Sweet Tea
This sweet tea recipe is a super refreshing southern drink that's easy to make at home! The smooth, sweet flavors are perfectly balanced in this irresistible summer favorite.
Servings: 12 (approx 3/4 gallon in total)
Equipment
Ingredients
- 6 cups + 6 cups cold water
- 3 (0.25 ounce/7g) tea bags see note
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- For serving: sliced fresh lemon, ice
Instructions
- *Read the note below on tea bags before starting - very important!* Add the first 6 cups of water into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat and bring it to a boil.
- Turn the burner off and add the tea bags. Steep for 3 minutes. During the steeping process, gently stir a couple of times. I like my sweet tea to be medium strength. If you like stronger tea, leave it to steep for another 30 seconds to one minute, but be careful because the longer you leave the tea bags, the more tannins are released, making the tea bitter.
- Remove the tea bags, then stir in the sugar gradually until it's fully dissolved. I like it to be medium sweetness, but you can adjust the sugar accordingly.
- Take the pan off the stove and let it cool for 20 minutes.
- Pour the steeped tea into a pitcher and add an additional 6 cups of cold water. Refrigerate until ready to serve. If you are serving the tea within a couple of hours, then you can add the ice and lemon to the pitcher at this point. If you're making it ahead of time, add the ice and lemon approximately one hour before serving.
Notes
- The brand and size of the tea bags matters! We always use Luzianne "family size" unsweetened iced tea bags that are specifically designed for iced tea, and they're larger than regular tea bags. These tea bags are 7g (.25 ounces). A typical tea bag is approx. 3g (0.11 oz), so you would need 7 tea bags if you're working with that size. You may also encounter giant 28g (1 oz) tea bags that are designed to make one gallon of tea. This recipe yields about 3/4 gallon of tea, so if you want to use one of those giant tea bags, you would use a total of 16 cups of water, 1.25 cups of sugar, and the steeping time remains the same.
- To make unsweetened iced tea, follow the same instructions and omit the sugar.
- This recipe makes approximately 12 glasses each filled with 8 oz. of tea, and the nutrition info is for one glass.
Nutrition
Calories: 64kcal | Carbohydrates: 17g | Fat: 0.1g | Sodium: 0.2mg | Potassium: 0.3mg | Sugar: 17g | Calcium: 0.2mg | Iron: 0.01mg
