The perfect pitcher

My friend Meg mentioned to me the other day that her husband was on an iced tea kick, possibly inspired by the pitcher she gave him for Father's Day. This got me to thinking about how summertime is when you haul out your pitchers. But if you're like me, your "pitchers" may only be a ratty collection of plastic juice containers with broken or mismatched tops. So I decided to look around for some inspiration to bring my pitcher game up. I found lots of good stuff.

1 Here's a good example of a pitcher that's perfect for iced tea. It has a center chamber that you fill with ice, which keeps the tea cold but doesn't dilute it. The 2.75-quart Samoa glass pitcher by Frigoverre is $21.99 from Chefs Catalog.
2 Same idea, different method. The 2-quart DuraClear® (polycarbonate) Icing Pitcher has a removable insert that sits on the side of the pitcher instead of down the middle. It's $45 from Williams-Sonoma.
3 Ah, these Bormioli Rocco Gelo refrigerator jugs remind me of the iced tea jars my grandmother had. They're not elegant, just practical, because they fit in the refrigerator door. About $15 for a set of two.
4 Practical like the Gelo jugs, but bigger, this almost 2-quart Quadro glass pitcher from Luminarc is a reasonable $8.
5 Or go the old-fashioned route with a nice ceramic pitcher. This 2-quart Le Creuset ceramic pitcher is $34.95 at Broadway Panhandler.
6 The Bordalo green earthenware pitcher, made in Portugal, holds 1 quart and is dishwasher safe. It's $19.95 from Sur la Table.