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Our family are habitual tea drinkers. Our children and I drink it hot or iced. My husband, Donald, prefers his iced. Donald was born and raised in southern Alabama. In other words, sweet tea country! Now, I’ve had excellent sweet tea, and I’ve had really, really bad sweet tea. Let’s put it like this, friends don’t let friends drink gallons of store bought iced tea. Not to offend anyone, but it tastes like sludge. So, in the spirit of charity, I’m going to tell you how to make really good sweet tea right in your own home.
Sweet Tea Nearly Started Another Civil War!
When Donald and I first married, I wanted to learn to make sweet tea. One day, I made the mistake of asking how to make sweet tea in a large group of people. Talk about opening a can of worms! Some said add a pinch of baking soda. A few said no baking soda. Some said steep ten minutes. Others said steep twenty minutes. Some said put it in the sun, while some said the sun tea caused dangerous bacteria. Yikes! I thought the South was going to rise again! I had so much conflicting information that it was ridiculous! So, I fumbled around trying this and that, but was never really satisfied with my sweet tea.
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Sweet Tea Dilemma Solved!
I had been married for nearly five years, when we relocated to southern Florida. There I became re-acquainted with a gentleman I had known as a child. He overheard me talking about my sweet tea dilemma. Later, he called me aside and told me that he would teach me to make fantastic sweet tea. I was thrilled! His tea was indeed fantastic, and super easy. I’ve been making it this way for the last twenty-five years. I’ve been asked to make it for camps, picnics, church events and parties.
What You Need
All you need is a small saucepan. A gallon size pitcher. Tea bag and sugar. You’ll also want a long handled spoon to stir the sugar.
What Size Tea Bags, & How Many?
Tea bags come in three sizes. Regular, Family Size & Gallon Size. For a gallon of tea, here is the number of tea bags you will need, based on the size of the bags.
6 Regular size tea bags
or
3 Family size tea bags
or
1 Gallon size tea bag
Which Brand Of Tea?
I’ve been asked countless times through the years, about the brand of tea bags that I use. The truth is, it depends on what’s available, if there’s a sale going on, and if I’m making large quantities. (I always buy gallon bags for large quantities.) I’ve used Lipton, Luzianne, and multiple store brands. This tea recipe always turns out great.
Easy As Sunday In The South!
First, put your tea bags into a small sauce pan and fill 3/4 of the way with water. Bring it to a boil. While the tea is boiling, put the sugar in the pitcher. When the tea boils, it’s done. Now you want to remove the teabags and discard them. Pour the hot tea in the pitcher over the sugar. Stir it until the sugar is dissolved. Now, fill the pitcher the rest of the way with water and stir to mix. That’s it. Easy peasy!
I recommend that you make your tea a couple of hours before serving. It gives the flavors time to blend. You also want to store your tea in the refrigerator. It will go rancid if it’s left sitting at room temperature.
You can use this basic tea recipe as a base for all of your favorite iced tea recipes. I’ve used it for Boston tea & Arnold Palmer tea. For Boston tea, just mix equal parts of sweet tea and cranberry juice, and serve with the wedge of an orange. Arnold Palmer tea is made of equal parts of sweet tea and lemonade. I’ve also added oranges, lemon, strawberries and mint sprigs. Let me know what your favorite additions are!
Southern Sweet Tea
Ingredients
- 1 Gallon Tea Bag, or 3 Family Tea Bags or 6 Regular Tea Bags
- 1 1/2 c. Sugar
- Water
Instructions
- Put tea bags in a small saucepan.
- Fill the saucepan 3/4 full of water.
- Bring to a boil.
- When the tea comes to a boil, turn it off and remove from heat.
- Add sugar to a gallon pitcher.
- Pour the hot tea over sugar and stir till dissolved.
- Finish filling the pitcher with cold water.
- Refrigerate.
