National Iced Tea Day on June 10 arrives with iced tea looking far different from the pitcher-and-powder formula many Americans grew up with. Home hosts are turning to cold-brew methods, house-made flavored syrups and bar-style presentation borrowed from coffee shops and cocktail menus.

Cold Brew Tea

Cold brew tea cuts the bitterness out by steeping loose-leaf or bagged tea in cold water, typically for 8 to 12 hours in the refrigerator. Without heat, fewer tannins are extracted from the leaf, resulting in a smoother cup.

Sun tea takes a different approach: ambient heat from direct sunlight does the work instead of refrigerator time. A glass jar filled with cold water and tea bags, left on a sunny porch for two to four hours, produces a tea with slightly more body than cold brew.

Flavored Syrups

The simplest upgrade with the broadest payoff is a house-made flavored syrup. A basic simple syrup of equal parts sugar and water, simmered until the sugar dissolves, becomes far more useful once flavor is introduced during cooking.

Original reporting: KTBS 3 (Shreveport) — read the source article.