Summer is upon us and that means many things to each and every one of us. To me it means swimming, blended margaritas, watching baseball, dinner outdoors, picnics and a whole host of other things. It also means sun tea. I love sun tea and personally feel that tea, brewed by the sun over a couple of hours makes the best tea for iced tea. Come to our house in summertime and you will find a jar of sun tea either in the fridge or brewing on the deck. Like a good boy hailing from Indiana, who take their cue from Southerners, I prefer my iced tea sweet, though not as sweet as they do in the south. I also like my tea accented with mint, Spearmint to be exact. I just find it so refreshing and rejuvenating after an afternoon of mowing or yard work.

Sun tea is not hard to make, just fill a clear glass jar with cool water and toss in a few bags of tea leaves. I usually add 10 bags to a gallon jug. Place outside in direct sunlight and allow to steep for 2-4 hours. Remove tea bags and chill. To add mint, rinse the mint, after picking and place it in the jar before adding the other ingredients. With a wooden spoon bruise the mint to help release its essence then precede with the above instructions. To sweeten the tea, while the tea is brewing dissolve 3/4 cup of sugar in 1/2 cup of water over high heat. When all dissolved remove from heat. Add simple syrup to the sun tea when you remove the tea bags. That’s all there is too it. Enjoy!!

And now for my rant. Do a web search on sun tea and you will come across numerous sites spouting the CDC (Center for Disease Control) warning against making sun tea. Because the brewing tea sits right in the middle of the temperature danger zone (the zone at which bacteria grow like wildfire) there is a risk of foodborne illness. Okay, I admit, in theory they have a point. It is possible to get sick from sun tea, and I am sure there are some cases on record to prove their point, but I have never in my life heard of anyone getting sick off of sun tea, and many in my extended family have been making it for years. Sure there might be a risk, but there’s a risk with just stepping outside every day, crossing the street, driving a car, etc. If you listen to all the CDC and the FDA has to say then no more soft set or sunny side up eggs, all steaks and burgers would be cooked well done. Forget about sushi, sashimi, carpaccio, and steak tartar. As it is, they won’t let you make your own decisions about whether you want to drink unpasteurized milk or eat cheese made with unpasteurized milk if it has been aged less than 60 days, all to keep you safe. Don’t get me wrong I think people should be made aware of the risks involved in eating and preparing certain foods, but so many of these statements come across as scare tactics. They often are made to sound dire, like “Drink this and die!” What they won’t tell you are the stats. It seems to me we’ve become scared of our own shadows. Thanks for the warning CDC, but I think I can handle the risk factor of sun tea and just to up the ante, I think I’ll order in some sushi also.

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