Take water in a sauce pan and let it come to a gentle boil on medium heat.
Add raw sugar or any sweetener of your choice and stir until sugar is dissolved. You can skip sugar if you do not prefer it.
When the water comes to a gentle boil, place the saucepan on your kitchen countertop.
Brewing with tea leaves
Add green tea leaves.
Cover and steep for 2 to 3 minutes. Avoid steeping for a longer time as the tea may become bitter.
Strain and serve hot or warm. You can add some lemon juice if you prefer.
Brewing with green tea bags
When the water has boiled, switch off the heat. Place the pan on the kitchen countertop and dip the tea bags in the hot water. Cover and steep for 2 to 3 minutes.
Add sugar or your desired sweetener.
Stir so that sugar gets dissolved.
Serve green tea hot or warm
Making iced green tea
After steeping the tea and straining it, store it in pitchers or jars. Cover and refrigerate. Serve chilled or with some ice cubes.
Place a few sprigs of mint leaves or lemon slices or include a dash of lemon juice while serving.
If you add honey, let the tea cool at room temperature and then only add honey. Stir and refrigerate. For lighter diluted flavors, you can add 1 cup water later or top with ice cubes.
Notes
Brewing time: The brewing time varies with the quality, grade of the tea leaves and ranges from 2 to 5 minutes. From my experience 2 to 3 minutes work perfectly. Longer steeping time make the tea bitter.
Sweeteners: You can add your preferred sweetener or skip it entirely.
Honey: I do not suggest adding honey to a hot green tea. Ayurveda mentions that honey becomes toxic when mixed in hot liquids. But you can surely add honey to a lukewarm tea
Diabetic friendly version: Green tea is supposed to be good for people with high glucose levels. For a healthy cup, simply skip adding any sweetener.
Make ahead and scaling: Make a large batch of green tea and refrigerate for a few days. Serve it chilled with a few sprigs of mint leaves or a dash of lemon juice. Do not reheat the refrigerated green tea as the flavors won’t be the same. If you love hot teas, then always brew them fresh.