:04:34Z")
Ironically (for someone so interested in the British Empire), I don’t like Tea (in the sense of a drink made from leaves from The Subcontinent or Sri Lanka), but I am very fond of Green Tea, which is wonderful stuff that must be drunk without sugar or milk. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/35 "2009-10-12T04:05:22Z")
> [@](#): > > Help me out here. What’s the problem with putting a little sweetener in tea\*? Who says there’s a problem with it? Some commercial iced teas have far too much, and some folks happen to prefer it with none, but I don’t think I’ve seen anyone claim that it’s anathema, or anything. EDIT: > [@](#): > > Ironically (for someone so interested in the British Empire), I don’t like Tea (in the sense of a drink made from leaves from The Subcontinent or Sri Lanka), but I am very fond of Green Tea, which is wonderful stuff that must be drunk without sugar or milk. Green tea is made from the leaves of the same plant as black tea. The only difference is that the leaves are aged for black tea, and fresh for green (Oolong tea is somewhere in between). White tea is also made from the same plant, but from the blossoms, not the leaves. Anything else is not actually tea, but some other plant. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/36 "2009-10-12T04:11:04Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Green tea is made from the leaves of the same plant as black tea. The only difference is that the leaves are aged for black tea, and fresh for green (Oolong tea is somewhere in between). White tea is also made from the same plant, but from the blossoms, not the leaves. Anything else is not actually tea, but some other plant. I’m aware of that, but we’re in a thread where most of the participants seem to think “Tea” is an iced beverage often purchased from a refrigerated cabinet, so I think it’s important to distinguish between “actual” tea (English Breakfast, Earl Grey, etc), which is popularly thought to come from The Subcontinent, and “Green” tea (popularly thought to come from China or Japan), and… the other stuff not commonly associated with “tea” outside the US and parts of Asia. ---
**Author:** ![Gorgonzola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e480ec/32.png) [@Gorgonzola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorgonzola)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/37 "2009-10-12T04:44:08Z")
Luzianne sun tea is lovely, **Senor Beef**. Follow **Johnny L.A.**'s instructions and sweeten and/or add lemon as not, according to your taste. I recommend a teaspoon of granulated sugar and a good squirt of lemon juice per tall glass. Very thirst-quenching and invigorating. ---
**Author:** ![wonky](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wonky/32/393_2.png) [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/38 "2009-10-12T18:10:27Z")
> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#): > > In my experience the easiest way to make consistently good tea is with a [Mr. Coffee iced tea maker](http://www.mrcoffee.com/Product.aspx?pid=46). It’s very easy to use and doesn’t require you to boil water. Yep, I use the same thing. For the tea, I use Tetley’s British Blend that comes in the round bags in the purple box. These bags carry a punch. I put the water in, use three bags and run that through, and often just put more water in and run that through without doing the ice cube step. I like strong tea. And, most people will be horrified, but I tend to like my tea (most drinks) at room temperature, so I often leave it out for the day. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/39 "2009-10-12T18:41:50Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I’ve been drinking hot tea by heating up water in a microwave and then putting in a tea bag after it gets hot enough because I don’t have a kettle handy. I was thinking about getting one - but does it actually make a difference? Hot water is hot water. Hot water may be hot water, but pouring boiling hot water over tea seem (IMO) to produce a better result than dumping tea in little bags into water that is merely hot. I’m sure the water you get out of your microwave is not boiling. By treating eggs differently, I can produce very different results, producing very different flavors with different applications of heat. Tea is much the same way, and releases more flavor and less tannin when it is shocked with boiling water. ---
**Author:** ![Spectralist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Spectralist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectralist)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2009, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833/40 "2009-10-12T20:47:22Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I’ve been drinking hot tea by heating up water in a microwave and then putting in a tea bag after it gets hot enough because I don’t have a kettle handy. I was thinking about getting one - but does it actually make a difference? Hot water is hot water. Unlike **gaffa** I’ve found it makes no difference. Tastes the same to me regardless of whether I’ve boiled the water or just used the 88°C water I get from my water cooler’s hot water tap. > [@SenorBeef](#): > > What’s the amount of water one tea bag can properly flavor? I ended up getting a big mug, probably 50% bigger than the one I was using before, and the flavor is still pretty strong. How much could you adequately flavor with 1 bag? The simple, if unhelpful, answer is that it just varies based on how strong you like your tea. There’s no “right” way to do it and different bags are of different strength anyway. I like my tea weak and sometimes I rinse the bag off before using it if I just want one cup of tea. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tell-me-about-tea-and-iced-tea/512833.md?page=3)