
How to Make Sun Tea
Have you ever made Sun Tea? It’s my favourite way to enjoy iced tea in the summer! The taste of real brewed tea and endless flavour options is what gets me really excited about brewing a batch.
Sun Tea is a method of brewing tea slowly by using the heat of the sun to steep tea bags. I find it fascinating to watch the water in the glass jar slowly change colour as the sun works its magic on the tea bags. 🙂
Sun Tea is really easy to make and is very adaptable to your own personal flavour preferences.
How to make sun tea:
- Add 6 – 9 tea bags (this is my favourite) to a 4 litre glass jar.
- Fill the jar with water and screw on the lid.
- Place in the direct sun for 3 – 5 hours, or until desired strength is reached. Remove tea bags.
- Place in the fridge.
- To serve: add sliced lemons, fresh mint, sweetener (honey, simple syrup, agave…etc.) if desired.
For the batch I brewed pictured below, I used 2 Ginger Peach tea bags and 6 Orange Pekoe tea bags. I added some of the Simple Syrup I featured the other day until I was happy with the sweetness. I think it tastes pretty darn good, but if I had some lemons on hand I would have added a few slices to make it perfect!

Hi, I just discovered your sun tea recipe by chance and love this tea so much. When I order cold tea I always order half and half because I am not much on really sweet tea. But, with the sun tea I found for me if I put one Lipton sweeten tea bag with 3 unsweetened tea bags it is absolutely the perfect sweetness. What a great way to make such a refreshing summer drink. Thanks for sharing!
Taya I live in Florida Does the tea stay there for 4 to 6 hours in this Florida sun
Hi James, yes, I would say that would be perfectly fine! Or, you could keep an eye on it and bring it inside when it reaches the brew strength you like.
I have made Sun tea before. I always use 9 Lipton tea bags. After taking the tea bags out I put in 1/2 cup of sugar. Then pour over ice in glasses. I use a gallon jar.
Yum! Thanks for sharing your method!
Are the tea bags regular size or family size?
They are just regular size. 🙂
Just made some sun tea I used cane sugar to sweeten
I find that I get the best flavour results from using Tetley tea … tried other tea brands but like the Tetley results best!
Thanks for the suggestion!
I’ll try it for sure 🙂
I guess you remove the tea bags before storing it in the fridge?
I used to make this tea all the time back in the 70s. A word of caution though. We use well water. If you use regular tap water PLEASE make sure you boil it first. Leaving tea in the sun for slow brewing can cause all kinds of impurities to grow in the water. I learned this the hard way. Otherwise, it makes great tea.
Should have said…tap water of any kind, whether city or well. If you aren’t sure, best to boil the water first.
We use bottled water due to tap water not all that great. I put tea bag infused water out when sun comes up and bring in when the sun goes down.
I brew mine in the refrigerator. No bitter taste and use the same number of bags. Try it I think you will be pleasantly surprised.
The reason you want to make Sun Tea is…. By brewing it slowly and with the suns low heat it doesn’t have the bitterness that the boiled water type does and you get better flavor.