Food Day Friday - For Husband

Mint Tea. Husband loves it. L-O-VES it.

I'm not much of a (sweet) tea person. unless it's a jumbo sweet tea with extra lemon from J&R's (the red building beside the Citgo) or mint tea from Nabeel's. I'd never even made sweet tea before I met Husband. And actually the first time he made sweet tea for me, it was so sweet I had to water my glass down with lemon Gatorade.

He loves sweet tea and can drink a pitcher in two days. When the Shapachs came to visit earlier this summer, we decided to eat Greek. Husband grilled Greek burgers and I made hummus and tzatziki. and I picked up some fresh mint for mint tea. Husband has been hooked ever since. (and I like mint tea better because I use 1/3 cup less sugar per pitcher and Husband doesn't seem to notice)

so without further adieu, Mint Tea:

what you need:

• 2 liter pitcher
• fresh mint
• tea bag (brand of your choice. I use Lipton because I always seem to have a coupon for it. I use 1 family sized bag or 9 little bags when we don't have family bags - bonus tip: when I have to use little bags I tape the strings together so they are all connected and not swimming around freely)
• sugar (1 cup or to taste)
• water (2 liters)
• pot

fill pot with 2 liters of water and cover on high

while the water is coming to a boil, add mint leaves to the empty pitcher. I use about a dozen depending on the size of the leaves.

next add the sugar. I use 1 cup when making mint tea and 1 and 1/3 cup when I'm making sweet tea. Husband likes it so sweet I could barf. now just wait for the water to boil.

after water is boiling, turn off heat and add the tea bag(s) to the water. wait 3 to 5 minutes to steep. I usually forget the pot by this point and sometimes it has steeped for 30 minutes to an hour.

I always squeeze the tea bag to get the last extra bit of flavor. before I thought to use the lemon squeezer, I just used a spoon to press the bag against the side of the pitcher. you can either wait for the tea to cool further or go ahead and pour it hot (hot is better for the sugar to dissolve)

finished, after a stir to dissolve all the sugar. refrigerate and enjoy. and when the leaves make it into a glass, feel free to eat them. or not.

it's good stuff. much like a mint julip without the bourbon. to which some would say, "what's the point of that?"