Is it hot where you are? Here in the UK we are having an Indian Summer which is such a fillip. It is bright and sunny, and I’m still using my little portable desk fan. I am making the most of the lovely weather by spending an hour outside every day either walking around the block or sitting in the communal garden with a cuppa. One day I will be adventurous and get on the bus to Highgate Woods, I am revving myself up for that.
I have many conversations with Mr R about the weather. He is a regular checker of the forecast, whereas I tend to stick my head out of the window to decide whether it is a t-shirt, jumper or jacket kind of day. I am definitely a late adopter of seasonal wear and seasonal food and beverages too. I pledged to myself that I would make some of Vincent’s iced tea right at the beginning of summer and it has taken me until now. It is meteorologically speaking, already Autumn. But it’s high summer somewhere right? In some countries it is hot all the time of course, so if you are in need of a refreshing, cooling beverage, here’s how Vincent likes his.
There are so many lovely online emporiums popping in the post all kinds of weird and wonderful dried leaves and berries. I got my selection from Team Tea and I’ll be set until next summer I reckon. I’ve put my mixture in this tea caddy that belonged to my nan, I’m guessing it’s from the 1930s.
So here’s Vinnie’s recipe, there’s an intriguing iced coffee recipe underneath it in the Treasury, maybe I’ll get around to that next summer…
Oh my goodness, look what I just found in my search for a photo of Vincent drinking tea…
Arg. Out of stock! Anyone got some at the back of their coffee cupboard they want to swap for something English in the post?!
There are just FOUR recipes left up for grabs to test for the forthcoming Vincent Price Co*Star Cookbook that I’m working on with Peter of the Vincent Price Legacy UK site. Skip over to this page if you fancy giving one of them a go…
That tea recipe looks fabulous!
I felt very GROWN UP mixing all those different teas together!
Did anybody make this who wishes to comment? I’m intrigued, but those are a lot of ingredients to use for something that might not be fabulous!
Three years late reply I know, but I just made this. I love it and so did the friend who also tried it, but it is perhaps not for everyone. It is intensely minty, quite bitter. (Add more ice cubes if you want it to be a bit less strong, perhaps?) I like very strong and unsweetened tea so it was perfect for me, and it is certainly refreshing.
The recipe makes a very large quantity. I am too British to have any mental image of what a “quart” is, so I did not realise until after making it that I now had an excessive amount of tea. Still, Vincent’s favourite Oscar Wilde quote WAS “nothing succeeds like excess”. And it can keep for a while in the fridge so I am sure I will use it all in time.
Haha – ROB! I laughed when I read your comment about being 3 years late to have a go at this, it’s NEVER too late for a Vincent recipe I feel, and you have reminded me that I still have loads of this mixture in the tea caddy! Three years on…. Does tea ever go off or shall I just make myself a jug of iced tea sometime this week? If I do I will take your suggestion of more ice.
I am on a mission to use things up as I’m packing to move house. I have a feeling this tea caddy will come with me as is and I will remember that there is something inside it this time next summer…
It seems I didn’t get a notification for this reply… as far as I know tea doesn’t go “off” as in unsafe, but does go “off” as in losing its flavour?
Hiya Rob, hope you will get a notification this time, let me know if not and I’ll ask my internet guru! You have given me the confidence to give the tea a second chance, I’ll report back….
Haha – I am intrigued to hear if anyone has tried this too Ericka! I am not much of a tea drinker, and I admit that since I made a jug of this I haven’t gone back to the mixture for more. I might try it as a hot tea later today now it is a bit colder here in the UK. I will report back!
I…don’t seem to have an email notification (though I might have missed it somehow?) and there’s also no reply button on your last comment (not sure if that’s deliberate or a bug), hence me replying to this one instead since you said to let you know…
Anyway, I hope the tea goes well.
Thanks Rob, all of this is automated by WordPress so it is a bit of a mystery but I’ll ask my web guru if he knows a way to fix this. Thanks a million for letting me know xx