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Citrus Iced Tea


This is how my Mom made iced tea for us each summer.
It is simply made from ingredients we always have on hand.
I still make it using the same tools she did.  
I was lucky to find a juicer like hers and I still have some of the old aluminum ice cube trays which make ice so quickly compared to the modern plastic trays.

It is good to use a plastic or acrylic pitcher when preparing the iced tea - 
I still remember how I broke mom's favourite glass pitcher by 
pouring the hot tea over the cold ice.  

  • 6 cups boiling water
  • 3 tea bags - orange pekoe is best
  • 2 oranges 
  • 1 lemon
  • 1/2 - 3/4 cup sugar 
  • 25- 30 large ice cubes
  1. Using a 6 cup teapot pour boiling water over the tea bags and let steep for about 15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile squeeze juice from oranges and lemon.  You will get more juice if the fruit is at room temperature. 
  3. Place juice in a 1 gallon pitcher - be sure it is plastic or acrylic.  (If you use a glass pitcher the hot tea over the ice may crack the glass)
  4. Add 1/2 cup sugar and the ice and stir well.
  5. Pour hot tea over the ice and juice, stirring to combine.
  6. Taste and add more sugar if desired.  I find 3/4 cup sugar is about the right sweetness for us.
  7. Refrigerate until serving and pour over more ice if desired.


13 comments:

  1. This looks refreshing! We go through a lot of iced tea in the summer time...I think I'll be trying this today. Thanks!

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  2. This sounds super for a hot summer day!

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  3. When I saw the first picture, I wondered how you got the orange slices so thin. I thought it looked really neat in the glass. By the last picture, I see it is the design on the glass.... Dad still has those aluminum ice cube trays. The tea sounds refreshing.

    Sylvia

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  4. I so enjoyed your ice tea and was so excited when I found a citrus squeezer made in Italy at MCC a few weeks ago. I had been searching on ebay.

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  5. This brings back memories of my mom daily making iced tea in the evening. She made it in a metal pitcher or pot. It was refrigerated for the next day.

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  6. Your ice cube trays bring me back to my childhood that is what we had and we used to put Kool Aid in them and called them popsicles, reminded me of time of great affection and happiness..Love your blog and many recipes and your musings, you seem to know the Lord well and that is refreshing in our world rushing around with no concern for one's fellow man!!!!!!

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  7. I wish I could find those metal ice cube trays!!! The drinks look refreshing, will try on our camping trip to the beach!

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  8. Did you know... If you put boiling water in your ice cube trays and put them in the freezer, that they will freeze faster? The molecules in the water when it is hot are moving faster, which causes them to freeze quicker, the molecules in room temp water are moving at a medium pace which makes them freeze a little slower, and the molecules in cold water are moving even slower making them freeze even slower yet! Don't ask me why I am not a chemist but I did learn something in science class:)
    Melanie

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  9. Melanie, that would have perked me right up in science class too!
    Very interesting.

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  10. I adore those glasses, Bev!

    Anna (Toronto)

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  11. Reminds of my Mom's iced tea except she just put lemon in. She used a glass coffee percolator, without the interior basket and stand, no worries about the heat breaking the pitcher. Also, if you put a metal spoon into a glass pitcher it is suppose to adsorb the heat and keep the glass from breaking.

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  12. Thanks for the suggestion about the percolator - I think I have one somewhere. It would make a unique pitcher.

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