At the end of the day, you have think "do I know of anyone having had 'sun tea poisoning'?". If not, then I'd probably risk it. Life is full of risks and that seems like such a small one to take. Obviously, for HIV-positive people and others with compromised immune systems then you would be much more careful but a healthy person is going to be fine in most cases.

I make it several times a month in the summer and I have never had any negative reactions from questionable bacteria levels.

I typically follow the same sanitation procedures that I use with my Homebrewed beer. Water out of the reverse osmosis filter and a sanitized, airtight vessel to brew it in.

Whenever I crack the seal in the early evening, friends often pop up out of nowhere for an icy glass on the back patio.

Sorry for the double post, but I wanted to mention another pertinent fact.

When I lived in Africa, I asked about the custom of putting clear or translucent 5-gallon jugs of water in the sun all day. Apparently they were taught by a local charity program that the UV exposure greatly reduces the risk of contracting a water-borne illness, just as I have a UV water purifier in my backpack while out in the backcountry!

Food for thought.

I am gonna call bull$%^& and say make your sun tea. My mother (who was a health nut AND sanitation freak) made this for us all the time when we were little, and we all turned out fine.

http://thesweetest3.com/

Lacking all the facts... But - This seems far fetched to me.

One thing is that boiling the water to make tea - the boiling process removes much of the chlorine or ozone that is added to municipal water to prevent bacterial. In the case on sun tea, the water comes from the tap and should contain the biocides that the water company added. Well water or perhaps bottled water... maybe another story.

For me, this falls firmly in the category of "Things I Refuse to Worry About."

If Sun Tea doesn't have any reasonable benefits over traditional brewing methods (other than saving on a little energy), I don't see why I would want to brew it that way even if the risk of getting sick was only 0.00000000000001%.

My mother made this all throughout my childhood, and I continued to make when I was old enough to know how, and in my 20 odd years of consuming it *knock on wood* never got sick from drinking sun tea.

I don't think I would make tea that way now, since learning proper tea brewing techniques. But it will always hold a wonderful nostalgic place in my heart.

I made sun tea every 2 or 3 days as a kid. I lived in a rural area and was outside all day getting dirty, visiting the swamp, picking up animals, etc. I can't imagine I sterilized the jar or washed my hands that well at that age. No one in my family ever got sick from it that I can recall.

Unless there is some sugar or other carb for the bugs to dine on then there's not going to be a lot of bacterial growth so as long as you're talking tea bags and water I would not worry at all. Save the lemon and sugar for later in the fridge. Plus the odds of something pathogenic growing at these temps is pretty low they really prefer body temp (37C, 98F).

Wait, I'm sorry: WHAT bacteria present in tap water that needs to be boiled to get rid of? Because that's news to me...considering how many people in the world drink tap water. Hoax by bottled water companies anyone?

I'm of the opinion 'don't worry about it to much', I honestly think it tastes better than 'regular' iced tea, but maybe that's all in my head.
I usually my iced tea the 'regular' way, because I am from the south and therefore Iced Tea should be Sweet Tea, and you can't dissolve ridiculous amounts of sugar into cold brewed tea.

All I know is that on my Pee-Wee Herman Season 1 boxset there is an episode where Pee-Wee makes sun tea and a disclaimer before he starts that you shouldn't actually make it because it's dangerous.

ScottyT also just reminded me of a short article in this month's National Geographic about a water disinfection program in use in water-starved countries called SODIS - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection

If you're really worried about it, using clear PET plastic works better than glass.

I agree with Scotty. What he's talking about is SODIS (or solar water disinfection), which is widely encouraged in the developing world where people do not have access to clean tap water, but virtually unheard of in developed nations.

This completely contradicts the idea that sun tea might be dangerous, unless it isn't brewed long enough. On the other hand, I have some concern about longer term dangers of chemicals leaching out of the pop bottle plastic. Wouldn't sun tea brewed in glass bottles be the optimum solution?

Wikipedia has a great explanation here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_water_disinfection

Cold brewed tastes fine too - just takes longer. And you can get around the dissolving-sugar-in-cold-tea issue by making a batch of simple syrup and keeping in the fridge to stir in as needed.

Though I wouldn't worry about the bacteria thingy either.

If it hasn't killed generations of southerners, it's not going to kill you.

I totally agree with "onebravegirl". That is definitely not something I'm going to worry about. Sheeesh.

I GREW up drinking sun tea! I am still alive, kicking, and brewing more of the SAME! Not going to stop now...

~MaggieB
http://www.cookbookclub101.com/

hmm..actually black teas goes through a fermentation stage, therefore they might be some living germs might grow in the water.

i think its a chinese tradition not to drink tea's that has been sitting overnight...

my memory tells me the bacteria may be in the tea leaves themselves if they've been fretilized with human or animal excrement

yikes. the germophobia just gets more and more crazy.
30 years of drinking sun tea with nary an issue.
I brew mine starting with hot tap water and then let it sit out on the counter until it's cool or overnight.

Besides the fact that I think being worried about this is over the top paranoid, don't the tannins in tea have an antibacterial effect?

Ever leave tea in a cup overnight. Cultures will grow in it. I make my cold brewed overnight in the fridge or with very hot water.

wouldn't the tannins in the tea inhibit microbial growth.

this method CAN lead to an accumulation of bacteria in the tea, and pretty nasty stuff, too. it's illegal for restaurants in my area to serve the stuff under any circumstance. despite what the article says, i would one, not trust sun tea to reach temperatures of 130 degrees, and two, that 130 degrees WILL ABSOLUTELY NOT kill off all of the nasties floating around in the tea. think of it this way--would you drink brackish water that had been left to sit around for a day or two on your back porch? if not, why would you consider drinking this?

My grandmother made sun tea every single day, sometimes several gallons a day. And my mom made a jar just about every day for a very long time - they always used those big gallon pickle jars with a metal lid. It's just about all we ever drank growing up. I make cold brew, because I'm lazy, and forget to go outside and bring it back in.

Is it dangerous? I dunno - but I'm sure I've had thousands of glasses of the stuff in the last 40 years, as has just about every relative I have; can't remember anyone ever getting sick from it, so I'd say if it's possible, the odds are mighty slim.

I live in the south west... making sun tea is like a weekly or more often occurrence. Knock on wood, I haven't gotten sick from it. I can tell you if you see rope-looking whitish stuff floating around in your tea - don't drink it. THEN it might be bad. Heh.

Black tea is by far the best to brew in the sun. Cold brewing tea is my favorite way to prepare tea as the bitters and tannins don't come out in it so it's the smoothest flavor.

Do not cold brew herbals or fruit infused as they aren't precooked and could harbor bacteria.

Wouldn't worry about it. I just learned about sun tea a year ago when my boyfriend, son of a Southerner, told me about it. I think it tastes better than conventionally brewed -- almost fresher somehow. Maybe this is in my head, but it's so good, especially with freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Ok I am a Chef and recently I take safety and sanitation very seriously so I figure I would let you guys know that the CDC has recently been getting allot of e-coli breakouts happening lately because tea from companies that have loose morals are growing the tea in water that is not sanitary. So when you make sun tea the water is not reaching at least 135f the bacteria strain does not die and in the temperatures between 41f-135f the bacteria can still breed and grow.

now for everyone who says they've drank it all their lives and nothing's ever happened to them, it's because it's just beginning to happen and it is a recent thing. back in the day you would also be able to leave out your eggs with out any fear of salmonella.

and yes people are getting sick from it, the case was just not big enough to be made into news like with the spinach outbreaks.

Make the tea in the fridge. The temperature remains low enough to not encourage bacterial growth. I do four bags for a quart of tea leave it overnight, and am good to go.

Really? I can't believe this is a serious post.

for what it's worth, the back of the luzianne family sized tea bag box has a recipe for making sun tea, but says that you should toss out any leftovers and not let it sit overnight.

paranoid much? i am so sick and tired of the fear mongering in western society. why not wash your mouth out with antibacterial soap? that ought to help.

Pandaprophet: interesting point!
There HAVE been a lot of changes in the mass production of food products during the past 30 years (my lifetime) and theoretically, I can see this changing the outcomes of our customary cooking/brewing habits.
PP, I'd love to know more about this, do you have a solid source for your info?

Thanks.

I'm of two minds about things like this. On one side, I really don't trust that most food corporations have the consumer's health and safety (rather than $$$) at heart. Since I will never grow and process my own tea, I feel like I should take precautions for the reasons pandaprophet articulated. On the other side, though, is the fact that western culture is so over-sterilized. Relatively harmless germs now make us really sick, because our bodies have lost immunity and the ability to cope with them. So I try to keep myself somewhat exposed to the environment, and not go overboard by keeping my life 99.999% germ-free. I don't know which is "right," but if somebody offers me a glass of sun tea, I probably won't say no...

erm...I eat chocolate chip cookie dough...with raw eggs in it. hasn't made me sick yet. Not that it couldn't, but I'm not giving up cookie dough for the possibility of food-borne illness. rollin' the dice.

I've never made Sun Tea because I've never understood the point. Why not just boil water and make regular tea, drop in ice cubes and call it a day?

@onebravegirl - YES. Thank you for perfectly articulating my general approach to most things that I grew up with that they now say will kill me. Sun tea and cookie dough included.

Wow...when I was growing up in Texas, we made sun tea all the time. We would generally set out a few jar on our porch in the morning and make several gallons at a time (that would be consumed in no time in the peak of summer). By that afternoon (or lunch on the really hot days) you'd have perfectly brewed tea. Bonus: you didn't have to stand over a hot stove or deal with gallons of boiling water (again, during a very hot season) which makes sun tea more appealing, far "greener", and so much easier. Plus, it tastes better IMO.

I don't really think that anyone with a healthy immune system is at risk of getting sick from bacteria in the tea. You're using clean water (maybe even filtered water, which my family didn't have growing up) and, presumably, you've cleaned the jar you'd be using. It's good to be careful, but I think that we're a bit TOO germaphobic these days.

This seems a little paranoid to me, except possibly in the case where the tea itself is contaminated with some kind of pathogen (which seems unlikely). Tea isn't really an ideal growth medium for bacteria (trust me - I work in a lab and I know how to grow bacteria) unless you put sugar in it.

There is probably some small amount of bacteria in sun tea, but there would also be some bacteria in refrigerator tea or water that's been in an opened water bottle for awhile. I think many people forget that since almost nothing you eat is sterile, you eat bacteria ALL THE TIME. Most of them are not pathogens - that is, the vast majority of them won't/don't/can't make you sick.

I would really like to know the reasons for making tea this way - I really would, as here in Italy no one would ever dream to do it.
Does it actually taste better? But, isn't it a bit inconvenient to have to wait for so long - I mean, hours for brewing and then hours in the fridge to cool it down (or, even longer hours to brew it directly in the fridge, though at least it would be already cold). Given that you probably end up drinking lots of it in the summer, wouldn't it be quickier and altogether more convenient to brew it the traditional way, add sugar, let it get to room temp and pop it in the fridge? Or are they other ways to make iced tea?
Thanks for helping me understand :)

I mysteriously became ill for a few days last week. Upset stomach, overall feeling of weakness, couldn't eat, etc. I had no idea what could be the cause since no one else in my family had been sick. I felt better for about a week then had another day of similar illness this past week. I finally made a connection when I saw something (large and ropey) had grown overnight in my sun tea, which was refrigerated after brewing for 4-6 hours. This was a different batch than last week, but I had emptied last week's because I had noticed a few small floaties in it. I have been drinking sun tea for 30+ years with no ill effects, to my knowledge. I am now worried because I am 21 weeks pregnant and can't find any info on possible effects of the bacteria on my baby!!! I, of course will call my doctor, first thing Monday morning. Baby is still moving and kicking, so I hope no serious damage has been done. No more sun tea for me though-I guess I'll have to brew it with boiling water and deal with the bit of bitterness. Bottom line, despite using sanitary preparation methods, and drinking literally hundreds of gallons of sun tea without incident, it CAN make you sick!!

This is so not worth worrying about. First, there's all the UV rays that the tea gets. Second, unless you brew it with the sugar in the jar, there's nothing in there for bacteria to feed on. Third, if tap water is safe, then why wouldn't this be? Like someone else said, this sounds like a "worry" created by the bottled water companies.
Moving on with my life now...

For posterity... Why are people being so defensive and not recognizing we live in a different age? There's no great justification for sun tea, other than nostalgia.

"Tea isn't really an ideal growth medium for bacteria (trust me - I work in a lab and I know how to grow bacteria) unless you put sugar in it."

Trust me too--I also work in a lab studying transmission of bacterial commensals and pathogens. The absence of large quantities of sugar means that many bacteria will grow to lower densities, but there's no question at all that many spp will still grow. And dose matters with bacteria.

The point made earlier about modernization and mechanized agriculture increasing the spread of particularly bad strains (and specifically, particularly bad genetic elements) is an important one, and it's part of the reason our grandmothers could get away with this stuff in the past. Many generations of years ago, it also wasn't a big deal if we didn't wash our hands, get vaccinated, or use plumbing.

Re "There are no bacteria in tap water": Wow, no. There are lots of bacteria in tap water and more on your hands and in the tea bag. Many U.S. cities publish data on bacteria loads in their water. Lots of these bacteria are not worth worrying about, but there's no guarantee.

The goal isn't to get through life bacteria-free, but why experiment with random cultures?