An authentic recipe for how to make traditional southern-style brewed sweet iced tea.
JUMP TO RECIPEI was asked for a recipe for sweet tea a few weeks ago on the Facebook page. And I was kinda shocked by this.
I thought only Southerners liked sweet tea. And since every Southerner already knows how to make sweet tea, surely no one would want or need a recipe.
Then I had a life-altering experience in T.J. Maxx and now I feel somehow obligated to post a recipe in case there's someone out there that wants to know how to make genuine, authentic sweet tea like we do in the South.
Long story short: I ran 13 errands in a 2-hour marathon in the scorching summer heat and hadn't brought any iced water with me (which I usually never leave home without). So by the time I wrapped up my running at T.J Maxx I was parched! Like, lost in the desert parched.
I did a little touchdown dance when I saw they had one of those drink coolers near the register. There were three choices: soda, water or lemon tea. Since I’m not a soda drinker and I can’t seem to will myself to spend $1.89 on water, I grabbed the tea thinking, how bad could it be?
I whipped the top off at the register, took a long haul from it and shouted at the cashier, “JESUS CHRIST, THAT’S AWFUL!!!!!” Sorry again, Lord, for the tone.
No wonder the rest of the world doesn't like sweet tea! If that’s what y’all are drinking, thinking it’s what we Southerners swear by, we need to talk! If "fake" had a taste, it's that stuff! It tasted like old tea (which we call "stale") with lemon furniture polish mixed in.
WHAT TYPE OF TEA IS USED FOR BREWING SOUTHERN ICED TEA?
Sweet, Southern-style iced tea is typically made with a blend of black tea and orange pekoe. Luzianne is the most popular and most commonly used brand in my neck of the South.
If you can't find Luzianne, look for a blend of black tea and orange pekoe or just straight-up black tea (Lipton makes family-sized bags too which are 100% black tea).
I have bought generic tea bags that were labeled for brewing iced tea and the tea tasted like dish soap. So much so that I thought I must not have rinsed the pitcher well enough and made a whole second batch. That's made me gun-shy of using store-brand tea but if someone has a recommendation you love, please comment and let us know!
IS SWEET ICED TEA SERVED WITH LEMON AND/OR MINT?
That depends who you ask. I LOVE lemon with my sweet tea but my kids all dislike it. I guess it's a personal preference.
I have legit never seen a Southerner add mint to sweet tea other than we're trying to be fancy (see photos above ha!) BUT I recently started making a mint simple syrup for mojitos and have fallen in love with it in my tea!
The recipe for the mint syrup is in my mojitos recipe if you'd like to check it out. Just remember it's sweet so either use less sugar when you make your gallon of tea or just use a nip of the mint syrup when you try it.
Recipe for Southern Brewed Sweet Iced Tea
Southern Brewed Sweet Iced Tea
An authentic recipe for how to make traditional southern-style brewed sweet iced tea.
Ingredients
- 1 gallon water, divided
- 3 family-sized or 9 regular tea bags
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
Instructions
- Fill a pot with 1 quart cold water then bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add tea bags and steep tea for about an hour. Remove tea bags and discard.
- Add warm tea and sugar to a gallon-sized pitcher then stir until sugar has dissolved. Stir in remaining 3 quarts of water then refrigerate until cold.
- Serve over ice. Serve with a slice of lemon if you like!
Notes
- I use Luzianne family-sized tea bags. The section above the recipe card has more details and alternatives.
- Use however much sugar you'd like. I think what you get in the restaurants is probably closer to 2 cups.
- You can speed up the cooling process by adding ice to the 3 quarts of water added to fill up the pitcher.
I'm just glad you didn't bring me back some of that tea..and you forgot to mention the stricken looks on your onions faces when you let them taste it! N
ReplyDeleteYep, this is my recipe too, has been for years. Now that the kids are older they think I should put more sugar, they didn't like my reaction so they deal with my recipe =)) That's one thing you don't do is mess with momma's tea, lol
ReplyDeleteSo glad that your household isn't soda- and bottle water-infused. Hate that stuff. But let me add this brief story to your sweet tea recipe -- thanks to all the times I watched my grandmother make sweet tea in the kitchen of her Cumming, Georgia hilltop, I knew how to make that tea. In my sleep I could make that tea. And every summer I took my northern-girl butt back home and doing everything exactly the same, it was impossible to recreate her delicious iced tea. You know why? The water. The cool well water emerging from her kitchen tap was filtered through hundreds of feet of Georgia clay. The closest I ever came was using ... [sigh] ... bottled water. And still, it isn't close enough.
ReplyDeleteI knew a lovely Danish immigrant whose take on southern sweet tea was 3 c. of sugar to 1 gal tea, using large lime wedges in place of lemons. It was different and an acquired taste, but really delicious once you wrapped your head around the difference.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 1c. of sugar or 13 splenda packets to 1gal tea gal, myself. I can also use the unsweetened plain major tea brand and then add my own sweetener in a pinch.
Any of y'all ever had Honest Tea? they know what they're doing for off the shelf tea.
I just discovered your blog and it's pee in your pants funny! I'm going to feature it on my blog - hope you don't mind. All my Texas gals will get such a kick out it and they'll love the Southern-fare recipes of course!
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm glad you stopped by! What's your blog? I'll have to check it out! I can prolly get to it by clicking on your name, can't I? Nobody ever said I was the sharpest light bulb.
DeleteI just finished my post - hope you won't mind the extra traffic : ) My blog is www.southerncharmcottage.blogpsot.com
DeleteGURRRL! That is total and complete AWESOMESAUCE! Thank you so much! How do I follow you? Are you on FB, Pinterest, Twitter, etc?
DeleteGirl, my blog is all I can manage to keep up with at the moment - but if you have a google account you can Follow! You can also get to my e-mail from my blog. Hubby (I use an alias for my husband and 3 kids too - just not as cool as yours) and I visited Charleston last year and we LOVED it!
Deleteany body have a recipe for frutied tea(friut) anyway if so please let me know thanks
ReplyDeleteLuzianne, Luzianne, Luzianne, never bitter. And never squeeze the bags! I'm about as Southern as you can get.
ReplyDeleteSoutherner's are not the only ones who like sweet tea. We love it here in PA! Thanks for the recipe, I am going to make some tonight!!!
ReplyDeleteMandy, I am right there with you on the bottled tea. It's the most disgusting thing I've ever tried. Luzianne teabags are the best, believe it or not I learned that from some Mexican friends in Atlanta, 'cause I had been using Lipton for years. I'm pretty sure it's against the law in some southern states, but I absolutely HATE lemon in my tea! If I'm in the mood for lemon in my drink, I want fresh "squoze" lemonade. Don't want lemon in my water either. We make our tea in either a 2 cup or a 4 cup glass Pyrex measuring cup in the microwave. Just get the water boiling, about 5 minutes, then add in the 4 family size Luzianne tea bags. We let that steep a couple of hours in the microwave (or overnight when we forget about it or get too lazy), and then pour that over 1 1/2 cups sugar and add cold water to fill the gallon pitcher. My husband likes to leave the tea bags hanging in the pitcher...I let him since he makes the tea more often than I do.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing better than southern tea..or southern anything! My daughter is marrying a *gasp* yankee who wont drink sweet tea and doesnt like fried chicken! How does a southern momma deal with the embarrassment!
ReplyDeleteI am a (gasp) yankee, raised by a southern mother, on sweet tea and fried chicken. I love both. We moved North when my father was transferred to New Jersey and I became a yankee!!! My sister married a Texan , who apologizes for my being a yankee when he introduces me to their friends. I have to say that it sometimes hurts my feelings! lol! I have your bbq chicken in the oven right now, and it is smelling GOOD!!! Love your recipes!!
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog and I'm CRYING laughing! I think we MUST be related! I plan on trying every recipe you've provided! And THANK GOD I'm not the only one who knows (AND LOVES) stewed beef and rice! (It's just Stew.. beef in my family though) LOVE LOVE LOVE you already!!!
ReplyDeleteYou can also add the sugar to the pan of water before you boil it. Then it's already disolved. I learned this when on a trip to New Orleans. They also use what they call simple sugar. They have it in most of the stores in the south. But it's basically just sugar and water mixed together then and to the tea.
ReplyDeleteI am also a Canadian girl who for some years lived in Ok, Tx as well as Fl . I love love my sweet tea!! Everyone home in Canada thinks Im crazy because I feel putting lemon in iced tea is blasphemous! I winter in Fl now and most of the southerners here think Im the cats meow because I love collards and grits and just about all things southern. Just found your site and am taking it back to Canada in the spring! I will get those Canadians eating southern fare.
ReplyDeletePS .. My hubbys nickname is Ninja... too funny!
I'm wondering...why do you steep your tea for 1-2 hrs.? That seems like a really long time. Thanks for the great recipes & laughs! I've referred friends to your blog & they love it also! :)
ReplyDeleteThe first flush is renowned as the producer of a better green tea. Immortalitea
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