Teato is hot. It’s summer, after all. And as I wipe the sweat from my furrowed brow, I know the only thing that can quench my thirst: Sun Tea.

Don’t get Teato wrong, I still love to sit down with some loose tea and a hot kettle of water, when the A/C is on. But when I want to soothe my soul with some delicious iced tea without making my kitchen even more boiling hot by boiling water, the answer is clearly Sun Tea.

You are in luck, my sweets: Teato is a Sun Tea expert. But take heed: there are serious hidden dangers of Sun Tea. Let Teato explain.

Take caution, loves The truth is, according to actual Center of Disease Control, setting your tea out in the sun to steep for a few hours actually turns your tea in to a perfect breeding ground for bacteria.

Tap water already contains some bacteria. When you boil your water (ideally about 200 degrees for 3-5 minutes), you kill that bacteria.  Sitting in the sun, your tea will only reach about 130 degrees. This could be the recipe of a very upset tummy, so beware.

The more caffeine the tea leaves (or tea bags, if you’re one of those types) has, the less likely the bacteria survived, so if you love sun tea so much that you want to take your chances, use black tea rather than a green or herbal tea.

Here’s a few more tips for making your sun tea as safe as possible:

1. Use a clean container. Make sure that it’s been recently scrubbed with warm, soapy water.

2. Clean the tea vessel really well. Especially the spigot, where bacteria can build up.

3. Don’t leave your tea in the sun for more than four hours. And put it in the fridge right away.

4. Don’t keep sun tea for more than a day. If you don’t finish it that day, throw it out. Bacteria will only strengthen over time.

5. Examine your tea. If you see anything in there that doesn’t look like tea—anything syrupy or ropey is a sure sign the bacteria has invaded your tea.

If you follow these simple rules, it’s much more likely to keep bacteria at bay. But the safest way to drink your tea is to brew it the old fashioned way: boiling water, and some loose tea leaves in a teapot together for a few minutes.

Tags: bacteria, brewing, Health, iced tea, safety, sun tea, tap water

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 14th, 2008 at 6:13 pm and is filed under Brewing Tea, Health, How-to, Informational. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.