obsessing over ice tea

I like ice tea, especially in the summer.  Last week I stopped in at Teavana, and after sampling a few teas, I ended up buying two.  Both combine two different flavors:

• youthberry and wild orange blossom; and
• blueberry bliss and pineapple kona pop 

Today I get the requisite accouterments.  Normally I don’t sweeten ice tea, but the samples at Teavana are sweetened, and I want to replicate the taste. Teavana sells something called German rock sugar.  It’s “a natural way of sweetening tea or coffee without changing its flavor.”  I buy some, even though my unrefined palate would likely not know the difference between German rock sugar and the plain old granulated kind — though the latter is much prettier.

I have the perfect  50-ounce glass pitcher (by FORLIFE); it's designed to filter out the loose tea leafs.  

I make the ice tea as follows:

• Add tea (I use 7 teaspoons; roughly 1 teaspoon  per 8 ounces)
• Add sugar (I was told 1 teaspoon per 8 ounces, but I don’t want it too sweet so I only add 3 teaspoons)
• Add 2 cups of boiling water
• Let tea seep for 2-3 minutes (if you want; I don't)
• Add 4 cups of cold water
• Mix
• Place jug in fridge-2-4 hours
• Add ice and serve

While I’m waiting for my tea to brew, I walk back to Teavana (I meet my 5-mile walking goal again today).  I had planned to store my new tea in airtight, glass Bodum containers, but the tea expert at Teavana warns against this. He tells me that glass allows in light and light will degrade tea (even if it’s kept in a dark cabinet).  I’m sure I wouldn’t notice the difference between fresh tea and degraded tea, but I figure I may as well do it right.  I get two porcelain containers.  I’m such a sucker.

I come home and pour myself a glass.  I hope Alexander likes ice tea; we'll be drinking a lot of it this summer.