Easy to make Southern Sweet Tea
If your fridge doesn’t have a pitcher of sweet tea in it, are you even from the South? It is a staple in my kitchen and has been my entire life. It’s so easy to make Southern sweet tea and no home should be without it…in my opinion of course!
Since sweet tea made its way to every table I sat at growing up, I had the opportunity to taste lots of different tea. And believe me when I say that everyone has their own spin on how to make tea. From the methods of making the tea, to the amount of sugar they add and even down to the type of container that will hold the tea, the variations are endless.
I want to mention a couple of things that I encountered as a kid that I decided I needed to change or improve when I wanted to make tea for my home/family.
my momma’s sweet tea was just like syrup
When I was growing up there were always three things in our house to drink: Water, tea, and milk. We didn’t have sodas and we really didn’t gravitate towards juice either. But you can bet that a pitcher of sweet tea was readily available just inside the fridge.
My Momma made SUPER SWEET tea. Her tea was so sweet that it was THICK when you poured it. I have no clue how much sugar she poured into that tea but I’m sure that my dentist would be ashamed! (HA) As a kid the sugar didn’t phase me. Her tea was practically dessert!
But as I’ve gotten older my tastes have changed and so has my knowledge of what role sugar plays in my diet and in wrecking it. So my tea-making approach is a little bit different than my Momma’s to say the least.
my mamaw’s sweet tea was strong and bitter
On the opposite end of the spectrum was my grandmother’s tea. She liked her tea strong and unfortunately that meant a bitter aftertaste. It really doesn’t matter how much sugar you pour into it if it’s going to leave a taste in your mouth that isn’t pleasant.
She also made hot tea for me as a teenager to drink on the bus on the way to school. But the after taste was still there. So I learned quickly that strong tea ain’t for me!
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easy to make southern sweet tea recipe
What you will need:
- 3 Family size tea bags (I use decaffeinated)
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 2 gallon pitcher (I use a glass pitcher for the fridge)
- Pot & lid (for boiling the tea)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Sweet tea tricks and hacks
- Baking soda keeps the tea from having a bitter aftertaste.
- Tea that sits out on the counter at room temperature tends to go bad quickly and develops a bitter taste.
- Water and tea just taste better out of glass pitchers. Plastic seems to impart a difference in flavor.
- I use decaffeinated tea because I don’t need the caffeine and my children don’t need the caffeine. Truth be told, I can’t tell a difference in flavor at all. So it’s a win-win for me!
easy to make southern sweet tea recipe instructions:
- Fill pot 3/4 full of clean water and bring to a boil.
- When the water is boiling, place the 3 family size tea bags inside.
- Remove pot of boiling water from the heat, leave tea bags in it, and put a lid on it.
- Let the tea bags sit in the water for 5 minutes.
- Pour 1 1/2 cups of sugar into tea pitcher.
- Put 1 teaspoon of baking powder into tea pitcher.
- Pour hot tea water into the pitcher. (Be sure to not let the tea bags go into the pitcher)
- Stir to make sure that the hot tea has dissolved the sugar and baking powder.
- Fill the pitcher completely with clean water.
- Place in the fridge. (Do not let tea sit out on counter.)
Southern Sweet Tea
Equipment
- 2 gallon pitcher (I use a glass pitcher for the fridge)
- Pot & lid (for boiling the tea)
Ingredients
- 3 Family size tea bags I use decaffeinated
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Fill pot 3/4 full of clean water and bring to a boil.When the water is boiling, place the 3 family size tea bags inside.Remove pot of boiling water from the heat, leave tea bags in it, and put a lid on it.
- Let the tea bags sit in the water for 5 minutes.
- Pour 1 1/2 cups of sugar into tea pitcher.Put 1 teaspoon of baking powder into tea pitcher.
- Pour hot tea water into the pitcher. (Be sure to not let the tea bags go into the pitcher)Stir to make sure that the hot tea has dissolved the sugar and baking powder.
- Fill the pitcher completely with clean water.
- Place in the fridge. (Do not let tea sit out on counter.)
Try it with some of my favorite southern dinners!
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