How to Make Iced Tea

Iced tea is actually surprisingly simple to make from scratch. Depending on which part of the country (or world) you live in, making iced tea might be a no-brainer. I'll admit, though, I had NO IDEA how to make iced tea (other than mixing a packet of Lipton into water in a pitcher) until I worked at Starbucks in college. The great thing about it, too, is that you can make one glass or a whole pitcher for roughly the same amount of work.

It's also really affordable to make yourself instead of buying powdered drink mixes or jugs of pre-made stuff from the store. In fact, it cost me less than $0.40 to make an entire 8 cup pitcher of organic iced green tea sweetened with organic sugar...and I didn't even buy any of the supplies on sale! If you were to maximize sales or even make unsweetened tea, you'd spend even less.

How to Make Iced Tea 101

Step 1: Pick out your container

It can be a pitcher or an individual glass. I recommended a glass container because plastic containers are more likely to leach toxins when exposed to hot liquids or extreme temperature changes. If you're not already sure how many ounces are in your container, make sure you measure to find out.

Step 2: Heat up some water

You'll want to heat up about a quarter of the amount of the total water your container holds. My pitcher holds 8 cups, so I warmed up 2 cups of water. Throw it in the microwave or heat it up in a pot on the stove. The amount doesn't have to be exact, just make sure you heat the water in a different container than you're going to use for your finished tea.

Step 3: Prep the teabags

While your water is working on coming to a boil, get your teabags ready. If you've got individually wrapped teabags, unwrap them and remove any strings or paper attached to the bags. You'll want one teabag for every 8-12 ounces of finished tea. My pitcher hold 8 cups (64 ounces) so I used 7 teabags (so a 1 bag to 9 ounce ratio). If you're planning to serve the finished tea over ice you'll want a smaller ratio (1:8) instead of the higher 1:12 ratio.

Step 4: Steep the tea

Once your water is done boiling, remove from heat and add your teabags. Set your timer based on the kind of tea you are making. The packaging your tea came in, should tell you which kind it is. If it says "Darjeeling" or "Oolong", those are kinds of black teas.

Tea Steeping times

White Tea: 1-1.5 minutes

Green Tea: 3 minutes

Black Tea, Herbal Tea or Fruit Tea: 5 minutes

Step 5: Finish Steeping / Sweeten the Tea

Once your timer goes off, remove the teabags, pressing them against the side of your container to squeeze any extra tea out that was trapped in the bag. If you're going to sweeten your tea, do it now. For slightly sweet tea, I add about 1 teaspoon of sugar per bag used. Add more or less to suit your tastes. You can also sweeten with agave, honey or stevia. If you added sweetener, mix well until dissolved.

Step 6: Fill your serving vessel with ice