Minty Citrus Sweet Tea

This year I'm trying to broaden my horizons and give things I don't like another chance. Green tea is supposed to have like a zillion health benefits, so it has been on my list of things to force myself to like. I typically just don't like tea. Really, I just don't like the taste in general. In Louisiana EVERYONE is crazy about sweet tea, and I'm just not into it. But I like *this* tea. It's sweet and tangy and refreshing and not too tea-ey.  My roomate said it tasted like "beauty and flowers" in a cup. It was also described as "ambrosia," which I learned means "food of the gods" and is also a flower. Additionally, this tea is super healthy - antioxidants from the green tea, tangerines have tons of vitamin C, plus yummy fresh home-grown mint. 

I made a big batch because I wanted to fill this super cool drink dispenser I got for Christmas, so you can cut it in half or thirds or fourths if you have a smaller container. You will need:

24 cups water

20 green tea bags (I used mint-flavored green tea for extra minty goodness)

4 tangerines (or oranges, clementines, mandarins, satsumas)

A bunch of fresh mint 

Start with 24 cups water in a large pot.  Bring water to boil.

When water is boiling, add your 20 tea bags. I used Stash Organic MerryMint green tea, which has a strong spearmint scent (although strangely little spearmint flavor). It's okay - I liked the version I made with regular green tea better. This Stash tea was super cheap on Amazon though - under $14 for 100 tea bags. However, now I am stuck with 100 slightly medicinal-smelling spearmint tea bags. You can find it here. They have a variety of different flavors. I think I might try a peach mint tea next. 

Let water boil with the tea bags in for about 3 minutes, then turn off the burner and go shopping, walk your dog, watch a movie, paint a picture, or whatever, until the pot cools down to room temperature. I just left the tea bags in while it cooled. My whole house smelled like spearmint when I got back from the grocery store.

Cut up your tangerines into quarters. Squish the quarters into whatever receptacle you'll be using, so all that good juice comes out.

Add your fresh mint to your pitcher. I just cut a few stems off my sad, crooked, little mint plant (and yes, that's a dog bowl that I keep it in. Things gotta pull double duty around here). Can you tell which direction was facing the sun? I suppose I should turn it every once in a while! I squashed the leaves and stems a little before I put it in my dispenser - that lets the flavor osmose into your tea.

 

I put the tangerine quarters in my drink dispenser because we drink this pretty quickly. If you're not gonna use your whole pitcher in a week, I'd leave the quarters out so they don't get moldy and gross. Tangerines also have a TON of seeds, so if you don't have some kind of filter on your pitcher, the seeds will come out in your cup. Clementines are just as sweet as tangerines and have way fewer seeds. If you want to add more tangerine flavor, you can zest a rind or two, and throw that in as well.

If your tea has cooled down enough, just go ahead and pour it into your pitcher, and stick it in the fridge.

Ta da!  You're all done.  I like my tea a little sweeter, so I add a packet of Splenda when I have a glass.