Many Ways to Make Green Tea

Drinking green tea is one of the best things you can do for yourself. It's loaded with antioxidants and the mild taste doesn't overpower added flavors. You can buy it already flavored or add your own. Most supermarkets sell green tea in a variety of flavors such as citrus, raspberry, cherry, strawberry and mint.

Brewing your own green tea lets you decide the strength, sweetness, and flavor of your tea. It's easy and simple to brew whether by the cup or by the pot and it can be served piping hot or ice cold.

By The Pot

The easiest and quickest way to make green tea is the coffee maker method. You can use lose-leaf or bagged. Lose-leaf is more economical and some prefer it. However, bagged is much easier and there's less cleanup.

Nevertheless, if lose-leaf is what you prefer, scoop out three heaping teaspoonfuls into a coffee filter and fill the coffee maker to the fill line then switch it on. When it has finished brewing, add one cup of sugar and stir to dissolve. Pour into a one-gallon container and finish filling with drinking water. This will last a week or more in the refrigerator.

For bagged green tea, put six to eight bags into the coffee filter container (no filter needed) and follow the same steps as with lose-leaf tea.

The stove top method is similar. Add six to eight bags to a two-quart pot of water then bring it to a boil and take it off the heat. Cover and let it stand about five to ten minutes. Any longer and it tends to get cloudy. Follow the previous directions and refrigerate.

Taste test your first pot of tea . If it isn't as sweet as you like, keep adding more sugar until you get it the way you like it. Of course, you can also reduce the sugar, drink it unsweetened, or add artificial sweetener.

Green Tea Sun Tea

Put six to eight green tea bags into a one-gallon container, put a lid loosely on top and leave it in the sun for five hours or more. The longer it's left in the sun the more strength it will have.

By The Cup

Lose-leaf tea can be sprinkled into a cup of hot water and when the tea leaves settle it is ready to drink. Some cultures long ago actually believed they could tell the future by the pattern of leaves at the bottom of the cup. Of course, this is considered superstitious nonsense today.

Water can be put into the microwave for about two minutes or boiled on the stove. Then simply dunk the tea bag a few times and you have a nice hot cup of tea. You can add the tea bag before it goes into the microwave if you prefer but you'll probably still need to dunk it a few times.

Any kind of juice goes well with green tea. If you don't want to add sweeteners but don't like it plain then mix it half and half with juice. Cranberry juice is one of the most popular juices added to green tea. It can also be added to the water before it goes into the microwave for hot tea and juice which is a great morning starter or afternoon pick-me-up.

Honey is also a favorite among green tea lovers. Honey is an excellent natural sweetener that also adds nutrition. One spoonful of honey in a cup of green tea can really get your morning off to a good start.

Flavored Green Tea

In the spice isle at the supermarket there are several flavors to choose from such as mint, cherry, lemon, coconut, almond, orange, and more. Any of these (One to two drops per cup) can be added to cold or hot green tea. Spices go very well with hot green tea such as ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and sassafras. However, a little sassafras goes a long way. Too much can be bad for the liver so use it sparingly.

Make your own green tea and do a little experimenting. Green tea is not only delicious, it's also healthy. Why buy it already brewed and sweetened when you can make your own, just the way you like it for much less money. Be smart. Be thrifty. Be creative. Brew your own.