Not to get off topic, but “sun” tea used to be a thing in the South. A gallon glass container and +4 tea bags set out in the sun for the afternoon then combined with copious amount of diabetes would give you a pretty good sweet tea. At some point someone decided that placing a tea bag in what was basically 100F water for long period of time could potentially breed bacteria (if it was present on the tea bag). Much like eating raw cookie dough, I don’t know anyone that ever got sick from it, but at the same time I can’t argue how it could happen. I don’t have all day to wait for a pitcher of tea. I boil a quart of water and 2 large tea bags gets it done in 30 mins or so.
3 Likes
Yeah, that’s where I got the idea to try cold brew. It was cloudy one day and didn’t seem to matter at all if I left it outside, so I just stopped. Turns out that a couple hours on the counter works just fine. Especially if I go a little heavier on the tea bags than if I was brewing it.
Fortunately, tea is antibacterial!
2 Likes
They definitely recommend against leaving bottled water in the sun, I assume for similar reasons (though I think it’s more of a > 24 hour time period, like a week). I’ve also wondered if it’s for algae, as I think they’re the only ones who can do photosynthesis.
SUn tea still is a thing in the summer in arizona; I just never bothered, and the parent has a gallon of iced tea per day habit, so she doesn’t wait around for it and uses the iced tea machines (until I showed her the coffee pot trick, that is…)
1 Like
That’s mainly because it can start a fire. The UV light will kill most things in a normal bottle of water.
1 Like
whoops, fixing now. thanks!
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
