It's hard to believe, but there are actually people in this world who do not care for tea! Not hot tea, and not iced tea. They just do not like tea, period! When you ask someone who is of the non-tea persuasion why this is so, they usually answer you with a statement such as "Tea has such a bland taste! It's not like coffee... coffee has a rich, bold taste. Tea is so... wimpy. It's for little old ladies!"



Obviously, someone like this is no tea connoisseur, nor can they appreciate the many different varieties of tea that are available in a cornucopia of tantalizingly delicious flavors. And, someone like this has no idea about how exciting it is to experiment with tea to discover, among other things, which varieties are excellent iced in a tall glass as well as hot in a delicate bone china cup. Add to the tea varieties the array of flavored teas, and you could just about sample a different variety every day of the year.

I am an iced tea devotee. I have practically made a hobby out of testing just as many different teas as I can get my hands on. Testing them as iced tea, not hot tea. I can't say that any of them have been too bad - even the varieties which are not usually served as iced tea.

As it is getting close to summer, I can thoughtfully reflect that this is the best time of year to enjoy iced tea. And, fruit-based teas just seem to go along with summertime nicely. So, I have been sampling and testing as many different fruity teas as I have been able to either find locally, or order online. And, I've found one that is most definitely going to go on my top 10 All-Time Favorites list.

It's Honey Pear tea. It's an amazingly delicious choice that can't help but stand out among its many rivals in the tea time tests. I tried the Honey Pear black tea, and was blown away. It was superb! An extremely high quality black tea that would have been stunning all by itself, mixed with the flavor of lovely ripe pear and golden honey.

The taste was as sweet as you would expect with two sweet ingredients such as honey and pear, but surprisingly bold... definitely not a "wimpy" tea! This tea is wonderful iced, and holds its bold flavor even after some of the ice melts and weakens it a bit. Truly a winner in iced tea taste testing! I would imagine that if one of those anti-tea naysayers could sample a bit of this tea, they just might change their mind about tea being bland.

One thing I noticed about the Honey-Pear tea that really pleased me was the fact that you can use the leaves for more than one infusion, and the second go around is just as strong and just as tasty as the first. That I like, because a high quality Honey Pear tea is not exactly inexpensive! The ability to get more than one "round" out of it makes the cost well worth it.

So many people think it is difficult to make good iced tea. And, so many people have difficulty making good iced tea, especially in restaurants! Not so much in the Deep South, though, as in the rest of the country. But actually, it's not difficult at all. Basically, if you know how to boil water, you can make good iced tea. Yes, it's really that easy! And this Honey Pear iced tea is so delicious, you certainly don't want to make it the wrong way so that it would possibly turn out to be unfit to drink!

You can use the same equipment that you use to make your hot tea, if you want. By that I mean a kettle for boiling the water, and a teapot for steeping the tea. You will also need some sort of pitcher for iced tea.

A glass pitcher is the best. Though there are many nice looking plastic pitchers out there, I always worry that they might somehow impart a rather "plastic" taste to the tea - something that glass will never do.

You'll want to boil about a quart of water to make around four cups of Honey Pear iced tea. Place five rounded teaspoons of the loose Honey Pear tea leaves in the teapot's infuser. Once the water has come to a boil, pour it over the tea. Allow it to steep for about ten minutes. Yes, that seems like a long time, but I have found that ten minutes is necessary in order to get the right amount of honey and pear flavor.

Once the tea has steeped to your satisfaction, remove the infuser. Add just a little sugar, probably around half a cup, more or less, or enough to suit your own taste. Add one cup of cold water and stir. Let cool just a little, then pour over ice and enjoy!