Timesaving Fun: Sun Tea with Fruity Fizz

Recipe Requirements:
ice cube tray
your favorite tea
your favorite fruit
club soda or carbonated water
a large jar or sun tea pitcher

While experts say that drinking hot tea or coffee on a hot day will help you feel cooler, nothing sates the summer appetite like ice tea. It's an oasis in your mouth in the desert of climbing summer temperatures. Make the sun your ally this summer. Make Sun Tea.

To make Sun Tea:

Put 3 teabags of your favorite tea in a large clear plastic or glass jar. My favorite is Good Earth's Original. Alternately you may purchase a Sun Tea Pitcher from nearly any store which sells household sundries. A Sun Tea Pitcher is simple an upside-down jar with a spigot which makes pouring the tea painlessly simple. You may however use any jar. Make sure the jar and its lid are clean and scent-free. (For example if you use a pickle jar which still smells slightly of pickles, don't be surprised if there's a hint of flavor you won't "relish".)

Fill the jar with water. Screw the lid on tightly.

Now sit the jar where it can soak up the sunshine. You can place it on a well-lit windowsill or a table in your back yard.

Leave it alone and let the sun do all the work.

It's ready to drink in an hour or two or whenever it reaches the golden color you prefer. The perfect way to do sun tea is to make it part of your morning ritual. Put the jar in the window when you go for work. Enjoy all its sunny goodness when you get home. As long as the jar is clean, you can safely leave the tea jar out to "stew" for a day or two. Once you have opened the jar however, you should either drink it or refrigerate it since you may have unknowingly introduced contaminants.

As marvelously simple and delicious as Sun Tea is, the same old drink can get blah. So spice things up with some simple additions.

To Make Fruity Fizz

Place your favorite fruit or berries into 1-2 ice cube trays.

Raspberries, blackberries, even sliced strawberries are delightful. Grapes are spectacular. Be daring. Try watermelon cubes or diced kiwi. Experiment. Try mint leaves. Lemon slices. Or lime. Or grapefruit. Orange. Mmmm tangerine. When using citrus fruit, leave the rind on. The zest adds a delicious freshness to the recipe. Do remove any seeds.

Pour club soda or carbonated water over the fruit to fill the ice cube tray.

Freeze.

The delightful simplicity behind this is that like the sun tea, you can prepare it when you have the time to do so and enjoy it when you want it with no more work than pouring a beverage into a glass with ice. Share it with your friends. The fruit should be slightly carbonated, giving you a playful fizz. The flavor of the drink changes subtly as the "ice cubes" melt releasing more fruit and soda/fizzy water. This is a refreshing change from the usual ice stealing flavor from your tea as it gets watered down.

Variation: For a fun change of pace, pour tea into the tray in place of the fizzy water. Then add your "tea cubes" to a glass of club soda!

Make a splash with your friends when you serve this cool drink. A great beverage for parties. Easy to make in large amounts. For an afternoon picnic or yard party, serve in mason jars. For cocktail party elegance add a drop of champagne, Grand Marnier, Midori, coconut rum, flavored vodka or your favorite schnapps. Mix the alcohol and club soda in equal amounts before adding to ice tray. Serve in Martini glasses with sugared rims.