Mr Ice Tea any good?

I want to start making my own tea cause all the stuff you buy pre-made is doctored up with high fructose corn syrup and such.

Does anyone have a Mr Coffee Ice Tea maker?

If yes does it work well?

Or can i just get a good stainless steel tea pot and make it that way just as easy?

Reply to
me6
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We make and drink tons of iced tea at our house. After lots of experimentation, here's how I make it now, which also happens to be the easiest way.

1) Into a gallon container (we use emptied plastic milk containers, well rinsed), put your loose leaf tea and fill with cold tap water. If your tap water gets fairly warm during the summer, cool it first in the 'fridge. Some people recommend using double or triple the amount of leaf that you would use for hot tea, but I don't care for that and I use the same amount - around 21 teaspoons (for 128 oz. water). 2) Refrigerate approximately 8-10 hours. Adjust as necessary, e.g. you might want to go 6-8 with a Darjeeling, or 10-12 with a Yunnan. 3) Then strain out the leaf, add sugar if desired, and you are done. I normally use a heaping 1/4 cup of sugar in 1 gallon of iced tea.

The tea is delicious and stays crystal clear.

Randy

Reply to
RJP

I have one of the Mr. Coffee Ice Tea makers.

I would have to say, it was ONE OF THE BEST PURCHASES FOR TEA THAT I HAVE MADE!!!!!

It is easy and the directions are very repeatable! Have not made a bad pot of tea yet!!

snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net wrote:

Reply to
Michael Bohl

Now, how does it work and why is it better than doing it manually?

Reply to
Warren C. Liebold

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 14:33:19 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net tripped the light fantastic, then quipped:

I have one and it works very well, but I haven't used it in over a year, as I've found a much easier method for making iced tea.

Scoff if you will, but Lipton Cold Brew tea bags make excellent tea. For one gallon of iced tea, I use three of the large-sized bags. Put them into a gallon of water and refrigerate overnight. In the morning, remove the tea bags, sweeten as desired, and drink up. Making iced tea couldn't be any easier, and it's some of the best iced tea I've ever had; better, even (and much simpler), than the tea I used to make using my Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker. Tee

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Reply to
Tee King

Yes Ive seen those type of bags

BUT.....Im supposed to drink decaf tea....and didn't think those cold brew bags came in a decaf version. True?

Plus....I like to drink other varieties of tea such as green tea.

Bottom line.... can I buy any "type" of tea bag I want and cold brew them as well?

I really like the idea of NOT owning the Mr Tea.... if possible. Im not much of a gadget freak. However i do realize some gadgets ARE worth their weight in gold. Hence the Mr tea question.

Im sorry if I sound dumb abt tea..... cause I am.

I am trying to kick a soda "addiction. used to drink

3-4 cans of soda a day. So want to drink tea instead.... but decaf tea. But I really haven't ever "made" tea before.
Reply to
me6

Yes..... can you explain how the Mr tea is easier/better than manual? Id like to know as well

Reply to
me6

It's okay because they also add citric acid and other "natural" flavors.

Sorry, no. Haven't they been discontinued.

Does it boil water? I used to use a single-cup coffee maker before I learned the closely guarded secret of using boiling water.

That's what'd I do. Upton's latest newsletter also suggests using 2-3 times the amount of tea in cold water and refrigerating it for 6-8 hours.

Reply to
Hamilcar Barca

What is that secret?

And.....can i use a coffee maker to make tea?

Reply to
me6

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 20:30:37 -0500, snipped-for-privacy@privacy.net tripped the light fantastic, then quipped:

I don't think the Cold Brew tea bags are available in a decaffeinated version. Other de-caf tea bags will also work, though they'll take longer if cold-brewing, and the tea may be cloudy by the time it's steeped long enough. If you're truly concerned with the caffeine, you can boil water and steep enough tea (or tea bags) to make a concentrate, then add water to dilute it as much as you desire (or brew the proper amount without diluting and chill well before serving). Keep in mind that even black teas contain much less caffeine than coffee, soda, etc.

Any of the above methods should work with different teas, in theory, though the results for green tea would probably be more favorable by using very hot water for steeping, as opposed to the "cold brew" method.

In my opinion, the tea maker is a nice gadget for someone who doesn't drink iced tea on a regular basis; it just seems easier to me to make it without the machine. Not to say that the Mr. Coffee doesn't make decent tea, because it does...

Don't apologize for being new to something; there's a world of difference between naive and dumb.

I had a Fresca soda yesterday...the first soda I've had in months and months. Tea is the only beverage I drink; I rarely even drink plain water. I don't think my system could handle all the sugars, acids, and caffeine in soft drinks. Isn't that an oxymoron? Soft drink? Tee

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Reply to
Tee King

I'll tell you but, remember, it's a closely guarded secret.

Here's the secret: Some (black) teas do not steep properly with the kind of hot water a single-cup coffee maker produces; the water isn't hot enough. Using boiling water really brings out the flavor of these teas.

Don't tell anyone else, okay? I'm going to apply for a patent next week.

I wouldn't. Other posters in this thread, including the King of Teas (Tee King), have said they like the Mr. Iced Tea maker. I haven't tried it.

Reply to
Hamilcar Barca

On Mon, 14 Jun 2004 21:31:08 -0600, Hamilcar Barca tripped the light fantastic, then quipped:

I was referring to the Mr. Coffee Iced Tea Maker, not a coffee maker. I liked mine, when I used it, as it produces decent iced tea, but I prefer to use the cold brew tea bags, a gallon-sized glass pitcher, and a refrigerator. Much easier, and I get better results.

Incidentally, my real name is Tee King (yes, really). I'm the King of Nothing... and not of the correct gender to be a proper king of the "royal highness" variety. Tee

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Reply to
Tee King

The topics are sort of mixed up. The OP asked about the the gizmo you've got, I responded about a coffee maker, the OP asked about coffee makers, and I got the name of the tea maker wrong.

Here's everything I know: I didn't find my single-cup coffee maker to be very good once after I tried using 212-degree water.

I found the cold-brew bags to taste quite strange.

I thought it was just in fun. I hope I didn't offend you; I apologize if I did.

Then I vote you be elected as Queen of the Newsgroup, Your Majesty!

Reply to
Hamilcar Barca

On Tue, 15 Jun 2004 00:42:53 -0600, Hamilcar Barca tripped the light fantastic, then quipped:

No offense taken; one hears a lot of twists on one's name when it sounds like an entree on a Chinese takeaway menu to begin with. ;)

Thanks, but no thanks; I don't care for that kind of responsibility, and I wouldn't make a good leader. Tee

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Reply to
Tee King

I'm very old-fashioned (she says while listening to cds and typing on a computer while fielding calls on her cordless phone). I prefer the taste of tea when it's made by hand.

The two methods I use for iced tea are the cold-brew method (put leaves and cold water in fridge and let sit) which is a biologically safer version of the old 'sun tea' trick (put leaves in cold water and sit covered in the sun), and the hot-brew method (put tea leaves in near boiling water for about 4 minutes, remove, and put liquid in fridge). If you use either of these methods you will be able to make iced tea in any quantity you like. If you are trying to cut down on sugar and caffeine, I would say- don't bother getting the machine. there are some very nice green teas (jasmine is one of them) that brews at a lower temp than the China blacks and taste good witou any sweetening. You can add simple syrup to such teas if you want, but the nice thing is that if you put simple syrup in a pretty bottle on the table, everyone can sweeten the tea to his or her taste. Recently I had a lovely jasmine iced tea that was topped with rose buds. It had a light jade green color- more like a chartreuse- and a delicate taste. I'm sure you can track down decaf leaves online. you might also try non-teas like rooibos and other herbals with just a hint of sugar. Most of them make wonderful summer iced drinks.

Reply to
Tea

Hamilcar Barca wrote in news:20040614233108.205 $ snipped-for-privacy@news.newsreader.com:

Does this mean you will be going after all those open-source tea brewers?

Reply to
fLameDogg

No, like the parasites at SCOX, I'll only be pursuing litigation against commercial users in order to monetize intellectual property in regards to my proprietary tea brewing models.

Reply to
Hamilcar Barca

Watch what you say in this ng it'll end up on someone's website or book too be published later. Originality has been reduced to combing published material with Lexus or the internet with Google and deducing enough banal generalities you'll end up at a bookstore talking about tea drinking and it's use as the first antidepressant used to treat shell shock in WWI or the use of tea bags in the trenches as a medical plaster which will be a chapter in your book "Tea: Drink or Cure".

Jim

Reply to
Space Cowboy

Does anyone use baking soda when they're making iced tea? I found out about this technique on the web - it's supposed to keep the tea from getting cloudy, it makes it darker, and it's supposed to keep away any bitterness.

Regarding sweetening the tea, if you want to avoid sugar but also poisonous fake sweeteners, I recommend stevia.

Reply to
Lorraine

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