Southern Sweet Tea Recipe

In the South when you ask for a glass of tea they will assume that you are asking for a glass of sweetened iced tea.  Sweet Tea means tea that is sweetened with white sugar at the time that it is brewed.  The amount of sugar that you add will depend on your sweet tooth.   Below is my recipe for making some delicious southern sweet tea that is made with water, white granular sugar, lemon herbal tea and a bit of baking soda to get rid of any bitterness.

Ingredients:

8 cups of clean fresh water,
1 cup of white granulated sugar
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
5 regular lemon herbal tea bags

Instructions:

You will want to pour two cup of your water and all of your sugar into a 3-Quart Saucepan and bring the water to a boil.  Continue boiling until all of the sugar has completely dissolved.  Now take the saucepan off the heat and add a pinch of baking soda into the water and stir.  The reason for adding the baking soda to the tea us to remove the bitterness of the tea.

Your next step is to take a 2-Quart Pitcher and place the tea bags at the bottom of the pitcher.  I use lemon herbal tea because I love the taste of the tea.   In addition to that, herbal tea is caffeine free and I prefer non caffeinated drinks.  You will now want to pour the hot water over the tea bags as well as 6 cups of cool water.  Now simply cover the pitcher and steep the tea for 5 to 7 minutes, depending on how strong you want your tea.  After that time remove the tea bags, making certain not to squeeze them when you remove them from the pitcher.  The reason for not squeezing them is that doing so tends to make the tea bitter.  Now place the Pitcher of your sweet tea into the refrigerator and chill until it’s nice and cold.  You will want to chill  your sweet tea for 4 to 6 hours.  When serving your drink pour the sweetened iced tea over a tall glass that’s half full of ice.   enjoy