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There are the obvious signs winter is over — snow melts, sunset after 6 p.m., and baseball season starts.

But here is what makes me think of the warmer seasons:
Open toed sandals,
Late night talks on the balcony,
Nature walks,
Sidewalk-chalkin’,
And switching from warm beverages, to cold ones.

My roommate is a big fan of sun tea, and since it’s her first year on her own, we were initially skeptical of her brewing abilities.

Turns out, it’s really easy. And yes, I’m sure most of you reading are this going, of course, it’s sun tea, its ridiculously easy to make! But please, remember, we are college undergraduates that survive largely on ramen and scraps we find around the house.

What you’ll need.
4 cups of cold water
5 teabags or 5 teaspoons of tealeaves
Large, very sterile glass container.

Instructions.
1. First, wash your container thoroughly, as the tea steeping occurs at the same temperature for bacterial growth.
2. Fill the container with 4 cups of cold water.
3. Add 5 teabags or 5 teaspoons of tealeaves, and secure lid tightly.
4. Put the container in direct sunlight for two hours.
5. Remove the tea bags/ strain tealeaves out.
6. Serve over ice and mix with sugar if desired.
7. Drink all tea within a few hours and discard whatever is left over.

Tips & warnings.
Wikihow.com recommends that you use caffeinated tea rather than herbal tea.
There is some controversy over the safety of sun tea, below is an excerpt from the website:

“What the CDC has said is that there is a theoretical risk of an increase of the bacteria commonly found in fresh water (Alcaligenes viscolactis) that has not shown itself clearly in real life, and it appears that this concern has been somewhat blown out of proportion due to internet information drift and the never-ending need for sensationalism about the potential for food poisoning.[2] What matters most is clean handling of the tea, as with anything you consume.” (wikihow.com/Make-Sun_tea)

So please, go sit on your balcony — lawn, nook, or whatever — sip on your favorite springtime beverage and enjoy the warmer temperatures. I know that's what I’ll be doing!

[Picture- my roommate and friend talking on our balcony last summer, good times!]

While flying to Las Vegas for a friend's bachelorette party, I was page-turning Southwest airline's magazine called "Spirit" when I happened upon a most interesting tea alcoholic drink.  With its main ingredient being tea, naturally I was eager to try this on our trip and figured it would do the ladies a lot of good to loosen up the right way while tanning at the Hard Rock poolside.

The article's title was "Bourbon Slush"  and it was a recipe provided by Fred Thompson, author of Bourbon: 50 Rousing Recipes for a Classic American Spirit.  I will soon discover that Fred properly characterizes this concoction as a "slurpee for grownups."  Fred described the drink as a whiskey sour meets a granita. He promises that it makes a great beach drink.  Hmmm...this sounded too dangerous for a pack of wild and sexy ladies in Sin City.  But why else go to Vegas if we can't walk on the wild side?

So I tore out the article (yes, I'm THAT girl) with the plan of attack that the poolside bartender would make a whole pitcher for us. Needless to say, my high hopes where just that. Of course they couldn't take special orders and didn't have fresh brewed iced tea with concentrated lemonade and orange juice!  

Determined to have this made, I kept the recipe in my bra for safe-keeping and enjoyed it with some friends the following Sunday at home. I must say, slushie and delishious it was! Freshing I might add, but I soon realized that one was more than plenty...

and a good idea to have kept it a secret from the ladies!

Ingredients: (Makes 6 Bourbon Slushes)

2 cups brewed black tea (I used Organic Darjeeling)

1 pint Maker's Mark

2 tablespoons sugar

1 12 ounce can frozen lemonade, concentrate, thawed

16 ounce can frozen orange juice, concentrate, thawed

Chilled lemon-lime soda

Directions:

1. Combine in large metal bowl. Put bowl in freezer, stir with a whisk every two hours until mixture is frozen.

2. Scoop frozen tea into an old-fashioned glass until it's about two-thirds full.

3. Top off with soda without stirring the mix. Serve when soda has turned the frozen tea slushy.

Cinnamon, cloves and apricot spice is a triangle defense invented for a cold winter's day, but can taste even better on a hot Summer day.  Although this European style tea is great hot, it is all the more better chilled.  The ice-and-spicy elements for this sun tea will take you for a stroll down the cobblestone streets and land you a seat at a patio of a European cafe on a hot summer day.  

Ingredients:

4-5 heaping tablespoons of apricot spiced loose leaf tea like Apricot Chai

1 cinnamon stick

3 whole cloves

1 gallon filtered water

Large glass pot with lid

2 teaspoons sugar 

Directions:

Add water in the glass teapot.  Stir in sugar until dissolved.  Combine other ingredients into the glass teapot.  Steep in direct sunlight for 6 hours or more according to taste. Strain liquid out into glasses containing ice. Garnish with a slice of orange.

The summer can become unbearable for tea drinkers.  The hot heat makes it difficult to sip on a cuppa hot tea for some people.  Many resort to iced tea.  I have seen many iced tea recipes in the past, and have been an advocate of steeping hot and pouring over ice, until I found this recipe from a twitter friend!  Cold brewing tea in a refridgerator is what they suggested. At first, I was unsure if it would even work, worrying over whether the tea would steep a bitter cuppa. Here is the recipe if you are interested!

How to cold brew tea:

#1) get a very large pitcher, that is either a gallon or half gallon.

#2) add about 1/4 cup of tea to half gallon or 1/2 cup of tea to gallon pitcher.

#3) fill with cold water

#4) Put in refrigerator,covered for 6-8 hours for first steep, and 12-15 hours for second steep.

#5) Pour a cup and enjoy!

The cold cuppa that I drank after 8 hours was delicious!  The tea was not over or under steeped, like some other iced teas, and it still held up the flavor profile of the tea very well!  For curiosity sake, I steeped the tea once,even though Chris & Amy didn’t say anything about that.  It tastes just as good at the first steep!  So after you are done with your first steep, add more cold water, stick in the fridge for another 12 hours and enjoy a second time the next day!  If you try this, do share with us here at California Tea House!  I would love to hear your thoughts and experiences on cold brewing tea!

Sun Brewed or Sun kissed tea's magic is that it allows room for creativity. With honey rather than sugar in mind, this recipe is tailored for a busy bee's palate. Be sure to keep the garden bees away while it steeps! 

Ingredients:

5 heaping tablespoons of loose leaf Rooibos tisane (Gingerbread Chai)

Juice of one lemon Lemon slices (save a few for garnish)

1/4 cup of honey, diluted with an equal part of hot water

1 gallon filtered water

Large glass pitcher 

Directions:

Pour all the ingredients in the glass pitcher and stir continuously. Place lid on top and position pitcher directly in hot sunlight for 8 hours or so. Pour into glasses containing ice. Add a lemon wedge on top and enjoy!