Make Southern Sweet Tea

Southern sweet tea is a delicious, sweet, and tasty tea that's perfect for a refreshing treat in the middle of the day, or for entertaining guests. If you want to know how to make Southern sweet tea, just follow these steps.

Ingredients

  • 5-7 black teabags
  • 6 cups of boiling water
  • 1 1/2 - 3 cups sugar
  • 2 cups cold water
  • 2 cups ice
  • 1/8 tsp. baking soda (optional)
  • 4 mint sprigs (optional)
  • 4 lemon slices (optional)

Steps

Southern sweet tea

  1. Place 5-7 black teabags in a measuring cup. For a stronger tea, use 7 bags, and for a lighter tea use 5. The recommended brand of tea bags that are specifically made for Southern sweet tea is Luzianne. However, you can also use Lipton, Tetley, or any other brands of black tea.[1]
  2. Pour the boiling water over the teabags. Make sure you're using a Pyrex glass container or another container that can hold boiling water. The glass container should be at room temperature -- if it's cold, it may crack.[2][1]
  3. Cover and let steep for about 10 minutes. This will give you a nice, strong tea. Do not put tea bags directly into boiling water. This will cause a bitter taste or may even make the bags burst.
  4. Take out the teabags. You can gently press the tea bags against the Pyrex cup using a wooden spoon, but you should not squeeze the tea bags or the tea will have a bitter taste. If you'd like to protect the tea from being bitter, add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda just in case.
  5. Pour the tea mixture into a 2-quart pitcher.[3]
  6. Add the sugar to the pitcher. Add a cup of sugar to the mixture and stir until the sugar is dissolved. The hot water will melt the sugar and make it dissolve in the tea. If you add sugar to cool water, it won't fully dissolve. You can use artificial sweetener instead of sugar, too. It'll be more healthy, but not quite as tasty.
  7. Pour the cold water into the pitcher. This will distribute the flavor of the tea and will fill the pitcher. Use fresh cool filtered water instead of tap water for a less cloudy tea.
  8. Let it cool. Do not put the pitcher directly into the refrigerator -- let it cool to room temperature on the counter. If you put hot tea into the fridge, it will turn cloudy. Wait for it to cool down before you put it in the fridge.[3]
  9. Serve the tea. When you're ready to serve the tea, you can garnish it with a few lemon slices or sprigs of mint, and then pour it into a cool glass filled with ice.[3]

Alabama sweet tea

  1. Use four family sized Luzianne tea bags per gallon of tea. There's no use in making less than a gallon.
  2. Boil about 2 cups of water.
  3. Pour the boiling water gently over the teabags into a sturdy container. Set a timer for 30 minutes.
  4. After 30 minutes, take out the teabags. Add about a cup of sugar, then a little more, because sweet tea has to be really sweet. Or, you can use 2/3 cup of Splenda blend, but 100 percent Splenda isn't really Southern.
  5. Add a bunch of ice cubes to cool it down. Then add enough cold water to make a gallon. It's ready to drink but tastes better after cooling in the fridge for about 12 hours, if you can wait that long.



Tips

  • Traditionally, Southern sweet tea is very strong and very sweet, as it is expected to be served over ice, thereby diluting it.
  • Southern sweet tea is usually very sweet. Don't be afraid to add sugar or artificial sweeteners to your tea.
  • Add in 1/8 t. of baking soda to prevent the tea from clouding or leaving a bitter aftertaste.
  • A bit of lemon juice may be added to individual servings if you prefer.
  • For a light mint flavor, add one mint flavored tea bag during steeping process.
  • Unrefrigerated iced tea will go sour in about 8 hours. Keep refrigerated!

Warnings

  • Be very careful if you're boiling water in a microwave. Do not use distilled water, as microwaves can superheat distilled water, which will then flash boil when anything is added (like teabags or spoons). This can result in severe burns.

Things you need

  • Tea making equipment

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2008/11/marys-perfect-southern-sweet-iced-tea.html
  2. ↑ http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/284643
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 http://rock-ur-party.tablespoon.com/2011/04/20/how-to-make-southern-sweet-tea/

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