Iced Tea

It's not that I've never had iced tea before. I have. Of course I have. It would be an atrocity not to drink iced tea in my family, considering that it's a staple for a good number of The Eleven (as I've decided to call my father and his siblings–yes, there are eleven of them).

And no, not sweet tea. Can't do it. It's unsweetened or nothing, baby.

What this post is about is not the standard Lipton iced tea like I make on occasion. Rather, this is Ancient Happiness iced tea. Try it and I promise you it will make you happy happy happy, whether you are ancient or not.

You see, there is a wonderful little tea shop in Des Moines' East Village that I used to frequent quite often (and even got to write about for a National Geographic Traveler story on the neighborhood). It's called Gong Fu Tea and it's this absolutely serene spot filled with the most wonderful selection of teas that the owners pick from all over the world.

Although I no longer live in Des Moines, I still get email newsletters from Gong Fu Tea and buy my favorite loose leaf teas whenever I'm back in town. (You can also order them online, by the way.) So when I received a newsletter the other day for iced tea, I had to try it with some of my Ancient Happiness (shown above).

It's easy. And the result? Let's just say I'm itching to make another glass, and I may never go back to Lipton again.

Want to try it yourself? Here's what you do:

1. Steep the loose leaf tea as you normally would when making hot tea, only use 1/2 the amount of water. (This makes a concentrated cup of tea that you will dilute later.) So, in the case of Ancient Happiness, I poured a teaspoon of the tea leaves in my teapot, poured hot water over the top (remember, only half as much as usual), and steeped it for 3 minutes.

2. While the tea is steeping, fill a tall glass with ice cubes. Drop some on the floor for your dog to try out, if you're so inclined.

3. Pour the brewed tea over the ice cubes until the glass is 1/2 to 3/4 full.

4. Leaving the glass on the counter (it may be hot!), swirl it in a small circle (the folks at Gong Fu recommend doing this four or five times) so the hot tea melts the ice.

5. Add more ice so the glass is full.

6. Revel in your Ancient Happiness. Or, depending on the tea variety you selected, enjoy your time on Cloud 9.