Sumer coolant - Iced tea / Lemon iced tea

It's summer and I'm beginning to crave for anything and everything that is cold. I'm a tea addict but having hot tea in this hot climate really didn't seem a good idea. That's when ice tea stuck me! Yes, a better alternative to those canned sodas. This has become a part of me now. In the mornings, for brunch, in the evenings and sometimes, even at midnight :D Introducing you'll the ice tea:





























Ingredients:

Teabags - 4 (Black tea or green tea)
Water - 8 cups (4 cups of ordinary water and 4 cups of cold water)
Sugar - 1 cup
Lemon - 4 tbsp (optional)
Ice cubes - 4-5 for a glass
Mint - A sprig (optional)

Method:

1. Boil 4 cups of ordinary water in a pot and dip in the teabags. Allow the tea to steep for not more than 4-5 minutes (You don't want a bitter tea, do you?) and discard the bags. 
2. Mix 1 cup of sugar with 4 cups of cold water in a jar and stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.
3. Pour the brewed tea into this mixture and stir.
4. Refrigerate this for a good half an hour and serve in glasses over ice cubes.
5. Garnish with mint.

For the lemon iced tea:

         Add 4 tbsp of lemon juice along with sugar and cold water in step-2.

►  Sweetness is a matter of taste and it varies from individual to individual. So add or subtract sugar as per your taste ☺