Texas Tea

A dear friend shared this recipe with me, which originally came from wonderful community cookbook called "The Texas Experience." It has a refreshing herbally taste and works just as well with decaf or regular tea. Texas Tea is really meant to be served ice cold and very sweet, but I have left the amount of sweetener up to you.

• Ready In: 32 mins
• Yields: 3 quarts

Ingredients

• 3  quarts water
• 1  family size tea bag
• 15 -20  lemon drop candies
• 1  cup fresh mint leaves, crushed slightly
•  sugar, to taste

Directions

1. Bring water to a boil in a large pot.
2. Add tea bag, lemon drops, and mint leaves.
3. Turn off the heat and let steep as long as you prefer (I usually only let it steep about 15 minutes).
4. When tea has reached desired strength, remove tea bag and mint leaves.
5. At this point, you may stir in some sugar, if desired- as much or as little as you prefer.
6. Chill and serve over ice.
7. Note:If you prefer, you may leave tea unsweetened initially and add sweetener by the glass as it is served.
8. However, adding sweetener when the tea has freshly brewed will dissolve the sugar better.