June is National Iced Tea Month 🍹

It’s June…I can’t believe how fast this school year went by and I’m excited for all things that include sunshine and tan lines! ☀️ Which means tons of sweet tea🏖🥤

I’ve been a sweet tea drinker for as long as I can remember. When I was young we used to make it with Lipton iced tea mix year round and on hot days my mom would make sun tea, 🙌🏻my fave! I’ve done the same since my kids were little and when we lived in Florida I’d make sun tea weekly.

Now living in CT I haven’t made it as much from scratch, mostly because life is hectic and my kids often make the Lipton mix on their own when they want it. Apparently they’ve forgotten that I used to make sweet tea by boiling water or putting a pitcher out in the sun. Recently after a visit to Erin’s house my oldest said ‘you should learn to make sweet tea like Erin, she makes the real kind.’ 🙄

So I heard earlier today that June is National Iced Tea month and I’ve been dying to try it in the Instant Pot after all the posts I’ve read about it. I browsed Google quick and looked at all different variations but then decided to wing it. And I love it!!

I buy decaffeinated tea bags- mostly because we enjoy tea before bed and my kids don’t need any help prolonging bedtime rituals. I used 6 regular decaf black tea bags and cut off the paper tags. Tossed the tea bags into the IP with about 8 cups of water. I also put in 2 scoops of sugar, skip the sugar if you’d like but that’s no fun. 🤣 Totally kidding, I love plain tea too but my kids will only drink sweet and the sugar never mixes once the teas cold. (The scooper I use in my sugar jar is probably equal to 2 tablespoons.)

Close the IP and cook on high for 4 minutes, then allow the natural release. I actually turned mine on and went to the basement gym to workout. When I came back (or finally remembered 😬) it was more than 40 minutes past finish time and it was still pretty hot when I opened it. So you don’t need to get it immediately. If you find it’s too strong for your liking you can always mix in some more water. But I think it came out perfect and sweet but not crazy sweet.

I poured mine in a container to keep in the fridge and my goal is to teach the almost 13 year old to be able to make this for us all summer long! 💁🏼‍♀️