Perfect Sweet Tea
I don’t think anything says Southern soul better than a icy cold glass of perfectly brewed sweet tea on a porch in the hot summer. There is just something about tea that just quenches the thirst when the sun bakes down at 110 degrees. There are very few pleasures in life that reach across so many boundaries….as this. I know very few people who don’t like an icy cold glass of perfect sweet tea!
I found this recipe for sweet tea on Pinterest, and have lost the source, but wanted to share it with Y’all.
Perfect Sweet Tea. (makes 1 gallon)
(Adapted from the Lone Star Steak House)
Ingredients:
5 – 8 Family size Tea Bags. (or 12 regular Tea Bags) 1 Quart (4 Cups) – Boiling Water
3 Quarts (12 cups) – Cool Water
1 1/2 – 2 (one & a half) – Cups Sugar.
1/4 teaspoon – Baking Soda (this IS the SECRET Ingredient!!)
Directions:
1. Sprinkle baking soda into a pitcher
Add Tea bags to the pitcher/baking soda,
Pour Boiling water over tea bags,
Cover and steep for 15 minutes.
2. Remove Tea Bags,
Add Sugar and Stir till dissolved.
Add Cool Water.
Refrigerate until cold and ready to drink.
Nothing tastes better than a glass of perfect sweet tea on a hot summer day!
what does the baking soda do? This is how I make tea but without the baking soda. Thanks
Kimberly, I’m not entirely sure what it does…it just seems to make it better. I think it also may help to keep it from getting cloudy.
It draws out the flavor.
The baking soda soften the water, thus making the tea taste better.
just add hot water slowly, I had a tea fountain going lol also made peach syrup and added to it
What is y’all’s opinion of lemon? Add into the tea? or add at when drinking. I love sweet tea, and my hubbys is southern, so trying to find a great recipe.
I believe it neutralizes the bitterness caused from the tannins in the tea
I read several years ago in an article posted by someone from the UK that a great way to make sweet tea is as follows
1. Bring water just to a boil
2. Add sugar to make a simple syrup
3. Add tea bags
4. Turn heat off and let steep
5. Pour into pitcher and add water to finish your pitcher of tea.
I usually use 4 decaf family size teabags and less than a cup of sugar for a gallon of tea
Will definitely try making with baking soda and see how that works.
Make sure you pitcher isn’t glass or it will crack just like mine did. 😭😭 I’ve always steeped tea in the pot like all the generations of Louisiana women before me. Horrible idea to pour the boiling water anywhere. Leave it in the pot. If your pitcher is plastic, it won’t crack but the plastic chemicals will be in your tea.
This is a wonderful recipe. My mother always put a pinch of baking soda in her ice tea. She was a southern farm raised woman. She has been gone 40 years. But I still remember her delicious tea!
Sounds great but I just do sun tea. I just put water in my ice tea jug about 10 or 12 C, add tea bags I use 10 regular black tea bags and set in the Sun for a couple hours. Then I add stevia to my glass and sometimes some lemon slices, pour in the yummy tea. I’m type 2 diabetic and go though a lot of this! So sugar is my enemy, that’s why the stevia. I’m going to try adding the baking soda next time to see how it differs! Thanks for the tip!
For a gallon of tea, how much stevia do you add? New to stevia, but like the healthy idea of using it. My brother Is type 1 and my sister type 2 diabetics. I beleive this will help them, also.
I’m not sure. I’m not a fan of stevia, but I’m willing to bet there might be some better instructions on your packaging. Sorry I couldn’t help you more.