Armenian Iced Tea - cooking recipe

Ingredients

8 cups cold water
2 cinnamon sticks
4 whole cloves
3 -4 tea bags (black or green tea-I use decaf)
honey (optional) or artificial sweetener (optional)

Preparation

Place the water in a large pot. Tie the cinnamon sticks and cloves in cheesecloth; place in the water. Bring to a boil; simmer about 10 minutes.
Remove pot from heat; remove the cheesecloth with the cinnamon sticks and cloves, and discard.
Add tea bags to pot, if using, and allow to steep about 5 minutes. Discard tea bags. Add desired amount of sweetener, if using; stir until sweetener is dissolved.
Refrigerate until ready to serve.
To serve, pour in tall glasses filled with ice.
Variation: Mint Iced Tea.
For minty iced tea, follow the same instructions as above, EXCEPT: add about 1 cup of fresh mint leaves, slightly crushed to release their flavor, or two tablespoons of dried mint (tied in cheesecloth) to the boiling water, and eliminate the cinnamon and cloves. Remove tea bags, and strain mint leaves before adding sweetener. Sweeten as desired. Serve with ice.