Tea Time

Growing up soda was a luxury- the kind of drink I got on vacation, out on a boat while crabbing, or when I spent the night at Granny's house. At home, we had Kool-Aid, water,  or Hi-C.

As I got older the Kool-Aid and Hi-C disappeared and were replaced by iced tea, my mother's fresh brewed iced tea, complete with the sugar boiled right in. The big iced tea container, complete with its own spout usually made its first appearance around Memorial Day. It could always be found ready to serve in our avocado green refrigerator.

Eventually, I started watching my mother make the tea. Every other day or so she would take out the small saucepan and fill it up with water. Next came a cup of sugar poured into the pan, followed by 10-12 tea bags. The tea bags were stripped of any tags so they would not catch fire while dangling so close to the heat of the stovetop. Once everything came to a boil, and before it started spilling onto the stovetop, my mom removed it from the heat to steep for what seemed like forever.

Finally, she would pour the brown liquid into the spouted container. Then came time to wring out the tea bags into another pot of cold water. That light brown liquid would be added, followed by whatever amount of water was needed to fill up the container. 

It was always perfect.

When I moved out, I took my mom's iced tea recipe with me. I cut the sugar out of it and impressed many a housemate with my tea-brewing skills. Those first few years when money was tight I always had something cool and delicious to drink on hot summer days. 

For me, iced tea season still starts around Memorial Day. However, today's clear blue skies and warm sun reminded me I need to fish out my small "ice tea pan" and check my supply of tea bags.