“Constant Comment”® Tea Holiday Punch

In My Mother Loved Tea, David Bigelow, son of Ruth Bigelow, shares how his mother changed America’s tea culture in the 1940s from her tiny New York City kitchen. Ruth started by experimenting with a tea recipe popular in the American South during Colonial days. She recreated the aromatic blend and offered samples to friends who coined it “Constant Comment,” for all the praise it received.

Serves: 25 (4-oz. servings)

4 cups water
4 Bigelow “Constant Comment” tea bags
2 quarts ginger ale
2 6-oz. cans frozen lemonade concentrate
2 6-oz. cans frozen orange juice concentrate
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple with juice
1 10-oz. jar cherries (optional)
2 pints orange sherbet
Mint leaves

1. In a saucepan, bring water to boil, add tea bags, cover and steep for 5 minutes. Squeeze and remove tea bags. Allow tea to cool, then chill.

2. Just before serving time, combine tea, ginger ale, juice concentrates (do not dilute), pineapple and cherries in a large punch bowl. Float scoops of sherbet on top. Garnish with mint leaves (optional).