Oregon Sun Tea In 10 Easy Steps
I don’t know if this happens to other bloggers, but I often get suggestions from people about what to post. Mostly from my husband, Brian. For instance, one of his “recipe” ideas is taking a tortilla chip, putting a dollop of cottage cheese on it, and topping it with a dot of hot sauce.
“It’ll be huge,” he promised me. (I would love to hear from anyone who’s tried this and is as enthusiastic about it as he is.)
One of his other “secret” techniques is for making sun tea–without needing any sun. Since we haven’t gotten more than a day or two of sun this spring, I suppose it’s appropriate.
So I’m turning today’s post over to Brian for his tutorial on How To Make Oregon Sun Tea In 10 Easy Steps.
–Jami
—————
Hello, this is Brian.
I’d like to first thank Jami for letting me do this guest post. She’s extremely picky about what goes up on this blog. But I think I convinced her that this is “going to be huge.”
First of all, you’re probably wondering why more people aren’t blogging about making sun tea.
I think the number one reason is fear. They’re afraid of what other people will say if it doesn’t turn out. They’re afraid that carrying around an extremely full pitcher of tepid water is too dangerous. But mostly, they’re afraid that making sun tea is too complicated.
Relax. Even if you’ve never made sun tea before, you’re going to do fine. I’ve broken the process down into ten easy-to-follow steps. I’m going to put the instructions below each image. That way you can familiarize yourself with what the process looks like, and then follow the steps.
1. Get out a 1 gallon glass pitcher. It’s best if it looks like the talking pitcher in the old KoolAid commercials. If you don’t have one of these, you can use a 1 gallon jar.
If you don’t have one of those, you might be able to use a small fish bowl. But be sure to remove any fish and the little castle.
2. Get out your tea bags. The Oregon Sun Tea recipe calls for four (4) regular tea bags and one (1) mint tea bag. If your spouse has some special Moroccan Mint tea bags she’s been saving to have later, do not use one of these. It’s going to cause an argument and ruin the whole thing.
When you have your tea bags, arrange them around the base of the pitcher so they form a cool looking “sunburst” shape.
3. Remove the tea bags from their wrappers. This is where most beginners make their first mistake. Taking them out of the paper takes a little practice. Think of it like taking the tails off shrimp, you’ll do fine.
Put your tea bags in one pile and the wrappers in another. Throw away the wrappers but keep the tea bags. If you throw them all away, you’ll have to start over.
4. Go to the sink and begin running the hot water. Test the water temperature by putting your hand into the running water. It should gradually become warmer and then very hot. When it becomes painful, quickly pull your hand out. Shake it vigorously. And say, “Oww!”
You can also use a thermometer.
5. This is probably the trickiest step right here. Set the pitcher under the water. Holding the tea bag labels in your left hand, carefully dangle them into the pitcher so the hot water is running over them. Hold them there until the pitcher is nearly full. Then turn off the water.
If you’re holding the pitcher under the water because there were dirty dishes in the sink, you’re going to need to yell at the top of your lungs for someone else to come shut off the water.
6. Your Sun Tea pitcher is going to go outside where birds will be flying overhead and spiders nests will be hatching. So you need to find a “hat” for it. I use a lid for a plastic container just big enough to cover the top.
Do not use a real hat. It seems like a funny idea, but when you actually put one of your baseball caps on the pitcher, it just looks dopey.
7. Take the pitcher of brewing tea outside and set it in a safe spot. You can already see it darkening.
In our area we have raccoons, deer, squirrels, black bears and even mountain lions. Because sun tea is difficult for these animals to find in the wild, they are going to be drawn to it. (Urban tea brewers will have similar challengers.) So I always post a guard dog next to the pitcher.
If you do this, make sure the dog does not like sun tea.
8. Glance up at the sky to see if it’s sunny. Here in Oregon we don’t really expect to see the sun. In fact, when it does shine, people think they’re seeing a UFO. Anyway, it doesn’t really matter if it’s sunny or not, the tea is getting brown anyway.
9. Leave the tea well-guarded and go to your herb garden to cut some mint. You’ll need this to accent the picture you’re going to take of your glass of Oregon Sun Tea. Also, make sure it’s mint and not basil, because that will add a weird flavor. Then hurry back to see how the tea’s doing.
10.a) Get a fancy glass and an Adirondack chair. If you don’t have an Adirondack, you have time to go get one at your home improvement store because the tea needs to steep a little more.
b)When the chair is ready, take the tea bags out of the pitcher. Add a little honey to sweeten it.
c) Pour the tea into the glass filled with ice and poke in the mint sprig.
Now you’re ready to enjoy taking pictures of your Oregon Sun Tea. Try to get a shot with blooming flowers in the background.
Optional: Some people like to drink the tea after taking pictures of it.
Hope you give this a try and let me know how it goes. Jami says there’s a Comment section where people leave their thoughts. But she also said it’s rude to ask people to leave only compliments about the post.
Thanks,
–Brian
Thank you to all who left insightful comments. Jami says it’s appropriate to respond to questions or suggestions. So in no particular order:
1. On how long to leave the tea bags in — probably an hour.
2. On other suggested names for the tea — Oregon Rust and Oregon Cloud are probably much more accurate than Oregon Sun. But should we abandon our ideals because there’s such a small chance of realizing them?
3. On British protocol for making sun tea — I believe they use my exact method with the exception of the guard dog breed.
4. On the number people who commented as Anonymous — Jami says this is because the blogger comment system is sometimes confusing. I think it’s because of my original premise about sun tea and fear.
5. On the number of people who have tried or are considering trying tortilla chips with cottage cheese and hot sauce — Very encouraging.
This is a very cute post. I will try your tea but I live in Florida(lots more sun) so it should be ready in about 5 minutes *smile* No time to buy the chair so I’ll have to settle for my yard swing.
Love the post! I love your sense of humnor- both of you! This is almost as good as the dog food post. I always look forward to reading your blog.
I love cottage cheese on Lay’s original potato chips.
YUM!
I haven’t tried it with hot sauce but I’m curious now so I’m going to have to try it.
Thanks for the great tutorial on sun tea.
I love tea but usually just make it with the iced tea maker.
Love this blog!
Thanks!
Oh my gosh, I got such a kick out of this. Brian, you remind me of The Pioneer Woman ( in the male form) and my husband rolled into one! I love this. My only question is…how long do I leave the tea out there for. 2-3 hours, 4-5 hours, 1-2 hours, or can it be for as long as I want š Thanks Dude! Jami, you must allow him to post again. He made my Friday afternoon!
BTW- I think my husband would dig the tortilla chip idea!
I thought I would die laughing after I saw the dog guarding the tea…hey ya never know here in Oregon LOL, those Canada geese flyin overhead could really deposit some interesting additions too….:(
Perhaps you could get Brian to write another post on how to make microwave nachos to go with the tea. Being of British ancestry though it is my heritage to inform you that the mint is not necessary and in fact may be sacrilegious. Perhaps you should inquire with Buckingham Palace. Otherwise, jolly good show!!!
We Love Sun Tea! Here in Southeast Idaho we are having a spring that is reminiscent of my younger days in western Oregon :). Wet, cloudy and rainy. Can’t wait to get that Sun Tea jar out & throw in some fragrant mint.
Just came across you blog and like it so much I am adding it to my blog list! Thanks for great pictures and documentation :). Makes for a blog worth reading!
Let’s have Brian back on a regular basis. Good advice and a good laugh or two. Thanks
At our house we love the chips, cottage cheese, hot sauce or salsa (both red and greens). I had always thought we were an odd lot, but have since found many others that do this as well. I have been enjoying this delicious pleasure for well over 40 years now. We even enjoy potato chips (I prefer the ridge ones best for this), with the cottage cheese. Been doing that one for as long as I can remember. Both the potato chips and tortilla chips are delicious with the Trader Joe’s pub cheese (cold, room temp, or heated, its all good). Yummy.
LOL!! Thanks, I really needed today š
Okay, this is too cool…and very funny. Living in Southern Oregon, I know what you mean about the sun š š So this recipe is just perfect š š I don’t have a guard dog for the tea…but there is a really nice homeless mama kitty that prowls my apartment complex. She’s good at chasing away unwanted critters. My back patio is part of her territory š š We do get raccons that like to visit…but that’s at nighttime…so I’m not worried about the tea during the day. Thanks Jami…and Jami’s hubby…for this recipe š š I’m even going to share this on my FAcebook page š š
Love and hugs from Southern Oregon, Heather š
Brian’s post is HYSTERICAL ! Who knew tea could be so much fun ?!
Brian’s post hits the jackpot, Jami–not only providing us with helpful instruction on a beverage favorite, but giving us a good dose of his special brand of humor that is truly unique. It’s almost enough to make me try the chip ‘n cottage cheese idea….but, not quite! Can’t help but love a “Brian” post, whether it’s a video posting or an instructional post with photos. Great team work, you two!
Hey, Brian
Nice post.
I like what Dan said but I was thinking
it could be called Oregon’s Finest Rust Tea.
Have you ever made the Sun Tea using tea
only from Oregon Companies? Stash or Tazo?
Both good choice. I did notice the one bag
of Stash tea in your current batch.
Have a safe and peaceful weekend.
Mom of one
What a fun post, Brian. I hope Jami lets you be a guest blogger more often. (Not sure if I’ll try the tortilla chip, cottage cheese, dot of hot sauce snack, though!) I live near Sacramento so making sun tea is normally not an issue – we can make it year-round. Not this spring, though – our weather has been unusually cloudy and rainy – it feels a lot like Oregon. I make my iced tea the way my grandmother did – a pot of extra strong hot tea poured over ice. It uses up a lot of ice, but if I remember to make the tea in the morning, it’s cooled off by the time I’m ready to enjoy it. I do need an Adirondack chair, though.
I love tea in any of its forms. I enjoyed the sense of humor seeping through your post and I hope you’ll be allowed to share your thoughts with us again soon. Have a nice weekend!
Maybe you should invent a new tea and call it Cloud Tea, filled by the pitter patter of rain drops! Available year ’round in Oregon!
LOL, we want more Brian!
I think that this is the best tutorial I have ever read! Thanks Jami for letting Brian post this.
Morgan