Fresh Spearmint Tea... Yummy!!

I don't know about you, but I love the change of the seasons...
and one thing I love best about the spring and summer is fresh mint tea.

My mom always made it on a hot summer day and it was a special treat. I could probably sit down and drink the whole 2 qts. when she made it, probably still could.

Since I've had my own spearmint crop, I've been making my own tea and can now drink as much as I want of it!! I tend to drink more as soon as I can start harvesting the spearmint and then it tapers off... get too much of a good thing I guess.

Now that your getting thirsty... I'll tell you how I make it.

I have a 3-Quart Ice Tea Maker that I just got this spring... love the thing! Now... you can use your coffeepot, but you'll probably want to clean it first to get all of the coffee oils out of it. If you don't it will probably taste a bit like coffee when you are done. I did this for several years and we tried not to drink so much coffee so our tea would taste like tea, but it was a pain and our tea always still faintly reflected that coffee flavor.

Another great thing about the tea machine is that your tea turns out the same every time. No guessing how much ice you used last time, or how much water to run through your coffeepot. It just makes it so easy.

With the machine, fill the water up to the 2 qt line and pour it into the machine. Then do the same with ice, filling it to the ice line on the pitcher. If you don't have enough ice, just fill it back to the water line again with water. Your tea will still be great, just not quite as great as if you used ice.

I've been making 2 qts at a time and my ice tea machine calls for 6-10 regular size tea bags, or 2-4 level Tbs of loose tea. I use the reg. tea bags because they tend to be less expensive than the other sizes & loose tea.

I've been using 7 reg. size teabags, which I cut open and pour into a coffee filter and place in the unit. Then I run out to my spearmint patch and grab 5-6 sprigs of spearmint. I bring them in and put them in the filter on top of the loose tea. It's very important that you crush the spearmint before you place them in the filter! This helps to release the oils and the flavor from the leaves.

Make sure the valve is turned to the closed position and you pitcher is under the machine, it will overflow the basket and begin filling the pitcher before it's done brewing. I go ahead and add my sugar to the pitcher at this point if I'm going to sweeten the batch. I use 1/3-1/2 cup for 2 qts.

Leave the valve in the unit closed until it stops brewing and then open it. When there is enough liquid in the pitcher, start stirring to help melt the sugar.

Pour over ice & enjoy!

Spearmint, like any other mint, if you decide to plant it make sure it's in an area where you don't mind it spreading. Mints spread by runners under the ground and can quickly take over a flower bed. We keep ours by the side of our barn where we can mow up to the edge of it to keep it in it's boundary. Hubby loves to mow by it because he often gets to smell it when he clips a few runners each time.

You could also try other mints for different variations of flavor.

Ice tea is cheaper and much better for you than soda and many other beverages...
another reason to make it for your family.

You can find some of the health benefits at TeaBenefits.com

Want a pitcher? Check out Amazon...
they have several different styles at different pricepoints.