It’s undeniably hot. So hot you want to cool off with a cold beverage. Grocers know that sales of soda and bottled iced tea can be counted upon to increase as the weather heats up. But bottled beverages can be expensive. Plus they’re full of sugars, high-fructose corn syrups, artificial colors and flavors, and other undesirable ingredients.

As people begin to avoid unhealthy sodas, iced tea is becoming popular again. Sales of to-drink teas have grown quickly, and in 1983 Bischofszell Food Ltd. became the first worldwide producer of bottled ice tea on an industrial scale. Today, iced tea makes up 85 percent of all tea drunk in the United States. And worldwide, following water, tea (hot and cold) is the world’s most widely consumed drink.

But on a hot summer day, you may not want to heat water to steep tea. The answer is sun tea. When not sweetened, this zero-calorie beverage is made by harnessing the power of the sun.

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A little history

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By the 1850s, the ice house, the icebox and commercial manufacture of ice made way for cold beverages like iced tea. The first iced teas were made from green tea and liquor, and were called punches. These became popular in the early 19th century.

The earliest iced tea recipe, made with green tea, sugar and ice, comes from an 1879 community cookbook, “Housekeeping in Old Virginia,” by Marion Cabell Tyree. Five years later, the director of the Boston Cooking School published a recipe for sweet iced tea made with black tea in her 1884 cookbook, “Mrs. Lincoln’s Boston Cook Book: What to do and What Not to Do in Cooking.”

But it was the hot weather at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis that helped drive the popularity of iced tea. Imports of inexpensive black tea from India and Ceylon caused black tea to replace green in the cold beverage. 1904 was also the year of the first teabag – made of cloth. The small “flow-thru” mesh teabags stapled to a string we’re so familiar with today were developed around 1950 and have stayed the same since – whether it’s Lipton, Tetley or another company.

Later, when alcoholic beverages were difficult to obtain during the Prohibition, tea became attractive. Soon, special tall iced tea glasses, long spoons and lemon forks became commonplace. But it was in 1928 that the popular cookbook, Henrietta Stanley Dull “Southern Cooking” gave us the iced tea recipe that has become a standard in the American South.

When exactly sun tea came into the picture is a mystery. But somewhere, someone discovered that it was easier, cheaper and didn’t heat up the house if tea leaves (or teabags) were placed in a jar with water and left it in the sun. The heat of the sun extracts flavor from the tea, giving you a delicious, ready-to-drink beverage in a couple of hours, without using fuel or heating up the house. Whereas traditional tea made with boiled water is steeped, sun tea is infused.

Many prefer the flavor of tea extracted at the lower temperature. When the water is hot, the tea releases its flavor faster, resulting in an intense, more astringent flavor and darker, deeper hue. When the water is just warmed by the sun, the flavor is less bitter. Therefore, sun tea is milder in flavor, with less astringency and greater aroma.

In the 1990s, however, the medical community began to raise the alarm, because the infusion of tea set out in the sun is steeped at 102 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit. While this will bring the flavor out of the tea leaves, it’s not hot enough to kill bacteria that might be in the water, leaving the beverage potentially dangerous to drink. Alcaligenes viscolactis is a bacteria commonly found in water that may be present in sun tea. Although the acidity and caffeine in tea help keep the bugs at bay, the sugar added to the steeping tea speeds up bacterial growth. There has never been a publicized case of food poisoning from sun tea, but many have shied away from it and started infusing tea in the refrigerator instead. It takes a little longer than in the sun, but the end product is already chilled.

If you do put your tea infusion in the sun, there are precautions you can take to prevent bacterial contamination. Use a glass container, which the sun’s rays can easily penetrate. Make sure the jug you’re making the tea in is clean. If the container has a spigot, take it apart and clean it after each use. Don’t sweeten the tea until it has finished infusing and you’re ready to chill it. Prepare only enough for use in one day, and do not leave it in the sun longer than three or four hours. Refrigerate when it’s ready. If it appears thick and syrupy, or has strands, discard; those strands are bacterial growth.

So here are the basics: When tea leaves get wet, flavor comes out. The hotter the water, the less times it takes; steeped tea takes three to 10 minutes. Sun tea takes one to three hours. And refrigerator tea takes six to 10 hours, and is usually made overnight. Strength will depend on three factors: the ratio of tea to water, the temperature and how long you let it infuse. Other factors that come into play are how strong you like your tea, the type of tea you use (some herbal teas take longer or may need a higher concentration of tea to water).

To summarize, iced tea is made by boiling water, pouring it into a glass pitcher with tea, and letting it steep. Sun tea is made with tea and water placed in the sun to infuse for an hour or longer. Refrigerator tea is made by combining water and tea, and letting the tea infuse into the water in the refrigerator. The advantages are that it is already cold when you’re ready to drink it, and no matter how long it sits in the fridge, it won’t get cloudy.

All three methods can be made with any kind of tea you choose: Black, green or herbal teas will all work. You can also use a handful of fresh herbs from your garden in place of herbal teabags. For a half gallon of tea, use about 2 cups fresh chopped herbs and 8 cups water. Try herbs like lemon balm, apple mint, lemon verbena, peppermint, pineapple sage; flowers like hibiscus, jasmine, lavender buds, geraniums and violets; spices like cardamom, allspice, ginger, cloves or vanilla bean; or even fruit like melon, cucumber, citrus peel or cranberries. And don’t be afraid to experiment and combine different teas!

If you want to sweeten your tea, it’s best to do it after it is made. A liquid sweetener, like honey, agave, maple syrup or a simple syrup (made by dissolving sugar in water) is best. Granulated sugar will take longer to dissolve and may settle at the bottom of the container. You can also add flavor to the tea with slices of lemon or lime while it is infusing. Citrus slices also work well as a garnish.

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Minty Sun Tea

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Ingredients:

1 quart water

1 Tablespoon black tea leaves (or 2 black tea bags)

1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

Optional sweetener: 1 Tablespoon honey, maple syrup or sugar (or to taste)

4 sprigs fresh mint

1 lemon

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Directions:

Place water, tea bags and mint leaves in a glass pitcher. Leave it in a warm, sunny spot for 6 to 8 hours.

Strain out the tea and mint (or remove bags). Sweeten to taste. Chill.

Slice 4 slices from center of lemon.

To serve, add ice to 4 glasses. Pour 1 cup tea in each. Add a slice of lemon and a sprig of mint to each glass.

Serves 4.

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Refreshing Balmy Lemon Tea

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Ingredients:

3 tea bags (1 each: black, green and lemon tea)

2 Tablespoons lemon balm

7 cups water

1 lemon cut into thin slices

Sugar, honey or artificial sweetener to taste

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Directions:

Put tea bags and lemon balm in a half gallon or larger heatproof container with a tight lid. Pour boiling water over them. Cover and let steep for 30 minutes. OR use cool water and place in the sun for an hour or longer, or in the fridge overnight. Remove teabags and lemon balm, stir in sugar (if using). Garnish with lemon slices. Refrigerate until ready to drink. Serve over ice.

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Berry Tea Smoothie

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Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups fresh berries (or other seasonal fruit)

2/3 cup vanilla frozen yogurt

1 cup tea

Honey, sugar or sweetener to taste, if you wish

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Directions:

Blend berries and yogurt until smooth. Add cooled tea and blend a bit longer. Adjust to desired consistency and sweetness.

The berries add natural sweetness but you may add any type of sweetener if you prefer a sweeter beverage. You may add crushed ice at the end for a cooler beverage.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook “Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market,” Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: cooking and writing. She can be reached at www.wordsaremyworld.com.