Every woman in my family drinks & makes iced tea… it’s a thing. We always had a pitcher of iced tea in our refrigerator whether it was at our house or Grandma’s. So…. disclaimer I have a fondness for iced tea.

I was making it in a little plastic pitcher someone gave us as a housewarming present last year and it was basically finished at the end of dinner (it was pretty small!) What I’ve really wanted was a glass pitcher, glass makes everything taste better in my opinion. Well I found one, at Wal*Mart. I was there gathering a few things we needed for the wedding/honeymoon and stumbled into the container aisle (how does that always happen to me?) Anyway… I was really excited for the container I used it for mimosas on wedding day (this is how I talked myself into buying it-like it was so hard! ;))

Now for the recipe, I use Salada black tea bags, honestly I love this brand over any other brand of tea bags that I’ve tried, it makes for great tasting tea!

For a smaller pitcher i’d use 5-6 tea bags. I’ve been consistently using 10 for my big container (I think it’s a gallon.) I tie all the bags together & take the paper ends off. I never really measure the water in the pot I just fill it up a little below the top. I put it the pot of water on low with the tea bags and usually let it go for about 45 minutes to an hour. I like my tea to be a little darker. I use 1/3 cup sugar/stevia blend (not splenda- stevia is different but is a bit sweeter than sugar) If you are using stevia or a sugar substitute I’d use 1/4 cup, if you’re using just regular sugar you may want to make it a 1/2 cup. Pour the hot tea in the container  & stir so the sugar dissolves. I then fill the pot back up with cold water (with the tea bags still in the pot) and squeeze them to the side while I’m pouring it to get more flavor out. Then fill the container to the line or top and refrigerate for a few hours. OR you can fill a glass with ice and enjoy it right away which is typically what I do! Enjoy!

The whole container has about 140-150 calories if you use the sugar/stevia blend! Which is great because it’s only about 10 calories a glass & it’s a nice sweet treat!

Bonus:: Stevia isn’t bad for you like other sugar substitutes!

I like plain tea but you could always doctor it up with different flavors such as peach or lemon, fresh is best of course!!!

My new iced tea container with a spout! Enjoying a glass in my MRS. cup!