The Very Best Iced Tea
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Lightly lemony, slightly sweet, this iced tea is perfection. The recipe hails from an old cookbook, and to me it’s the very best there is, the recipe you will turn to when you are entertaining or when you simply need something incredibly quenching on a hot summer day.
A few weeks ago, I stopped by my aunt and uncle’s house in Vermont en route home from a soccer tournament with my daughters. It was a Sunday, late in the afternoon, and we couldn’t stay long, so we made the most of it, sliding into stools around their big farmhouse table, ready to receive all the nourishment time would allow.
Within minutes of arriving, my aunt had toasted us thick slices of peasant bread and slathered them with butter. As we savored our toast, she poured us glasses of homemade iced tea and pushed plates of strawberries and apricots our way. With two dogs lounging at our feet, we wished we could stay forever.
She sent us off each with a sugar cone piled high with scoops of vanilla ice cream, and as we drove home, my youngest, Tig, asked when we could make the iced tea again. I had first made it with her several summers ago, after she returned from my parents’ house raving about it. The recipe comes from the Prouts Neck Cookbook, the source of dozens of recipes many of the women in my family relied on for years.
This past Monday, I made the iced tea with Tig, who, one week into summer break, already seems bored. I enlisted her to squeeze the lemons and sent her out back to cut some mint, the only herb I can’t kill. Twenty minutes later, the tea was done, chilling in the fridge, and about an hour later, we were ladling it into ice-filled glasses and relishing its quenching abilities.
Every time I make this tea, I wonder why I don’t make it more often as it is so very good: lightly lemony, slightly sweet, and incredibly refreshing. If you are expecting company this week for a July Fourth gathering or planning a future summer get-together, I can’t recommend it enough.
Wren snuggling with sweet Leto and Homer (who is recovering from surgery):
The Prouts Neck Cookbook:
My grandmother’s handwritten recipe… isn’t her writing beautiful?
How to Make Iced Tea, Step by Step
First, juice some lemons. You’ll need 2/3 cup.
Enlist the help of anyone lurking around your kitchen.
Then gather some mint:
Place the mint and 5 tea bags in a large vessel (ideally a pitcher large enough to hold roughly 9 cups of liquid):
Add 1 cup sugar (see notes in the recipe if you wish to add less):
Then cover with 4 cups of boiling water and let steep for 10 minutes:
After 10 minutes, remove the mint and tea bags…
… then add 4 cups cold water plus the fresh lemon juice:
Serve over ice and enjoy!
I really need a pitcher!
But a large vessel + a ladle works fine:
So refreshing!
These large ice cube molds are fun, too.
PrintThe Very Best Iced Tea
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 9 cups
- Diet: Vegan
Description
From the Prouts Neck Cookbook, in which it is called Mrs. Bostwick’s Iced Tea.
Notes:
- Tea: I have used Lipton black tea bags and other various kinds. My aunt uses Earl Grey. My mother uses Yorkshire Red or Lipton Yellow Label.
- Sugar: This is a recipe I have never tinkered with. It might appear to be a lot of sugar, but it does not taste too sweet (in my opinion). If you do the math it’s roughly 1 tablespoon of sugar for every 1/2 cup of tea. If this seems like too much for you, hold back some of the sugar from the start, and add it in to taste at the end.
Ingredients
- 5 black tea bags, see notes above
- a few sprigs of mint
- 1 cup of sugar, see notes above
- 4 cups boiling water
- 2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 4 cups cold water
Instructions
- Place the tea bags, mint, and sugar in a large pitcher or vessel (able to hold 9 cups). Pour the boiling water over the top and let steep for 10 minutes.
- Remove the mint and tea bags, squeezing the bags to extract the liquid.
- Add the lemon juice and cold water.
- Chill until ready to serve. Serve over ice and garnish with more mint or lemon if you wish.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Drink
- Cuisine: Amerian
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
20 Comments on “The Very Best Iced Tea”
Oh and I used Earl Grey.
This looks great and I will try it. Your site is the best and I always pass on great recipes, Nice helper, and sorry re your pup and esp with the heat…
Happy 4th
This looks so refreshing and I will definitely be making this for a summer gathering. Thank you so much!! Happy 4th of July and I hope you can relax!
Making some tomorrow 💙 send us cool thoughts it’s going to be somewhere near 115 🌞have a wonderful time with your family and be safe. Your daughter is beautiful and I hope the pup is better soon.
Thanks for another terrific recipe.
This sounds so refreshing – plan to make it soon. On another note, just made a second batch of stuffed peppers with leftover filling I had frozen. Delicious !! That recipe is a keeper. I used black beans instead of quinoa. I also added a little crumbled hot & sweet sausage to the filling. Thanks for sharing such a yummy dish!!
I did the math and it came out less sweet:
8 cups water/1 cup sugar. That means if you drink 1 cup of tea you’re getting 1/8 cup, or 1 1/2 teaspoons, of sugar.
Am I wrong? In any case it doesn’t matter because it is delicious.
1/8 cup = 2 TABLESPOONS. 16 tablespoons /cup. That’s sort of a lot, for me. I’m sure lemonade is comparable, maybe even having more.
Our GoTo tea brand is Twinnings English Breakfast Pure Black Tea after watching a taste test by Cooks Illustrated.
As a southerner, I was surprised to see a recipe for iced tea. We always heard that was a southern thing. I’m going to try this. Usually I squeeze the juice of a lemon wedge into a glass, but I love the idea of adding lemon juice to the pitcher. And I’ve also got lots of mint in my backyard that I will be adding. Thanks for sharing!
This sounds soo good and I’ll be making it as soon as I have some mint. Thank you! Your daughter is sooo cute.
Would you mind sharing what the lemon juicer is? It looks so cool!
Good Morning from Austin Texas.
Question – What size tea bags? Family or regular? I typically make tea with family size bags using 2 bags per 1/2 gallon. Due to the amount of liquid, I am guessing Family size? JW
I think they are just regular actually… I’ve never purchased family size, so I’d say regular. Hope you like it!
oh, thanks for this one! I am going to try it, and will report back. Summer drinks (non-alcoholic) are endlessly intriguing to me. This recipe also makes me recall one I used to get a local bakery – green tea, with ginger, mint,, and honey. Maybe I will try to recreate that one too.
After reading your blog post, I looked and saw that I had all of the ingredients. My family is very picky when it comes to iced tea and this was a winner. My teenage son asked me if I could always have this in the house because it is nice and refreshing. Thank you for the recipe.
Hi!
Thanks for sharing this recipe. Looking forward to trying it! I noticed your juicer as we have one too which has been handed down through my husband’s family from back East. Is yours vintage too? Love the orange body.
Now I’m contemplating how to convert this recipe into sun tea and using loose leaf tea. Shouldn’t be difficult at all!
I made this today for the 4th and I made your recommended flag cake. I want to drink the entire pitcher myself! Definitely how I’ll make tea from here on. The flag cake is also great for such a hot day with the fruit and light frosting. Thank you for every recipe you post. I always know I can trust any recipe you post. I love your Bread Toast Crumbs book and recommend it to all my friends!
As a southerner and a big tea lover this sounds delicious and I plan to try it soon!
I usually ale me tea unsweetened but will try this version!
Thank you 😊
Like an Arnold Palmer. Must try…
I made it and followed the recipe except for using ReaLemon juice (I didn’t have any lemons at home) and only one sprig of mint. I will add more as the plant gets bigger! It is delicious! This recipe is easily customized to your taste by changing the amount of sugar and/or lemon juice. I know using fresh lemon juice will be much better, so I can’t wait to try that! I have a large Pampered Chef pitcher with the plunger mixer in it. If you have something similar, it works great! I put everything on top of the plunger and moved it up and down a few times while brewing. When it was done I pulled the plunger out and everything came with it. I also used a spoon and gently squished the teabags down (not too hard as it is plastic) onto the plunger to get the last drops. This pitcher can easily accommodate a double batch.
I’m looking forward to enjoying this all summer long and beyond!