First off, can I tell you I have been reading all your emails and I hear ya loud and clear, these Mason jar drink dispensers are the cats meow! It makes me smile to hear how many of you are fellow Mason Jar lovers :-) I am so glad that you enjoy their awesomeness as much as I do!
Now I am trying my hardest to find the store that I bought them at but it's taking a little bit of time and the harnessing of my super sleuthing powers. What happenedis that for the last half of the summer my laptop has been giving me that annoying 'your disc is full' pop-up window every time I tried to download pictures. So in a space saving effort, I started going through all my trash bins and deleting things to open up hard drive space. Then I moved onto my email accounts and started deleting all mail I thought I didn't need anymore too, purchase order and shipping notices included. Which brings me to the Mason jar situation at present. I am trying to figure how the heck I found them online since I can't remember the store's name...it was a really random store that I had never heard of before. As many of you know googling 'Mason Jar Drink Dispenser' gets you no where, blerg :-( So knock on wood, throw some salt behind your back and cross your fingers for me that I can find that store or jog my memory enough to remember how I found them.
**Edit!! Wahoo, one of you wonderful readers found the jars!! Thank you so much Mary!! You can find them here, they call them Lemonade Jugs, doh! No wonder they were so hard to track down. Now go and buy them up before they disappear, they are 125th anniversary limited editions!!
Here is my Sweet Tea recipe I promised to share with you. Remember, I made it at Penelope's party seen here. It is so smooth and lovely and really just one of the best sweet tea's I've ever had :-) Yum!
Enjoy it with the last bits of your summer. If you can believe it, it's already starting to get pretty cool here at night...Fall is on it's way!
Sweet Tea
2 cold brew iced tea bags per quart of cold water
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Brew 2 cold-brew iced tea bags/quart of water for 3 minutes, just like the package directions read. To make simple syrup, combine remaining one cup water and sugar together in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Let cool slightly and add in 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, stir. Add the simple syrup to the iced tea to taste. Enjoy!
This is the cold brew iced tea that I use...love it! You could make your iced tea with any flavor regular tea bags and hot water but this method is just soooo darn easy. You brew your tea in cold water, awesomesauce! No need to boil a gallon or more of water if you are entertaining a lot of people, total time saver!
One of the things I learned when I lived in Virginia many years ago was thesecret to making super smooth sweet tea. All you need is a baking soda!! Whaat? Baking soda? Yeah, for reals! It totally helps to cut the bitterness, it makes all the difference and your sweet tea doesn't get that yucky bitter taste after sitting our for a bit.
Now to make a non-gritty sweet tea you need to make a simple syrup this way the sugar is perfectly dissolved. Simple syrup is 1 part sugar to 1 part water. Easy. In a small saucepan, pour in 1 cup of water...
Then add in 1 cup of sugar and mix well. Bring to a boil while stirring until the sugar is dissolved.
Ahh, just take a look at that lovely simple syrup....yum!
Now depending on how many gallons of iced tea you made you will want to add in your simple syrup to taste. I usually use one cup per gallon...I like it nice and sweet!
Now you've got yourself some ice cold sweet tea to enjoy on a hot day!
So grab a glass (or a mason jar, who are we kidding) and fill it up with ice....
Pour your sweet tea over and enjoy!
And if it's decaf you can give the kids a sip...if you are feel like sharing that is! :-)
Happy Friday!
XOXO,
Labels: Drinks, Recipes
