Discover the Best Gallon Iced Tea Makers for Homemade Refreshment

[KellyTheChef]

Hey all...DH wants to start drinking BREWED iced tea so he can take it to work by the gallon instead of buying it for $3 a gallon....

All I can find are 2 or 3 quart iced tea makers. Do they even make a gallon tea maker, or will I just have to make two batches?

OR- can I get a SMALL coffee maker (say 4 cups...we don't drink coffee, so it will only be for tea, and I don't want it to take up too much space on the counter...) and make the brewed "concentrate" in that, then add sugar and water to finish?

THANKS!!

 

[Kodeysmom]

I have never seen a gallon one either. W have the 3 quart one. It may be just as easy to make 2 batches.

 

[itsjustCarla]

You can always buy a gallon jar - add tea bags and brew it in the sun for a few hours.

 

[KellyTheChef]

You can always buy a gallon jar - add tea bags and brew it in the sun for a few hours.

I am too lazy to do that...and DH goes through at least one gallon per day (at home) and now he wants me to make him extra to take in to work!! lol

 

[Shawnna]

4 quart size tea bags in the small bowl...or the microcooker in the microwave for 4 minutes...add to your pitcher with cold water and lots of sugar...yummy southern tea.

 

[cathyskitchen]

I am too lazy to do that...and DH goes through at least one gallon per day (at home) and now he wants me to make him extra to take in to work!! lol

4 quart size tea bags in the small bowl...or the microcooker in the microwave for 4 minutes...add to your pitcher with cold water and lots of sugar...yummy southern tea.

OK, may I suggest that if your DH is drinking a whole GALLON of this tea every day, that you put a sugar substitute in it? That much sugar a day is just not good. Sorry, had to add my humble opinion on that subject! Hey - if you're making it, you can make it healthy for him, right?

Oh, and ETA - you can mix regular and decaf tea so it's not so much caffeine every day, too. Another one of my humble opinions - I must go back to my sons' playdate and see what in the heck they're doing upstairs!!

 

[KellyTheChef]

OK, may I suggest that if your DH is drinking a whole GALLON of this tea every day, that you put a sugar substitute in it? That much sugar a day is just not good. Sorry, had to add my humble opinion on that subject! Hey - if you're making it, you can make it healthy for him, right?

For the home tea, I only use 1/2 cup of sugar for the entire gallon. It's sweetened, but it's not "sweet tea" like in the south!

I am hooked on McDonald's tea (brewed, unsweetened) with Equal, and he likes that...so he wants me to do that at least for the stuff he will drink at work. One baby step at a time, lol!

 

[cathyskitchen]

For the home tea, I only use 1/2 cup of sugar for the entire gallon. It's sweetened, but it's not "sweet tea" like in the south!

I am hooked on McDonald's tea (brewed, unsweetened) with Equal, and he likes that...so he wants me to do that at least for the stuff he will drink at work. One baby step at a time, lol!

Oh, good - I was getting sweaty there for a second thinking about all of that caffeine and sugar he was drinking daily!

 

[Chef Kearns]

OK, may I suggest that if your DH is drinking a whole GALLON of this tea every day, that you put a sugar substitute in it? That much sugar a day is just not good. Sorry, had to add my humble opinion on that subject! Hey - if you're making it, you can make it healthy for him, right?

Oh, and ETA - you can mix regular and decaf tea so it's not so much caffeine every day, too. Another one of my humble opinions - I must go back to my sons' playdate and see what in the heck they're doing upstairs!!

Sugar substitute does not equal more healthy! Sugar in mass quantities may not be good for your waist line, but at least it is closer to real sugar than a man-made sugar product. Don't put alot of processed stuff into your body if you can help it. I know that our white sugar is processed, but it is processed from the natural thing NOT A MADE UP THING!

 

[KaryCam]

OK, may I suggest that if your DH is drinking a whole GALLON of this tea every day, that you put a sugar substitute in it? That much sugar a day is just not good.
you can mix regular and decaf tea so it's not so much caffeine every day, too.

For the home tea, I only use 1/2 cup of sugar for the entire gallon. It's sweetened, but it's not "sweet tea" like in the south!

Yeah, my DH has the tea habit right now, but his gallon will last 3 days. He likes it sweet. 1 1/4 cup splenda to a gallon.
I do half & half on the caffeine and he hasn't figured it out yet.

 

[jrstephens]

I make my tea by boiling the bags in water on the stove and then adding more water to it in the pitcher.

Is there any reason it has to be brewed by a machine than boiled on the stove?

I have gotten use to drinking mine unsweeted with some lemon juice in it. I did this while I was gestational. I never thought I would be able to give up sugar in my tea. And I would rather have no sugar than a substitute!

 

[CookingwithMary]

If there is a refrigerator at work...get a gallon jug with a spigot. Fill with water at work and teabags, let it sit. Unless of course, people steal things out of the lunchroom, as at my day job, but that's another thread entirely.

 

[jrstephens]

If there is a refrigerator at work...get a gallon jug with a spigot. Fill with water at work and teabags, let it sit.

Unless of course, people steal things out of the lunchroom, as at my day job, but that's another thread entirely.

Will it mix without heat? Just curious. I could let mine sit while I was gone to work and it would be cold when I got home.

 

[Jennie4PC]

If I remeber corrrectly when I worked at Wendys we always used the coffe maker to brew the iced tea. I amy be wrong though it has been 10+ yrs.

 

[KellyTheChef]

If I remeber corrrectly when I worked at Wendys we always used the coffe maker to brew the iced tea. I amy be wrong though it has been 10+ yrs.

Wendy's and McDonald's both use the coffee brewers to make the hot tea concentrate, then put that in the urn and add more plain water to finish it off. I :love::love::love::love: McD's brewed tea...but I have noticed that some places it tastes better than in other places, I am sure it's from the diff. in water...

 

[Kitchen Diva]

I make my sweet tea by heating 2 qts of water to just before a boil- add 10 regular sized tea bags, steep for 4 minutes, then add 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar, stir until desolved, pour into a gallon pitcher and add 2 qts of cold, fresh water to fill to the top.

If my pitcher is at least 1.3 of the way full, I drop the amount of tea bags down to 7...and the sugar down to 1 cup.

I can't eat that fake stuff. Stevia and Splenda are made from real sugar, but Splenda requires that you use about 1/2 the amount of regular sugar. Anything fake seems to upset my stomach.

Kelly, what does your DH do that he drinks that much during the day? I'd spend my entire day in the bathroom if I brought a gallon of sweet tea to drink while at work! LOL

 

[pamperedlinda]

yucko, I can't stand tea made in a coffee maker - it has a funky taste.

 

[KellyTheChef]

I make my sweet tea by heating 2 qts of water to just before a boil- add 10 regular sized tea bags, steep for 4 minutes, then add 1 to 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar, stir until desolved, pour into a gallon pitcher and add 2 qts of cold, fresh water to fill to the top.

If my pitcher is at least 1.3 of the way full, I drop the amount of tea bags down to 7...and the sugar down to 1 cup.

I can't eat that fake stuff. Stevia and Splenda are made from real sugar, but Splenda requires that you use about 1/2 the amount of regular sugar. Anything fake seems to upset my stomach.

Kelly, what does your DH do that he drinks that much during the day? I'd spend my entire day in the bathroom if I brought a gallon of sweet tea to drink while at work! LOL

Believe it or not, he works in an OFFICE! He is the Director of IT at a large medical facility. He has always drank a lot...and he won't touch water, silly man!

 

[stacywhitlow]

I put 8 cups water in Classic Batter Bowl. Nuke it for about 9 minutes. Add 4 family size decaf tea bags (when done). Mix w/2 cups sugar & more water to make 1 gallon.

 

[Kodeysmom]

yucko, I can't stand tea made in a coffee maker - it has a funky taste.

I am with you on that. Nothing beats sun tea but we use a tea maker most of the time.

 

[smspamperedchef]

I need to go find my Sun Tea container now!!!

 

[reba515]

Kelly have you tried the Lipton Cold Brew tea bags?
It brews in about 15 minutes in cold water. I either use 2 bags in my 2 quart QS or 4 in my big QS.

 

[lisa717]

Have you ever tried the COLD BREW LIPTON TEA BAGS? That is what i use..I put 2 (they are bigger) bags in my gallon quick stir pitcher and it makes tea in less than 5 minutes.

 

[lisa717]

LOL>>>I didn't read the other posts before I posted that...

 

[KellyTheChef]

DH was bent on getting an iced tea brewer...so I went with the Mr Coffee 2 qt brewer. I am gonna fiddle with the recipe and see if I can just brew it stronger and then dump it into my gallon QSP and finish it off with more water so I don't have to brew two times.

DH liked the tea that it made today! But...for our use at home, it's more expensive than what he had been drinking. Here I use Nestea instant tea (unsweetened) and add a heaping 1/2 cup of sugar. When you factor in using tea bags AND sweetener, it's gonna be a lot more per gallon. But, I am not sure if he's gonna want to drink this stuff ALL the time, or just at work. For work, it's WAY cheaper than him buying gallons of tea at 3 bucks a pop!

 

[Teresa Lynn]

do you have a sams membership I buy all my decaf & reg tea bags there and spend more on the flavored tea bags elsewhere

 

[Shawnna]

I used to have a tea maker and I doubled the amount of tea bags and then poured it into a bigger pitcher after it brewed and added more water and sugar. My bunch prefers 2 cups of sugar per gallon, but that is too much sugar for me and I add 1 1/3-1 1/2 cups. I prefer either completely unsweet or sweetened with real sugar. I can't stand any of the artificial sweeteners.

So, I use the microwave now that my tea maker wore out. But, really the best tea I have tasted is when you boil the water on the stove and then add the tea bags, turn off the burner and let it steep for awhile. My favorite tea bag is Cains and it is usually the one on sale.

If you have any of our PC tea stashed away, add 2 bags with 3 quart size bags of regular tea and you get a nice flavor...not to much, just a hint.

 

[Lisa Hartford]

#KellyTheChef: Sugar substitutes are terrible for the body (very unhealthy). Raw cane sugar is a better choice. But if you want the best choice, go with uncooked honey. Honey comes in flavors. If you want a robust flavor, try "Buckwheat honey". If you want a super sweet taste, try "Tupelo honey". Then there are other flavors like "Wildflower" and "Clover" and "Orange Blossom", "Palmetto" and "Acacia" to try. (There are at least 300 different flavors of honey.) Honey is fun as well as healthy!

 

[KayPC]

Oh, good - I was getting sweaty there for a second thinking about all of that caffeine and sugar he was drinking daily! We love decaf Luzianne tea, 3 family size bags in 3qt iced tea maker, 3/4-1 cup Splenda! Zero calorie Southern sweet tea!! Community decaf is also good, very smooth, never bitter!

 

[Lisa Hartford]

Luzianne is the best tea anywhere. My family came from the UK and the whole family are/were tea drinkers. Throughout my life I have used many different teas, to include Chinese teas and other Asian teas. But of all of the teas, Lusianne has the best taste, never harsh, rich and smooth; it's hard to believe that it is a domestic tea grown right here in the state of Louisiana! Whether hot or cold, in winter or summer, Lusianne is the best choice for people who love their tea!