I know I’ve spoken fairly often about sweet iced tea, such as we make here in the south. I don’t remember ever posting how we make ours here at home, though.

Sweet Southern Iced Tea

Ingredients

  • 1 quart cool water
  • 4 regular sized tea bags
  • 1 1/4 cups sugar
  • Ice

Method

You can either microwave this or use a pan on the stove. If using a pan, simmer until the tea begins to create a foam, then remove from heat. If using the microwave, place tea bags and water into a microwave save bowl. Microwave for 8 minutes.

While the tea is brewing, put the sugar in to a half-gallon container. If it’s made of glass, you’ll also need to add a cup of cool water and stir the sugar. Otherwise, add nothing else to it. When the tea is finished brewing, pour it hot into the pitcher with the sugar and stir well. Add ice and cold water to fill the pitcher.

That’s all there is to it. Sweet southern iced tea, ready to enjoy on a hot afternoon. Add lemon if you wish, of course, and less sugar if you don’t like it as sweet.

The secret to sweet tea that’s served in the south is to be sure and melt the sugar with the hot tea. That really infuses the tea with all that sweetness and you have no grainy residue in the bottom of the pitcher. It also seems to make your tea come out clear and a beautiful reddish brown color. Serve it over plenty of ice!

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