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If you've spent any time south of the Mason-Dixon line, this query is as familiar to you as "paper or plastic?", but the rest of the USA doesn't have a cotton pickin' clue what you're talking about. See, we may get all schmancy, blending decaf Royal Tiger Spice Baby Assam with cran-kiwi nectar and individually wrapped cubes of Albanian raw beet sugar, but this Yankee is willing to admit that y'all got something special goin' on when comes to iced tea.
Sweet Tea is a staple of restaurants and homes across the Southeastern United States; so prevalent that a guest has to specifically request 'unsweet" in order to get a brew that won't instantly candy their molars, and enough of a cultural institution that several Representatives in Georgia presented House Bill 819 requiring all food service establishments to serve it. Sure, it was quickly revealed as an April Fools Day prank, but it bespoke the region's reverence for the "champagne of the South".
So, just what IS this magical elixir? Essentially, it's bagged or loose orange pekoe (that's a grade of black) tea, that's brewed and blended with sugar while it's still hot. A lot of sugar. If you're making this for the first time and you think you've swirled in enough sugar – you haven't. Keep pouring. Then pour more. If your stirring spoon is threatening to stand up on its own, you may still need to add more. Have a Southerner sample it if you're not sure. They'll tell you to add MORE.
If it's served in a Southern home, there's a good chance it'll be in a tall, slim glass filled with ice, and accompanied by a long-handled iced tea spoon with which one can stir in, bless their heart, even more sweetener if so desired. Milk is unheard of, and lemon or mint – well, that's just being fancy, but if it makes the Yanks feel at home, then so be it. That's just good ol' Southern hospitality.
There are as many ways to make Sweet Tea as there are Southern families. This is how my husband and I (he's from High Point, N.C.) like to make it at home.
The Wagner Family's Sweet Tea
For Simple Syrup:
* 4 cups sugar (Don't worry - not all of that goes in the tea!)
* 2 cups water
For Tea:
* 4 cups water
* 8-10 regular-sized or 3 "family sized" bags orange pekoe tea (preferably Lipton or Luzianne)
* Pinch of baking soda
* Additional water
Pour 2 cups of water and 4 cups of sugar into a saucepan and stir together. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and stir until thickened. Turn off heat, and set aside.
Strip tags from the tea bags, and tie strings to the handle of a wooden spoon, near the bowl. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Turn off the heat, and place the tea-tied wooden spoon in the pan with a pinch of baking soda (It smooths out the tea's tannins.). Once it's suitably darkened, and still hot, pull out the spoon. (Refrain from squeezing the teabags, as that clouds the tea.)
Stir 1 cup of the sugar syrup into the tea until it's thoroughly blended. Pour the mixture into a 1 gallon glass or metal pitcher, and fill to the top with water. Stir, and chill in the refrigerator. Pour the remaining sugar syrup into a glass jar, and cover.
Once the tea has cooled, serve it in tall glasses 2/3 filled with ice, with sugar syrup on the side so that guests may sweeten according to their personal taste.
Y'all come back now, hear?
(P.S. If you're having trouble with the comments link, try this one.)
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2-25-2008 @7:49PM binkybaby said... To me, it is essential that tea be put in the fridge after it's made so it won't spoil. i usually put 1-11/4 cup of sugar per gallon, and use Lipton exclusively. i'm not much on the idea of putting syrup in, i think that's what McDonalds does to their sweet tea and it tastes like corn syrup. Yes, it's always best sweetened while it's hot. If tea clouds in the fridge, it's the water. Crappy water always makes tea cloudy, that's why i use distilled water to make tea with.
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2-25-2008 @11:32PM KEN COWART said... I AGREE WITH DELSIE, WE MAKE TEA TWICE A DAY. THERE'S NO MAGIC TO IT. IT'S NOT A "RECIPE" KIND OF THING. IT'S JUST 3 FAMILY BAGS OF LUZIANNE OR YOUR FAVORITE, BOILED FOR A FEW WATCHED MINUTES IN A COVERED POT. PREPARE A 2 QUART PITCHER WITH ABOUT 3 TO 4 INCHES OF SUGAR. POUR IN THE TEA WHILE VERY HOT AND STIR. ADD VERY HOT WATER FROM FAUCET TO FILL THE PITCHER. PUT THE LID ON AND REFRIDGERATE. NO NEED TO SAMPLE. IT'S GOOD ALWAYS, EVERYTIME. SOME FOLKS LIKE A BIG SLICE OF LEMON. ENJOY
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2-26-2008 @5:29PM Brenda said... My aunt in Georgia makes the best sweet tea ever. Her recipe is simple. Bring a quart of water to a boil, turn off heat, and drop in 6 tea bags. Let steep for 5 minutes, remove tea bags. While the tea is HOT, add 2 cups of sugar. Stir till the sugar is dissolved. When cool, pour into a gallon jug and top off with cold fresh water. Chill. Serve over a glass FULL of ice. The ice will dilute the tea as you drink it. A lemon wedge is a nice addition, but not strictly necessary. If it's too sweet for your taste, just add water till it suits you. There's nothing complicated about the process, it's just a glass of tea as Southerners have made it for generations. I've never heard of adding baking soda to sweet tea. It's only bitter if you leave the tea bags in too long, so don't leave it in too long and forget about the baking soda!
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2-26-2008 @6:05PM Faye said... Down South (in good old Dixie) we also have several variety's of sweet tea. From B'ham, we have some of the best in the South, called Milo's. It is a chain of Hamburger places that you should investigate. They even have their own brand that is sold in groceries all around the South! Sweet or Unsweet. It's great.
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2-26-2008 @6:32PM Thedonia Rambo said... make your tea as you would and flavor it with frozen strawberries when the tea has chilled.
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2-26-2008 @8:36PM angela said... tea bags are never boiled here in the south. Neither is the syrup making.
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3-02-2008 @12:46AM Judy M said... I've never had cloudy tea from squeezing the tea bags or refrigerating it. What makes my tea cloudy is leaving the bags sitting in the hot water too long!
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3-03-2008 @3:16AM AmeobasuNITE said... Actually. . The reason why you're not suppose to squeeze the tea bags, is because it makes it bitter. The cloudiness in the water has everything to do with your water and not you squeezing the life out of some poor, defenseless teabags. . What I like is why you fail to mention WHY everyone in the South drinks "sweet tea." It use to be because the water in the south was so rancid, that it was undrinkable. Through a few tea bags and a few dozen heaping, helpings of sugar, and you have yourself one mighty fine glass of water.
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3-07-2008 @7:35PM Wayne said... The best tea is drank from a quart wide-mouth Ball, Mason or Kerr canning jar (No! It isn't bottle). I prefer Luzianne or Lipton, just as long as it is cold and sweet. It's a North Carolina 'thang'.
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3-09-2008 @4:08PM southerner said... I am also from the south and i put two cups of sugar to a gallon of water. I put 2 family size bags in water and bring ALMOST to a boil take off heat and let it sit for a couple of minutes and then pour into a jar that has the 2 cups of sugar in it. You have to put the sugar into the hot water so it will melt then fill the rest of jar with cold water. MMmmmmm good Remember don"t let it boil because it will get bitter. Enjoy
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3-08-2008 @7:01PM Sharon said... I am from South Georgia and everyone loves my sweet tea! I bring about 1 and 1/2 cups of water to a boil, add 5 Tetley teabags, bring to a boil again and immediately remove from heat. I dissolve 3/4 cup of sugar in about 2 cups of water in a half gallon size tea pitcher. While this is dissolving, I allow the tea to steep for about 20 minutes (if it appears cloudy, it has steeped too long). After the 20 minutes, add tea to the sugar/water mixture. Do not squeeze the tea bags before discarding. Finish filling the pitcher with water and stir. I have added a pinch of soda to the boiling tea bags as my Mother always said this made the tea stronger and you could use less tea, thus saving money!
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3-08-2008 @8:43PM Norma Burson said... I am from Louisiana. Growing up we always had sweet tea - sometimes we made sun tea. Tea has always been served with our meals, only now we drink unsweetened.
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3-21-2008 @2:36AM Alakatt said... I'm from Alabama and 'sweet tea' is a staple. I used Lipton for years until someone mistakenly bought a box of Tetley Iced Tea Blend and I'd run out of Lipton. I took a chance and used the Tetley. I never bought another box of Lipton after that. 3 Family sized Tetley teabags in about 3 cups of cold water. Let it JUST strike a boil and pour over 2 cups of sugar in a 1 gal. pitcher...stir to dissolve the sugar. (1 cup of Splenda or other artificial sweetener can be substituted for 1 cup of sugar and still maintain the texture of the tea) keep filling the sauce pan containing the tea bags with cold water and add to the pitcher until full. Squeeze out the remaining liquid from the tea bags and serve over lots of ice. (Warm tea will melt ice pretty quickly). This makes nearly perfectly colored and sweetened Iced Tea.
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3-21-2008 @9:17AM Ginny said... I couldn't resist reading this article! I married a coastal NC man (sweetest southern gentleman in the world) and we have had many a conversation about sweet tea. I am from Wisconsin and we have live here since we were married. I have had to BACK OFF the sugar very slowly over the years to get him DOWN to 1 cup of sugar per 1/2 gallon of tea. Believe it! When we visit his sister, however, (also NC born and bred) it is back to 4 cups per gallon and he considers that a rare TREAT! ICKKKKKKKK! (I don't touch the stuff...)
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3-21-2008 @9:28AM Carol Sweigert said... Y'all have made me home-sick for North Myrtle Beach SC. You get the best sweet tea anywhere you go. Ahhhhhh, I'm there already.
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3-21-2008 @10:09AM G*ann said... I couldn't resist reading this article! I married a coastal NC man (sweetest southern gentleman in the world) and we have had many a conversation about sweet tea. I am from Wisconsin and we have live here since we were married. I have had to BACK OFF the sugar very slowly over the years to get him DOWN to 1 cup of sugar per 1/2 gallon of tea. Believe it! When we visit his sister, however, (also NC born and bred) it is back to 4 cups per gallon and he considers that a rare TREAT! ICKKKKKKKK! (I don't touch the stuff...)
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3-21-2008 @12:57PM Sandra Herron said... I'm from Alabama. My husband is Washington state born and raised. We have to wait a couple of weeks for our sun tea. O.K. just foolin. Nice to know there are so many tea lovers still brewing the best.
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4-08-2008 @7:21PM merle dickerson said... I am here in ST. Louis,missouri and I brew my tea in a big pot on top of the stove. Let the water boil real hot add sugar and teabags in water and let it boil for about 15minutes and then pour the tea over glasses full of ice and it is good. Yes in the midwest we do use slices of lemon in our tea.
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4-18-2008 @6:47PM diane said... Being the great niece of a true southern I was taught to make the sweet tea, We use 4-5 family size tea bags, 1&1/2 C sugar -3 C water mix it all on the stove and brew. Then por it into a GLASS picture, and finish filling with tap water. This is the best
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4-13-2008 @4:19PM Clifford McCrary, Jr. said... "Real" southern sweet tea DOES NOT use a syrup, and there's a real good reason!!
Table Sugar (sucrose) is a "disaccharide" (means two sugars). Each molecule of sucrose is made of one molecule of glucose and one molecule of fructose bonded to each other.
To get the "true flavor" and mouth feel of "real southern sweet tea", the sucrose MUST be added straight to the almost boiling hot tea just as it is removed from the heat. This causes a goodly amount of the glucose and sucrose molecules to break apart, and yields a beverage with a "silky smooth" mouth feel that you just can NOT get by adding a sugar syrup to the tea.
Real "southern sweet tea" fanatics can instantly tell if the tea has been made with a syrup, and call it "lazy cook's tea.
Ol' Ray - The Original RedNeck - author of "The Original RedNeck Cooks Southern"
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