Sweet Tea
intro
Smooth, perfectly balanced iced sweet black tea, a beloved Southern American staple free of bitter tannins, made for refreshing hot-weather sipping.
Ingredients
Steps
Boil base water
Pour 500ml (2 cups) of filtered water into a small 1L saucepan, set over medium-high heat, and bring to a rolling boil (100°C/212°F), which takes approximately 5 minutes. Monitor the pot closely to prevent water from boiling over or evaporating excessively.
Steep the tea
Once the water reaches a full rolling boil, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat source. Stir in the 1/8 teaspoon (0.5g) baking soda until fully dissolved, then add all 8 black tea bags, pressing them fully under the water surface with a wooden spoon. Cover the pan tightly with a lid and let steep for exactly 6 minutes; over-steeping will cause bitter, astringent flavor from excess tannins.
Sweeten the concentrate
After 6 minutes of steeping, remove the lid. Use a pair of kitchen tongs to gently squeeze excess liquid from the tea bags against the inner side of the pan before discarding the bags. Stir in the 150g (3/4 cup) granulated white sugar continuously for 30 seconds, until all sugar is fully dissolved with no gritty residue left at the pan bottom.
Dilute the concentrate
Pour the hot, sweetened tea concentrate into a 2L (2-quart) glass serving pitcher. Add the remaining 700ml (3 cups) of cold filtered water to the pitcher, stirring gently for 15 seconds to combine into a uniform, light amber liquid.
Chill the tea
Seal the pitcher with an airtight lid, then place it on the middle shelf of a refrigerator set to 4°C (40°F) to chill for a minimum of 2 hours, until the tea is uniformly cold. Do not add ice at this stage, as melting ice will dilute the tea’s balanced flavor.
Serve over ice
When ready to serve, fill four 470ml (16-oz) tall glasses with 125g (1 cup) of ice cubes each. Pour the chilled sweet tea over the ice, leaving 12mm (1/2 inch) of headspace at the top of each glass. Garnish each serving with 1 fresh lemon wedge, squeezed lightly over the drink before adding it to the glass if desired.
Tips
2.Adjust sugar to taste before chilling: reduce sugar to 100g (1/2 cup) for lightly sweet tea, or increase to 200g (1 cup) for traditional extra-sweet Southern-style tea. Always add sugar to hot tea so it dissolves completely, rather than settling at the pitcher bottom.
3.Add mix-ins like fresh mint sprigs, sliced peach, or raspberries during the final 30 minutes of chilling for extra flavor, but avoid adding citrus juice or slices to the full pitcher before chilling, as this can make the tea turn cloudy and develop a sharp, bitter edge over time.
OMG y’all, this is EXACTLY the sweet tea my grandma used to make when I was growing up outside Atlanta! I’ve tried so many recipes that either taste like simple syrup dumped in iced tea or are so weak you can see through it, but this ratio is perfect. Brought a big pitcher to our church potluck last Sunday and people were begging for the recipe. 10/10, will make every week all summer long!
First time making sweet tea that didn’t turn out disgusting! I’m a sophomore living in a dorm with just a hot pot and a mini fridge, so I scaled the recipe down to make a single quart and it worked perfectly. Way cheaper than buying the bottled stuff from the campus convenience store, and my roommate already asked me to make a batch for our movie night tonight.
This is so good, but does anyone know how much sugar is in a serving? I’m tracking my macros and would love to fit this into my daily intake instead of cutting it out entirely, it’s too tasty!
Game changer! I’ve been making sweet tea for 50+ years and never thought to add that little pinch of baking soda. Used to always have that weird bitter edge at the bottom of the pitcher if I let it sit more than a day, but this batch stayed perfectly smooth for three whole days in the fridge. My grandkids went through two pitchers over their weekend visit, said it’s better than the fast food tea they beg for.
Made this for our Taco Tuesday family dinner last night and everyone raved! I added a few fresh mint sprigs from my garden when I chilled it and it was so refreshing on that 95 degree day we had here in Phoenix. Even my picky 7 year old asked for a second glass instead of his usual lemonade. SO good.
Wait, as a born and raised New Yorker I always thought Southern sweet tea was just cloyingly sweet sugar water, but this recipe converted me! It’s balanced, not overly sweet, and has that nice smooth tea flavor. Brought a batch to my office happy hour and even my coworkers who make fun of ‘southern slop’ went back for refills.
How long does this keep in the fridge? I want to make a big batch on Sunday to have for the work week instead of buying soda every day, but I don’t want it to go bad before I finish it!
Made this for our post-hike cookout last Friday and it was the perfect refresher after 5 miles in the Rockies. I swapped half the sugar for honey once when I ran out and it was still great, but the original sugar version is definitely the classic. Will be making this for every camping trip this summer.
Served this at my Sunday brunch alongside chicken and waffles and it was such a hit! I added some lemon slices and fresh peach slices to the pitcher for a little extra fruit flavor and it felt so fancy without any extra work. 10/10, way better than the fancy coffee shop iced tea that costs $5 a glass.
Tried making this for my kid’s birthday pool party and it was gone in 20 minutes flat. Had to run inside and make a second batch mid-party! The only downside is now my neighbor keeps texting me asking when I’m making more, he says it’s better than the tea at his favorite BBQ joint. Guess I’m the official neighborhood tea guy now.
Okay so this was really good but I messed up the first batch! I poured the hot tea straight into the pitcher with ice and it cracked my favorite glass pitcher, oops. Second batch I let it cool on the counter for 20 minutes first like the note said and it turned out perfect, just wish I’d read that note before ruining my pitcher 😂
I cannot say enough good things about this recipe! I’ve tried at least 6 different sweet tea recipes over the years for our annual family reunion, and this is the first one where every single person asked for the recipe. Even my great uncle Earl, who swears no one makes tea as good as his late wife, said this was spot on. I’m never using another recipe again!