Can I make iced tea with a machine?

[oneoffour]

Hi Riker1384,
My machine heats the water which then drips through the tea just like a Mr. Coffee. The plastic pitcher is under the drip and the hot tea goes in the pitcher. The ice is in the pitcher not the machine so yes you could leave out the ice and have hot tea.

The machine can use loose tea with a filter be CAREFUL I have found loose tea swells more than tea bags so experiment with the amount to not over load the volume.

The thing about tea is that it gets the best IMO when it is steeped. The machine can't do this it can only drip. Given that you have to use more tea leaves in the drip than if you brew it in a pot. IMO the loose teas are alot better than the bags and you have a wider selection of teas as well.

 

[IainDaniel]

Maybe I am just a little weird. I throw a bunch of tea in a jug (usually white tea) put in some boiling water, and let steep for a little bit. Pull out the tea bags, throw some ice cubes in and mash up some lemons, and add some stevia.

 

[riker1384]

Maybe I am just a little weird. I throw a bunch of tea in a jug (usually white tea) put in some boiling water, and let steep for a little bit. Pull out the tea bags, throw some ice cubes in and mash up some lemons, and add some stevia.

It's the boiling part that's too hard for me. My routine is: put a pot of water on to boil, go upstairs to study, and then come down a half-hour later to find the pot dry and ruined. Actually, come to think of it I guess that's why they make those whistling teapots people always have on TV and in the movies. In any case a machine is $20 and I don't know that a teapot is much less than that.

I'd be happy a long as it makes iced-tea better than the stuff that comes in 2-liter bottles. I want to always have tea ready, like it's on tap. As for loose tea, that just came to mind because the Hamilton Beach says it can take that, and I've never used loose tea.

 

[oneoffour]

Don't even use a pot! If you are blessed with a hot sunny day you put everything in a big half gallon glass jar and leave it in the sun for a few hours. When you get back from the beach take out the teabags add ice and drink

 

[BreezyCooking]

Actually, "Sun Tea", as your method is called Oneoffour, has lost favor in the past few years due to bacterial growth. In fact, if I recall correctly, there were several articles about it last summer.

For one thing, the "big glass jars" are rarely if ever sterilized, & that added to the fact that regardless of how sunny it is, the water never reaches a high enough temperature to prevent bacterial growth.

Granted, I don't think people who use this method are dropping like flies - I just remember the news items from last year advising people not to make tea that way.

 

[pacanis]

I could never get iced tea to come out that great in a machine, but I've had homebrewed that was very good done using the sunlight method. Now I just buy Swiss Southern Brew by the gallon. It's just the flavor I like, not too sweet.

 

[bullseye]

come to think of it I guess that's why they make those whistling teapots people always have on TV and in the movies.

That's exactly what I use to keep me from forgetting the kettle. If I'm making iced tea from tea bags, I put six or seven in a one pint Pyrex measuring cup and pour in the boiling water; let it steep for quite a while, then pour it into a half-gallon glass jug partly filled with water and ice. Add more water, lemon, and sweetener as desired (no sweetener for me!). If I am using loose tea I use similar proportions, but a tea pot instead of the Pyrex.