Vitamin C!

And by vitamin C, I mean caffeine. Those who know me know that I don't function without at least a minimal caffeine flow into my system. Here's how this hippie stays caffeinated, at least during the summer months!

Iced Tea (Without the Wait)

What you need to make caffeine:
6 tagless (or tagged, with the staples removed) tea bags, basic black tea variety*
2 cups of water, to get you started
1/4 cup of sugar
enough water and ice to bring you to the 2 quart mark

How to turn the above into useable caffeine:
Put your tea bags into a glass 4-cup measuring cup--Pyrex is good, so is Anchor Hocking. Fill the measuring cup to the 2 cup line. Put the measuring cup in the microwave for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, pull the tea bags and give them a good smoosh with the back of a spoon to release all of that caffeine goodness. If you're feeling ambitious, add up to 1/4 cup of sugar into the hot tea concentrate in your measuring cup and give it a good stir to dissolve the sugar crystals. **Important** DO NOT USE MORE THAN 1/4 CUP SUGAR. If you do use more sugar, you're making hummingbird nectar, not iced tea. Take your tea concentrate, pour it into a 2 quart pitcher, and add water and ice to make 2 quarts. Drink and enjoy.

Now, I know that as a hippie, I'm supposed to be able to do things like make tea using solar energy. And I can, and sometimes do. Same idea: 6 tea bags, but in a lidded 2-quart jar filled with--wait for it--2 quarts of water. You put it in a sunny place in the morning, and by evening, you've got yourself some tea. However, there are two problems with this plan, generally speaking. First, I'm not a morning person, in large part because I'm not sufficiently caffeinated when I first wake up, at least not to the point that I can plan in advance for my caffeine needs. Second, it takes all day to get caffeine. I need caffeine, and I need it now. 5 minutes--acceptable. 8 hours--not. (And really, for a microwave, there's not too much difference in taste.)

*Wait. Before we go on, I must confess that I'm somewhat of a bad hippie here. I buy cheap black tea for iced tea. Honestly, I do. It's not organic, Fair Trade, hug a farmer tea. It's Lipton. Or Red Rose. Or sometimes it's the stuff in the black box marked "Tea" on the bottom of the grocery store shelf. The point is that in the heat of summer, I drink a pitcher of iced tea a day. I like it how my Dad likes it, and how Grandma likes it--black tea, not too much sugar, not too fancy, served with lots of ice in a frosty glass. And Dad used Lipton and Grandma used Red Rose. But if you're a better hippie than I, use something better. If you want variety, try Celestial Seasonings fruit teas or add some dried peppermint to your brew. Now, back to getting caffeinated.


But...sometimes, I need a cup of coffee. And it's summer and it's hot, and I don't want a hot cup of coffee. I also don't need to walk to the coffee shop and spend $4 on a latte (although it's a darn good latte). So, here's how to make your own iced coffee.

Iced Coffee (In A Jar):

What you need to make caffeine:
about 1/2 a cup of freshly ground coffee, medium-fine grind
enough water to fill a quart mason jar

How to turn the stuff above into caffeine:
Break out that hippie coffee, the good stuff. Organic, Fair Trade, dark roast, roasted at the local coffee shop, the same place that makes those amazing lattes (the same place you bought the beans in an attempt to "save money" by brewing your own). That stuff. Grind up some beans--you want about 1/2 cup of ground coffee. Don't grind it too fine, or you'll have issues with filtration later. Toss the ground coffee into your mason jar. Cover the grinds with cold water to the top of the jar. Give it a good shake to make sure everything is covered, and stick it in the fridge. At least overnight. You can do this--you've been sufficiently caffeinated through your day to have some foresight when it comes to your coffee needs tomorrow morning. Now this next step is important:

How to turn the stuff above into a frou-frou coffee shop drink while you're in your pjs and without leaving the house:
While the above iced coffee concentrate is good, you can make it better. You'll need half and half--not that fat-free garbage, and not that flavored non-dairy liquid creamer crap. You'll also need sugar, but in liquid form. You can either buy a flavored coffee syrup (I love Torani's syrups, in particular the hazelnut and the caramel ones) or chocolate syrup. Or you can make your own simple syrup. How? It's simple: put 1 cup of sugar in a saucepan with 1 cup of water. Heat it up until the sugar dissolves. Voila! Simple syrup!

Now, it's morning, and you're up and groggy and need caffeine. Take your mason jar out of the fridge and break out your measuring cup and some cheesecloth. Put the cheesecloth over the measuring cup, pour the mason jar contents into the cheesecloth, and filter it into the measuring cup. There will be some pretty wet grounds in the jar, so add a little water--1/4 cup--to rinse those out of the jar. Let your coffee filter through the cheesecloth, and rinse out your mason jar. Now, squeeze out your coffee grounds through the cheesecloth. Shake your grounds into your compost bin*, and rinse your cheesecloth. Drape it over the mason jar, and filter the stuff in the measuring cup back into the jar. Add enough water to bring it almost to the top. You've got your iced coffee concentrate.

To make your iced coffee, take a pint glass and fill it with ice. Add some coffee concentrate. Add some half and half. Add some simple syrup. Give it a stir and taste it. Adjust to your preference. If you need more coffee, add more. More sugar? Add more. Enjoy your coffee.

*Another note. You know how much you love to be caffeinated, right? Well, tea bags (minus the staples) and coffee grounds are compostable. So save them for your compost pile. Don't have a compost pile? Start one. If you're urban without a yard, consider vermi-composting--a bin of worms that live in a container in your kitchen to munch your organic waste. Have a yard? Easiest thing I can tell you is to get a trash can and cut off the bottom. Dig a little hole in your yard, about 6 inches deep, big enough to hold the trash can with it's bottom missing. Put the trash can into the hole, and mix the dirt that you just dug out with your compostable stuffs. Put the lid on it, and stir it occasionally. When you're in need of compost, simply lift the can a bit, and take out the stuff on the bottom. Worms need caffeine, too, and I find that they work a little faster when they have some coffee grounds or tea leaves to nosh. (Also, your local coffee shop is probably willing to give you their grounds if you ask. Just means they don't have to pay to throw them away.)