Happy Tea Day!

I saw a funny joke on my FB feed recently, from Twitter, I think.

Brit:  Put the kettle on.

American:  Americans don't have kettles.

Brit:  Then how do you make tea?

American:  We throw it in the harbor.

Actually, most of the tea we drink is iced, something like 80%.  Like shrubs, iced tea began as an ingredient in a boozy colonial punch, until Temperance, Prohibition, and the 1904 World's Fair combined to popularize iced tea by mid-century (for more information, see this NPR piece.)  

I love iced tea and in the fifteen or so years that I've been up north, I've noticed that iced tea--and actual good iced tea--has become widely available.  And most of it is fresh brewed!  You can even get sweet tea at a few places, though nothing like Texas sweet tea.

The stuff I make at home--and I'm making a pitcher right now--isn't quite as sweet.  I used to like sun tea or cold steeped in the fridge, but I've read too much about it not being safe because the tea is not heated; fine--my way is quicker.  (And you know how much I like a cup of hot tea and an afternoon tea party), but that's not what we're celebrating today.)  Anyway you like it though, it's wonderful . . . and perhaps even more American than baseball and apple pie.

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Mommy Hungry's Iced Tea

2-3 tea bags (right now I'm using two Lipton decaf and one Celestial Seasonings Tangerine Dream; lemon and mint are good, too.)

2 sugar cubes, to taste

2 cups boiling water

4 cups ice

Steep tea bags and sugar cubes in boiling water (I used it straight out of my Keurig) for approximately 2-3 minutes.  Remove tea bags and stir until all sugar is dissolved.  Pour into heat-proof pitcher filled halfway with ice cubes.  Drink.