In the South, where I grew up, iced tea- sweet tea- is literally imbibed like water. While we hardly ever put sweetener in our tea around here, there are times when I miss that almost cloyingly sugary drink of Georgia, served up by friends’ families and any restaurant you might find yourself.

At our family gatherings, however, since my Grandmother was a total health food enthusiast way before it was in style, there was not any sweet tea gracing our table. Instead, my Aunt Holly made pitchers of this incredible Grasshopper tea that we all gulped down happily.

I remember my mom declaring on the way home from an Easter supper or 4th July picnic, “That Holly makes the BEST grasshopper tea!”

And this was after my aunt had cooked up her usual sumptuous food for the actual meal. Still, that tea loomed in my mother’s, and often my, mind.

It is absolutely clear to me why. The tea is just so good on a hot day, something we’ve had a wealth of this summer in New York. It speaks to me of running around outside, sipping from Mason jars, and the touch of powerful sunshine. It revives you when you are wilting and gives you a little boost to go and play just one more round of hide-and-seek… or now, a few years later, catch up on your sewing.

Here is the slow progress I have made since Sunday with my Ice Cream Social garments. All I have to say is that View C, the blouse, seems to be just made for these lazy days. Sewing along, at the pace of a Southern drawl, feels just right. So does this little jar of Grasshopper tea, my assistant.

A note on the tea: This is my own imagining of my aunt’s tea. Holly Perrow owns a catering company called Pope’s Creek Catering down in Fredricksburg, VA. If you are lucky enough to be served her cooking, you might request some of the original Grasshopper to wash it down. I promise that it will not disappoint.

Grasshopper Tea

• 2-3 black tea bags (not traditional, we use peach-ginger) or 3 T. black tea
• one very large bunch of mint (3-4 cups), washed well, reserve a few leaves for garnish
• 2 lemons, optional: an extra lemon thinly sliced for serving
• agave, sugar, honey, or simple syrup, to taste

1. With your mini-chef, squeeze the juice from the two lemons into a glass or ceramic pitcher. Fish out any seeds that make their way in. Now have your Yummy stick the whole bunch of mint down into the pitcher, with leaves down and stems up. Toss in the tea bags.
2. Big Person: Fill your kettle or a pot with about 4-5 cups water and bring to a boil. Pour the boiling water into the pitcher. Add any sweetener that you’d like at this point. Brew for 10 minutes, take the tea bags out with some tongs, and then let the mint steep for another 15-30 minutes. Take the mint out of the pitcher and discard. Allow the tea blend to come to room temperature before pouring it into any sort of plastic container. You can refrigerate the pitcher immediately if you prefer.
3. Now you have a Grasshopper tea concentrate. Add cold water to taste, depending on how strong you like your tea. Float some of the extra mint leaves in each glass and/or garnish with a lemon slice. Sit back, relax, and sip.