Sun teas are one of the easiest things to make. You can do this so long as you have a window sill, or a bright patch of light in your house. When possible, I make sun teas outside on my back deck and let them sit for at least 5 hours. The more time they sit, the more flavorful the tea!
To make sun tea, use a glass jar that can be sealed. You can use tea bags, or loose leaf tea. Every weekend, I walk to my neighborhood farmers market and almost always acquire a hand-blended loose leaf tea from the lovely Yerba Buena Tea Co. Their owner, Grace, recommends blending their Lavender Ginger Mint Tea with a little honey and fresh cucumber slices. My favorite honey is from the Bay Area Bee Co - it is local to San Francisco, where I live, and is absolutely delicious. I like that it comes from bees that are buzzing close to my home. I always recommend supporting your neighborhood businesses and buying products that are sourced locally - but Yerba Buena Tea does ship their products :)
LOVELY LAVENDER SUN TEA (Serves 4)
1 32-oz Ball Jar
2-3 heaping tbsp Yerba Buena Tea Co's Lavender Ginger Mint Tea
8-12 fresh cucumber slices (2-3 per glass)
1/2 tsp local raw honey (per glass)
- Place loose leaf tea in a tea steeper or tea bag in large Mason or Ball jar. I use the standard 32-oz (quart) size.
- Place tea in jar and fill jar to the brim with water. Tightly secure lid on the jar.
- Think about the position of the sun and it's lunar energy. Place the jar in a sun spot that feels right to you. This can be on a porch, in a patch of grass, or by a window inside your home. If you are making sun tea indoors, you may need more time to steep.
- Once the water turns a deeper caramel color, your tea is ready! It depends on the intensity of the sun and where you've placed your jar, but this could take anywhere from 3 hours on a sunny day to 6 hours on a partly sunny/chillier day.
- You can add the cucumber slices and raw honey directly to your large mason jar if you are planning to serve all of its contents immediately. If you plan to keep the tea for a few days and only have one serving at a time, I prefer to keep the large mason jar in the fridge and only add the honey and cucumber when I'm ready to serve.
This tea is especially lovely on a warm day, but can also be a nice, calming, drink to have in the evening. Enjoy!
- Nicola
