Southern Sweet Tea
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Learn how easy it is to make my 2-ingredient Southern sweet tea recipe. It’s the most refreshing drink to enjoy on your porch throughout the year.
Nothing, I mean nothing, is more Southern than sweet tea. We drink sweet iced tea at almost every meal (yes, iced tea for breakfast is actually quite good), make it daily year-round, and even put it in our baby’s bottles! Dr. Phil once jokingly mentioned that Southerners started drinking sweet tea at age three, but Mama and I looked at each other in complete confusion as we knew perfectly well all of us had started on it by age one!
Go to any Southerner’s home and the first question they ask after sitting down is, “Ya wan’ some tea?” These days I make my sweet tea recipe with Splenda, but it tastes just as good as real sugar. Southern sweet tea just completes any meal.
So, how do you make my southern sweet tea? It’s easy! All you need is your favorite black tea bags (plus some water for brewing) and sugar (or Splenda). All we’re going to do is brew the tea in a sauce pot or a coffeemaker (more details below), then combine it in a pitcher with cold water and sugar. That’s literally all you need to do before you can enjoy a big glass of icy and refreshing Southern sweet tea.
Okay, enough chatting, let’s make some sweet tea, y’all!
What You’ll Need to Make Southern Sweet Tea:
- Tea bags
- Granulated sugar (or Splenda)
- Water
- Small sauce pot or a coffeemaker
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make My Sweet Tea Recipe:
Brew the tea
There are two popular ways of brewing tea. The one Mama and I use the most right now (this may change when the wind changes direction) is the sauce pot method.
For half a gallon of tea, put five regular-sized tea bags in a pot. Cover with water (you want about three inches of water in your pot).
You don’t have to worry about taking the tea bag labels off, either.
Now, as Mama says “In a pot, bring tea just to a boil and then remove from heat and turn off the eye.”
Cover and steep the tea for 15 minutes.
Your tea is now ready to be mixed.
If you do this, though, be careful to remember to remove the coffee grounds from your basket. Growing up, Mama would have supper on the table looking all wonderful and we’d take a sip and discover we were having “coffee tea”. Hehe, we always had fun with her when that happened!
Make the Southern sweet tea
No matter which method you choose, in a matter of minutes, you will have brewed, concentrated tea.
Take your pitcher and fill it about halfway with cold water. Then add your sugar (or Splenda).
This is a VERY important step because if you add your sugar to the hot tea, it will scorch the sugar and you’ll have terribly bitter tea.
So, we want to start with cold water, add the sugar…
…THEN add the hot tea.
Adding the brewed tea will warm the water enough that the sugar will easily dissolve.
Give that a good stir, then serve your sweet tea over ice.
Storage
So, we always drink the tea fresh. It can be kept in the refrigerator but Southern people prefer fresh sweet tea. Personally, I always throw out the leftovers and start fresh the next day — and so does my Mama. But if you do want to extend the life of your iced tea, use the baking soda trick below and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Recipe Notes
- There are many tea brands on the market. Mama prefers Luzianne but I usually use Tetley or Red Diamond. Just make sure you get a general blend or orange pekoe tea that’s specifically blended for iced tea (all of these brands will have this marked on the package). Orange pekoe is a generic term for a basic, medium-grade black tea.
- A handy tip: when you squeeze your tea leaves or tea bag, you release extra tannins which will cause a more bitter taste. So just dump ’em without that extra squeeze.
- Adjust the amount of sugar to suit your taste. You might like more or less and that’s totally fine!
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve Southern sweet tea?
You simply serve sweet tea in a glass with ice. Some people like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon, a dash of bottled lemon juice, or a lemon slice garnish. Mama likes to add an orange slice. Give it a go and see what you think!
What is the mixture of sweet tea?
Sweet tea is simply a mixture of brewed black tea with sugar, served cold over ice.
How long should I steep tea for sweetened iced tea?
You want to steep the black tea bags for up to 15 minutes. The longer you steep, the stronger the tea taste.
Why do Southerners put baking soda in sweet tea?
So, some Southerners add a pinch of baking soda to their sweet tea to remove any bitterness from the black tea leave tannins. However, this is totally optional and not something I’ve ever done. But if you wanna give it a go, add it to the water when you boil your tea.
How does Paula Deen make sweet tea?
Paula Deen makes sweet tea how I make sweet tea! The only difference is hers includes a garnish of fresh lemon slices and fresh mint.
Check out these other refreshing drink recipes:
Hawaiian Iced Tea (Non-Alcoholic Punch)
Iced Cherry Apple Cider Vinegar Tea
Sugar-Free Peach Lemonade (2 Ingredients Only)
Ingredients
- 5 tea bags
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Place tea bags in a saucepot or coffee maker (down in the coffee pot). If using the coffee pot, run a cycle of water through it to brew the tea. If using a saucepot, fill it about three inches with water and bring it just to a boil, then remove it from the heat.5 tea bags
- Fill a pitcher halfway with cool water and add sugar. Stir. Then add hot tea and stir again. Add more water, if necessary, to make two quarts. Serve over ice.3/4 cup granulated sugar
Nutrition
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I make a gallon of “sun tea” every other day, for my youngest son, who likes unsweetened tea. using 6 teabags. I also make myself, and everyone else, sweet tea. I use the stove method and I boil the tea for 5 minutes, let cool down, remove tea bags and add the sugar to it. Then I pour it in the pitcher of cold water. Never had scorched taste n I been making it that way for 40 years. Tea is much sweeter, believe me.
The only thing I can’t understand and hate to hell about it all is the tea BAGS!!! No good tea tradition can be started without good loose tea! D’you know what is in the bags? Fannings , which are tea production leftovers (or simply, the dust).
One of the teachers I work with was born and raised in New York. She and her family moved here to Tennessee a few years ago and they are now hooked on sweet southern tea. While they were visiting New York for several weeks this summer, she emailed me for a recipe for sweet tea. They were having withdrawals. I sent her my recipe which is almost exactly the one you posted. I use Luzianne only. I must say good old sweet tea is hard to beat.
I have to say you don’t have to live in the South or be from the South to love Sweet Tea. I am from Chicago area and always loved Sweet Tea. There is always a pitcher of it in my refrigerator.
Ruthy when i make sweet i use my honey from my son beehive that is the best tea ever
I LOVE honey in my lemonade. Don’t care much for it in my tea though. We tried that earlier this summer. Have to make to different batches because my partner loves honey tea.
I was raised on sweet tea, being raised in the South, as was my son. He got his first encounter with Northerners when we went to OR and ate at a restaurant. They asked what he wanted to drink, he replied “sweet tea”. They looked at him like he was from another planet, and told him we have sugar on the table. He didn’t understand….I had to explain to him “we are up north, they don’t know what sweet tea is”!
OMG! I know right! I grew up in the country side of Missouri. When I was a teen we moved into the suburban areas and every where we all they had was unsweet tea. I about had a cardiac. TRYING to mix sugar into a cold glass just does not work! Don’t even get me started about when I joined the military and got stationed in DC!
Christy, How many teabags would you use for a gallon of tea? They fuss about my tea and I cant remember. Also, how much coffee do I put in a coffeepot for strong coffee, they say mine taste like water? I really need these refresher courses as I am tired of the complaints. Thank you!