No, sun tea is not the same as plain old iced tea. The tea bag is slowly heated up by the sun warming the water rather than the quick process normally used to make iced tea where boiling water heats up the tea bag. For some reason, there's a difference and it's a delicious one. Maybe it's in the expectation--you have to let the tea sit all day before it's ready to drink but then it's a refreshing escape into the coolness of ice, water, and a little something extra.
For me, sun tea has always been an important part of the warmer parts of the year. My mom has always made sun tea in the Spring and Summer for my brother and I. We live in Maryland which is technically a Southern state but really identifies with the North. In the South, the iced tea is always sweet and in the North it's usually unsweetened. We like it right in the middle. Because of this, my Mom always sweetened her tea but only the tiniest bit. It's terrific!
My Mom uses Rose brand tea in her sun tea but there are a lot of things you could do to make sun tea different from regular iced tea. Add mint or used a fruit-flavored tea and the possibilities are endless!
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