Jasmine Sweet Tea + video!

Hello, friend.

It’s almost August already, and I’m not in agreeance with that. Where is the time going? The world in constant rotation. Time is quickly passing. The sky changes its vantage point upon the constellations. The air begins to shifts as the humidity rises. Where has summer gone? I’m currently in the midst of preparing to uproot my entire life, my friends, my work, and my family and head off to school. In two weeks, I’ll pack up my array of clothes and kitchen utensils in our family van and head an hour away to my new apartment. My first place. My blank slate. My oasis. My bachelor pad. My open book. The place where childhood comes to an end and my adult life story begins. More information on the new place in the future, so stay tuned.

This week, I didn’t particularly feel like writing anything. The words seemed to be jammed, stuck in major traffic on Highway Subconscious. After watching the video for “Taro Milk Rolls” by Beth from Le Jus d’Orange, I knew I wanted to take a crack at the videography game. With the recent purchase of my desktop, I knew now was a better time than ever. With my newly purchased wood planks from the architecture salvage yard, I set out to make a video. I felt partially drawn to working with a drink for the video. For one, it’s summer. Of course. I needed another drink to write about for the blog. Secondly, since I have little to no experience with videography, I wanted to shoot a recipe that was simple and particularly easy to capture and recapture if I needed extra shots later on. Softly, the call of jasmine tea echoed in my ears, and I knew what I was going to undertake. 

Sweet tea, or “the house wine of the South” (for all you Steel Magnolia fans out there), is one of my favorite drinks during the summer months. With the hot, blistering Sun radiating its streams of burning rays downward, sweet tea is the quintessential drink of choice. It’s cool, refreshing and has a plethora of different unique flavor combinations and pairings. Growing up, Momma Crawford taught me the ways of loving both tea and coffee together, despite their differences. Coffee will always be my drink of choice, but tea is a close second. Iced tea is a beast of complete difference. It's chill and sweetness is what defines it. It's crisp flavor, and aromatic smells of honey and home earns a rightful place in my beloved drinks.

 Jasmine Sweet Tea

original recipe from Martha Stewart

I had some friends over for a pizza dinner party last weekend. Homemade pizzas and freshly sweeten Jasmine Ice Tea were the star contenders of the evening. I’ll go on record and say that I’m not the biggest fan of jasmine tea. When on vacation at the start of summer, I was pressured by one of the tea shop’s sales person to buy some, so I caved in. There was something about combining the subtle floral essence of the jasmine with the sweet, simple syrup to highlight the tastes of summer. I feel instantly in love. Not even halfway through dinner, the entire ten cups of tea were quickly guzzled down without even a drop of tea left to spare. 

Ingredients

• 10 1/2 cups water
• 5 tablespoons loose-leaf jasmine
• 1 cup sugar
• Ice cubes

Directions

1. Bring 10 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Place tea into the saucepan. Allow the mixture to steep for 3-4 minutes. Strain the tea using a fine mesh strainer. Let cool completely.
2. In a small saucepan, bring sugar and remaining 1/2 cup water to a boil, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Let cool completely.
3. Stir together tea and the simple syrup. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Divide among ice-filled glasses (preferably Mason jars).