The Tea Spoon

From the writer of The Coffee Spoon, read about The Tea Spoon! I'll include a recipe to make it worth your while!

The Tea Spoon

You probably know that sweet tea is the house wine of the South. It’s sacred and we don’t mess with it!

There is only one place for unsweet tea, that is never and in the trash. I liken it to decaf coffee, it ain’t worth stainin’ yer teeth for.

Also, please excuse me as I will probably get very South in the mouth at times here. I usually show incredible restraint, but we’re talkin’ about tea!

I’m about to say something very controversial.

My mother was the Greatest Sweet Tea Maker in all of the world. Now, I know some of you other Southerners may argue, but you’re not the writer of this here publication, so respectfully, please sit down.

Another little tidbit…upon her death, I have inherited this title. *cough

Now, that we have established my credibility, let me tell you about Mom’s tea.

Mom’s sweet tea accompanied supper every night.

In the South, the evening meal is not dinner, it’s supper! Dinner, also know as lunch, is the midday meal. I don’t make the customs, culture, and traditions. It just is. Any deviation is an insult and it means you ain’t from here. Our hospitality will never allow us to reveal how harshly we are truly judging those who dare to deviate.

My family were (and some still are) also avid Pepsi drinkers you know, because it’s the “Taste born in the Carolinas” and all that, but we did not drink Pepsi with supper!

Mom made tea 1 gallon at a time.

From an amber-colored glass canister she got 12 bags of Lipton. From a matching canister a bit larger, she put 3 heaping scoops of sugar into her stainless steel tea pot.

This was just a regular cooking pot. There was nothing special about it except she always used it to make tea.

The 3 scoops of sugar were probably equivalent to 2.5 to 3 cups. Perhaps this is why diabetes is rampant in the family. 🤷‍♀️ Nevermind that.

She filled the pot with water and put it on the stove to boil.

As she waited, she removed the 12 tea bags from the wrappers and twisted the strings together to form a manageable bundle.

Just as the water started to boil, she dropped in the tea bags and swirled them around as she cut the heat and pulled the pot from the stove, nearly simultaneously.

She put the lid on and let it steep, sometimes for a couple of hours.

Once she was ready for the last step, she poured the tea from the pot into a 1-gallon Rubbermaid pitcher. She ran water over the tea bags in the pot and also poured that into the pitcher.

Then she took the tea spoon and pressed the remaining liquid from the tea bags before discarding them in the trash.

The tea spoon was a large wooden spoon, just perfect for pressing liquid from the tea bags and blending the fresh tea with more water to top off the gallon.

You can tell it’s the tea spoon because it’s stained dark from decades of use.

It had to come live with me…and the pitcher!

Now that I am the greatest tea maker in all of the world, I use Stevia to make my gallons, so it is a little healthier to drink. 👍

I also drink more green tea than regular tea these days because of its health benefits, but I always make it at home! I don’t buy that premade stuff in the bottle! That is blasphemy!

I’m also no stranger to hot tea which was something my mom didn’t explore much. The tea was supposed to be cold and sweet, and coffee was the preferred hot beverage.

PRO TIP: Never drink your sweet iced tea the same day you make it! My brother calls this “raw” tea due to the bitter taste. All the bitterness is gone and it’s always better the next day!

We never had a refrigerator with an ice maker. A corner of the freezer was forever occupied by an ice bin and a gaggle of ice cube trays. I can still hear Mom twisting the cubes into the bin. This often meant supper was on the table and she was on the last step before calling us to the table: pouring the tea!

A gallon of tea didn’t last long, maybe 3 days if we were lucky. It was just so refreshing, a second glass was sometimes a requirement.

Mom did her fair share of fussing about the lack of longevity which I’m sure is how it came about that I learned this very important craft. In reality, the scarcity of that sweet, sweet liquid was truly a compliment to her and her title as Greatest Tea Maker.

I Promised You a Recipe, Here’s Two

Mom’s Best Iced Tea Maker Iced Tea

What you need:

• 12 bags of your favorite tea

• 1-gallon pitcher

• 2-Quart Cooking Pot

• 2 to 3 cups Sugar or preferred artificial sweetener (Both Splenda and Stevia work and use the same measurement as sugar)

• Water (Bottled is best, but tap works)

Instructions:

Put sweetener of choice into 2-quart pot. Fill with water. Bring to boil. Insert tea bags and give them a swirl until the water is brown. Turn off heat and remove pot. Cover and let steep as long as you like.

Pour concentrated tea into pitcher. Run or pour water over tea bags in pot and pour that into pitcher. Squeeze excess liquid from tea bags, then remove and discard them. Top off pitcher with water and give it a stir. Chill overnight for best results.

Ava’s Anti-Inflammatory Cure-All Herbal Tea

Disclaimer: This is not medicine and I am making no healing or curing claims as a guarantee of any kind. I and my family have successfully used this tea to stop throat infections and ease inflammation.

What you need:

• Honey - honey is a natural antibiotic

• 1 Chamomile or Ginger Turmeric tea bag - Chamomile is calming. Ginger and turmeric are both anti-inflammatory herbs

• Cayenne Pepper - Contains capsaicin, carotenoids, flavonoids, Vitamin C. Aids in circulation, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, pain reducer, aids digestion, boost metabolism, the list goes on!

• Cinnamon - Anti-inflammatory, blood sugar reducer.

• Black Pepper - This creates a compound with the turmeric that makes it work more effectively.

• Turmeric (if using Chamomile) - Anti-inflammatory.

• Apple Cider Vinegar - kills bacteria

• Lemon Juice - Vitamin C, calcium, folate, and potassium. Soothes sore throat, aids in digestion, prevents kidney stones, promotes weight loss, and more!

• Your favorite tea mug

• Method for boiling water

• Water

• A spoon

Instructions:

Put your water on to boil.

In the meantime, open your tea bag and add the following in your mug:

1. Honey: about 3/4 inch in the bottom of your mug. If your mug is big, more is better!

2. Dash of cayenne pepper.

3. Dash of black pepper.

4. Dash of turmeric.

5. Dash of cinnamon.

6. 1 TBSP each of apple cider vinegar and lemon juice.

7. Drop in your tea bag.

Pour boiling water in and swirl your tea bag a little bit. Stir with your spoon until you can feel the honey has dissolved.

Let cool to a drinking temperature and enjoy. Stir occasionally as the pepper will want to settle on the bottom. That last swallow has a kick.

Drink as often as you like. It makes a great after-supper drink. Drinking hot tea after the evening meal is a tradition in many Asian cultures.

I hope you enjoyed this post.

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