Any American reading today´s blog will have something to say about a guy offering a recipe for iced tea. The American (as in USA-American) south is the world headquarters for iced tea. No other nation, and for that matter planet, can lay claim to this title. Southerners invented the stuff (at least I think so), and they are the most iced tea-drinking people anywhere.
Period.
What most Americans do not know is just how dire the iced tea situation is everywhere else in the world (and universe). Here in Norway iced tea is a horrible bottled concoction of sugar, scary stuff and (so they say) tea. In Norway and the rest of Europe the only ice cubes to be found are in gin & tonics or under containers of salads or shrimp in hotel buffets. Try ordering ice cubes in a frigging´ coffee shop. If the name isn´t Starbucks you´re pretty well screwed.
Iced tea is the best non-alcoholic drink that ever existed, better than H20. I am a certified iced tea junkie. I wrote the book on iced tea consumption. I sweat and pee iced tea. I don´t drink coffee or soft drinks. I make homemade iced tea each and every day I am at home. I have carried a thermos with tea with me around the world, hoping to acquire ice cubes at my final destination. I have begged, borrowed and stolen ice cubes, and I have even placed a glass of ice-less iced tea in a cold stream, just to cool it down. I have been ridiculed by friends and family, and I´ve been talked about at business meetings (“What do you mean you don´t drink coffee?”). I don´t really care what my last meal will be as long as it is served with a good glass of iced tea.
This is why I am publishing this recipe for iced tea. It´s only in Norwegian since you Americans have a McAlister´s Deli or other iced tea mecca in your home town. This recipe is for the rest of the world, at least the ones who can read Norwegian or man a translation program.
Real Iced Tea
1 tepose (favoritten er Twining´s English Breakfast Tea)
kokende vann
isbiter
1. Ha teposen i en kopp.
2. Hell over kokende vann.
3. La teen trekke i 3-4 minutter.
4. Fyll et stort (halvliter eller større) glass til topps med isbiter.
5. Ta teposen ut av koppen og hell teen over isbitene.
6. Fyll på med mer isbiter hvis nødvendig.
Og så
Her kan det skje mye. Rør i litt sukker hvis du liker teen søt (som jeg gjør, men nå bruker jeg Stevia), og/eller ha en sitronbåt oppi. Det er også lov å ha oppi friske mynteblad.
As you are aware, in the South (USA) we call it ‘Sweet Tea’. The ice is implied. But I’m a bit strange, as you are aware also. Haha. I make sweet tee in my tea maker, add the sugar to the hot tea, stir well while hot to melt the sugar because we all know that sugar does not melt well in an already cold substance. Anyway, I like to then add the appropriate amount of water to desired dilution – and then refrigerate. I prefer my sweet tea already cold so that the ice does not melt and water it down. Lemon wedge optional. Now you know my sweet tea secret and have a bit more enlightenment on my strangeness. Of course the key is in finding a container that will keep it cold as long as possible.
Hi Sandra! You are exactly right, and not strange at all. My grandmother had two pitchers of tea (she always called it just tea); one unsweetened and one (sweet tea) sweetened. I have always just made unsweet tea (as I call it) and added a bit of sugar. That´s because regular sweet tea is sweeter than I like. I always make a pitcher of tea at a time (1 liter – or quart) of water in a pan. Boil and add 6 bags of tea while the tea is cooling off. I then add another liter of water, let it cool all the way down (to avoid cloudiness) and put the pitcher of tea in the fridge. My pitcher of choice is a Tupperware pitcher I bought many years ago.