Review and Brewing of the Best Sweetened Iced Tea I've Ever Tasted
Having previously taken sweetened iced tea for granted, I am taken to caffeinated, sugar-high nirvana when I try out a new tea. I didn't know sweet iced tea could taste this good!
The Tea: Tango Mango by Tea Spot
Sweet Iced Tea is a popular drink in the South Eastern United States. It's cheap, caffeinated, sweet, and cold. A delightful beverage to have after mowing the lawn on a sultry summer day. I've always liked sweetened iced tea and have pretty much taken it for granted until this year when I decided to try out this tea at an "organic" grocery Store: Tea Spot's Tango Mango.
Usually I get China Black Tea at Tradewinds Coffee. But one day when I was jonesing for my iced tea fix and at the local organic grocery store. I decided to try this "gourmet" tea. I was skeptical. Usually, when I find something that has "gourmet" written on it, it usually means a mediocre item at a gourmet price. Not so with this tea. I was blow away by it and taken to a caffeinated-sugar high that was simultaneously a delight to taste as well as smell. My appreciation for sweetened iced tea was taken to a new level. I didn't know sweet iced tea could taste this good. No bitterness, nice fragrance, refreshing deep mango flavor that complements the tea perfectly.
Making iced tea is simple, right? Make tea. Add ice. Add sugar. But I often find that it is often too easy to get the simple things wrong. I've experimented with brewing techniques until I've found one that yields a sweet, but not too sweet, strong, but not over steepened, clear clear beverage. This is how reached my first caffeinated, sugar-high plateau with this marvelous tea.
The Ingredients for the Best Sweet Tea I've Ever Tasted
Five or More Tablespoons Tea Leaves
I usually make about a half gallon of sweet iced tea at a time. For this quantity, I have found that a minimum of 2.5, I like 3, tablespoons of loose tea leaves are good. I've never put too much tea leaves in a batch. In my opinion, the stronger, the better!
About 1/2 Cup of Sugar
To truly realize the full potential of sweet tea induced caffeinated, sugar-high nirvana, sugar is a must. And must be added and mixed in during the brewing stage while the tea is hot. When tea is hot, it is possible to super saturate it with sugar. In other words, you're not going to get a chance to dissolve this much sugar when the tea is at room temperature, or heaven forbid ... ice cold.
Boil 1/2 Gallon Water
I use an electric tea kettle to boil my water to brew the tea with. I find that this method is the most efficient. Faster than boiling water on a stove since the heating coils are integrated into the boiling container and very close to water itself. My 1800-watt, made in the U.K., Russell Hobbs electric hot water kettle can boil about 1.7L or nearly half a gallon of water in about 6 minutes.
Let Tea Leaves Steep for about 5 to 6 Minutes
I don't think tea can be too strong. You don't want to let it oversteep, get bitter, and go down in taste. But neither do you want to take it out too too early because you're not letting the brew realize its full caffeinated potential. For the Tango Mango, I have found that 5 to 6 minutes is optimum.
Filtering Out the Tea Leaves
After letting the tea steepen, it's time to filter out the tea leaves. I use a metal coffee cone filter. It's reusable, has a very fine mesh, and doesn't impart any taste to tea. However, the Tango Mango tea leaves are so large, that a coarser strainer would be suitable as well. Here, I have combined the results of two 1/2 gallon batches.
Dilute and Chill Or Drink Full Strength with Ice
The tea is ready to drink, sort of. If the tea is for later, I'll let it cool to room temperature, add water to bring the mixture to a one gallon volume, and refrigerate. (I make a concentrated version with my half gallon tea kettle.) If I can't wait, I'll pour the concentrated tea into a glass full of ice and drink.