I still remember the look on my mother's face when we moved to Texas and my mother was served a glass of iced tea upon ordering tea in the morning at a restaurant. Thereafter we learned to order, hot tea.

"I know I sound like a tea snob"

If you admit to drinking iced tea, you cannot qualify as a tea snob!! Nor if you admit to drinking tea made from anything other than Camellia sinensis. 🥴

Side note, I actually bought a tea plant this year and it is doing marvelously. Although I certainly have no intention of processing the leaves to make actual tea out of them,since I have no idea , I like the novelty of having a tea plant.

Same reason I have an olive tree. I do not see myself brining or curing olives, but I like saying that I have an olive tree. Weird.

Ice tea is a staple here in our house (I'm in the South). The Mr. wouldn't know how to act without ice tea! LOL I always have a pitcher of regular iced tea (I like Luzianne). We do sweeten ours, I use splenda blend. Sometimes I add lime, lemon and/or orange slices and I do like to flavor tea with peach or pineapple juice. I also (he doesn't) like green tea - iced or hot. I like it sweetened with a bit of lime juice. We drink decaf tea.

Nor if you admit to drinking tea made from anything other than Camellia sinensis

Isn't my modest orange pekoe tea camellia sinensis, along with Darjeeling too?

I bought this tea and am drinking it right now! It’s not sweet and just has a hint of peach flavor.

For decaf teas, I like all the berry and hibiscus types. I often just put 2 teabags in my big tervis travel cup, cover, and put in the fridge overnight.

tea plant

Please, could you post a picture? (And while you are at it please we are overdue for a new picture of your puppy).

DH drinks nothing but unsweetened iced tea. Luzianne is preferred.

Hot tea on occasion. Flavors vary.

I prefer some type of plain black tea for iced tea, no sugar, lots of ice.

"Dr. Pepper plant", ha,ha! How big do tea plants get?

The Earl is beautiful!! And big!

I don’t care for iced tea. For a cold drink, I like water best.

I drink ice tea all day. Well, half ice tea sweetened with Splenda and half lemon/lime diet soda in a tall glass. It's a version of an Arnold Palmer. I use Linton or Walmart gallon size tea bags and make it in the coffee pot.

Amylou, I have a coffee bean plant. I, too, don't expect to use the one or two beans it may produce but it's a cool looking plant.

I like unsweetened iced tea. I don't usually make it at home but I usually always get it when I eat out.

I grew up with Lipton but use Luizianne now. We have an instant hot and I usually make it concentrated with that and add chilled filtered water. I drink less than I used to, but usually take it unsweetened -- occasionally very lightly sweetened, sometimes with lemon or other citrus, a spring or mint or other herbs, splash of lemonade or mango or peach nectar. I also have some flavored teas from Republic of Tea for summer -- the Mandalorian with blueberry and hibiscus is what I remember being my favorite last summer. Sweet tea here has gotten to be sweeter than soda.

I'd be making tea with those leaves, Amylou, but I also just ate a salad with celery and nastertium leaves in it from my garden, among other things I am growing. I have been known to eat dandilion greens and poke salat from the yard too, front, not back where Chewie does his business!

I drink plain old Lipton or Luzianne. I like iced tea with no sugar or lemon, but used to like mint with it, but I don't have a mint plant here. But now that I think of it, I will buy one. I like hot tea with sugar.

I love sweet tea. Instant raspberry iced tea by Lipton is my favorite. I try to drink scented seltzer water in the Summer. I need to cut back on the zero calorie sweeteners I consume.

I make a lot of sun tea during the summer. Toss stuff in a half gallon mason jar in the morning, and bring it in later to remove tea stuff and chill it later in the day. How long depends on the day and what I'm making.

Sometimes I do lipton bags, decaf. It's my loves fave hot tea so it's always in the house. Sometimes I'll do one of the zingers or other bagged fruit tea. Often I do hibiscus, sometimes with some fresh mint. Or dried lemongrass and white tea, sometimes with some jasmine or if I'm feeling kicky a couple dehydrated orange slices. Occasionally I'll do a chamomile one in the sun and then chill it with fresh mint.

I don't tend to add other while brewing. I usually like my iced tea straight. But sometimes I like to add a fresh squirt or slice of citrus to a glass. I make a lilac syrup in the spring that goes nicely with a glass of hibscus tea. I've made a pretty good citrus syrup in the past too. Or sometimes I like to muddle up some mint and sometimes a bit of salad burnet to make ice cubes with to ice my tea.

I got a couple boxes of bigger bag cold iced tea a bit ago. I'm going to try them out this year on the counter to see how I like that compared to sun tea.

I also make a lot of waters with fresh stuff during the summer, but I tend to think of teas as made from mostly dried things, and waters as made from mostly fresh things.

I drink iced tea year round. Plain unsweetened black tea with lots of ice. I dislike most flavored teas. Raspberry Iced Tea? Might as well be drinking Koolaid. An exception are some China Mist teas which have just a suggestion of fruity undertone.

Like Gardengal, I use Lipton cold brew. I love it!

I do add stevia for sweetness, but can drink it without.

I drink ice tea all day.

“My preferred choice is Lipton's Cold Brew family sized tea bags…”

Ditto!

"Isn't my modest orange pekoe tea camellia sinensis, along with Darjeeling too?"

Yes, it is. All black, green or even white teas are. Earl Grey, Lady Grey, Irish or English breakfast and lapsang souchong all come from Camellia sinensis. But for a real tea snob, chamomile, mint, hibiscus, elderberry, licorice root, lemon grass, ginseng or any other plant infusions do not qualify as "real" tea. Some would even argue that adding those or other flavors and/or fruits to a Camellia sinensis tea disqualifies it from being "real" tea.

Right now I'm preferring Tetley, plain, refrigerator cold (no ice). I grew up drinking Lipton; often buy Red Rose. Also always wanted lemon & sweetener in my tea (hot or cold) but no more.

Had some Lipton green tea with Blueberry Acai the other day and surprised myself that I liked it (first time I tried it, after it arrived by mistake, I didn't!) I've never been a fan of flavored, fruit or herbal teas, but lately I am appreciating green tea, even mint tea)

Loved a glass of Ginger Turmeric Honey tea w/cinnamon & lemon, from Aroma Coffee Co -- so I bought some Ginger Turmeric tea from Trader Joe's. It's not the same (has orange, black pepper and licorice instead) but I like it too

I used to love the Lime Mint instant tea from Nestea (IIRC) but it didn't stay on the market long. So, I sometimes add lime & mint to my black tea.

I don't actually drink cold tea all that often - just on very hot days, like yesterday, or if my energy is lagging after chores.

When I was a teenager, we drank iced tea when we'd go to restaurants. I don't think I've had any in 60 years. I have a local friend who drinks it all day. When I drink hot tea (infrequently) I prefer it the English way, with milk (okay 1/2 & 1/2).

Another ice tea lover, unsweetened please. We use various teas. We tend to make either Lipton or various fruit teas. Funniest thing is every time that a guest loves our ice tea, and asks me share the brand, it is Lipton.

I buy the sweetened iced tea bags. It's sugar free zero calories, I love it. Lipton also makes it.

I'm intrigued by the ice tea love here. I might give it a go, for old times' sake.

Re cold tea: is it a special type, or do you just soak the bags in cold water for a prescribed time?

Bunny I brew a gallon at a time. I fill the coffee maker with water (12 cup) and add the gallon tea bag or 12 tea bags where the coffee usually goes and turn on. Then put it in a pitcher, add sweetener, and ice/water to the gallon mark. Ice tea is made with hot tea cooled. You can also make sun tea.

You can just leave the bag in cold water until the tea tastes okay. I used to make a pitcher by adding a bunch of random tea bags to cold water and leaving it in the fridge overnight. Now I just make a glass when I want it so there's no pressure. :)

I use whatever tea I have on hand which is usually Earl Gray or jasmine green or other green+herbal blends. I am not a tea snob and will throw a tea bag in a big glass of water and come back later to add ice or--horror!--I will steep a bag in some hot water and then add cold water and ice. I have no problem putting a tea bag in an insulated water bottle of ice water for a road trip. By the time I want it, it's usually teaey enough.

And no. No sugar. And none of those weird fruity tea blends.

The problem with drinking all this tea is then ...

....wait for it....

....I have to make a teepee!

😁

Fori -- I fully admit that I do not consider the Mandalorian blueberry/hibiscus brew as iced tea -- just another cold beverage option. With 8 months of the year being warm, there is time and need to drink plenty and have options. I drink more water than anything though.

Out of curiosity I bought some instant Lipton diet raspberry iced tea on my way to work Nicole. I remember making thermoses of the instant Lipton sweet tea when we were little. Raspberry sounds good! I like Kool-Aid.......

I like plain iced tea, fruit teas (but unsweetened) and mint tea -- I most often reach for a fruit tea like the Republic of Tea's Blackberry Sage tea Zalco mentioned above. I have recently started mixing it with decaf tea bags so it's even more subtle but still nice.

I was reminded of an old favorite, Midsummer Dream tea which is a blend of black and green tea plus pineapple, papaya, strawberry and sunflower petals. It smells divine and tastes so light and fresh.

or--horror!--I will steep a bag in some hot water and then add cold water and ice.

That's the way I'm doing it too?

Lucille, I LOVE tea—hot, cold and in between. I have lots of interesting hot teas but my favorites are Earl Grey, Constant Comment, Sleepytime Chamomille, and Red Zinger. But for iced tea…..I make a pitcher of Crystal Light Peach Tea almost daily. I have tried making regular tea and flavoring it with peach slices, peach nectar, and even pureed peaches meant as baby food! Nothing is as good as this powdered tea that tastes like tea steeped with peach essence of some kind. I dont add the full two quarts of water bc Iuse a lot of ice and dont want to water it down. It is the most refreshing drink! I have served it to guests who are astounded (and occasionally frankly dismayed) to find they have been enjoying such a humble processed drink. 😎

My go to iced tea is Lipton Cold Brew. Three large tea bags to 2 quarts water. Sometimes I brew a small amount of a fruit flavored tea and when it is cooled, I add it to the pitcher. I never cool hot tea quickly over ice as it makes it cloudy.

We usually make sun tea when we are at the lake cabin and drink that or water until happy hour which is in early to mid afternoon and lasts until one goes to bed.

As they say "it's 5 o'clock somewhere"

When I lived in Texas, I quickly learned to order unsweetened tea, because the default was sweet tea.

Then I met the Arnold Palmer, and that is my favorite now.

I drink brewed iced tea plain. Artificial sweeteners don't agree with me. Lately we have been buying tea by the gallon at a store called HTeaO they have all kinds of flavors of tea. My favorites are Green Blueberry, Wild Raspberry and Georgia Peach

I love tea, both hot (English style with milk) and cold. Too much caffeine late in the day keeps me up, so lately I have been making a caffeine free mint tea. My mint tea is just fresh mint from the garden heated in water and then allowed to seep. I then put it through a strainer and chill in the fridge and sweetened with sugar or splenda.

Iced Tea is Crystal Light Peach in convenient packets. Hot tea (black no milk or sugar etc) is usually an Earl Gray or Bigelow.

Being a Southerner, I make ice Lipton brand tea with cooking the sugar syrup first. Although, the last few years I have narrowed it down to cookouts and holidays/special occasions. Which is still quite a bit.

I drink my tea hot with milk, whatever the weather. It’s very refreshing. When I come in from a run I immediately have a pot of tea. If I’m abroad, where tea is not well understood and they give you a teabag and some warm water, I might have it with lemon. Once in a bluemoon, abroad, if it’s really hot, I might have a Nestea, but the Lemon version is getting harder to find. I hate the Peach. Smells like showergel.

I do not like cold brewed tea - it tastes bitter to me.

To make the best iced tea, brew the tea in a teapot and let it steep for no more than three minutes. Additional steeping increases the bitterness, whether cold or hot.

You can then add ice to the hot tea or store it in the fridge diluted with water.

I'm fine with Lipton's for iced tea, but I also like Fancy Keemun, which I buy at a tea shop.

I drink iced tea or hot tea all day/night. My iced tea is unsweetened. i make it in an iced tea brewer. If its very hot outside i drink it like that. Otherwise I add either sugar free lemonade that I make, a splash of OJ, or a splash of grapefruit juice. When I have hot tea I add almond milk creamer. No herbal teas for me!

I often make up a batch of iced tea in the summer. I like to add an orange spice tea bag or 2 with my regular tea bags. I like Luzianne tea bags. I make sun tea when it's sunny.

I gave up on sun tea decades ago because of the way bacteria grows in the warm water. I think it is more sanitary to cold brew in the refrigerator.

Floral UK, I agree with you, Lipton’a flavored teas are rubbish. Try the Crystal Light Peach Tea if you are interested in that flavor.