The perfect sweet ice tea recipe?

@journey11 I see the ice tea makers in goodwill all the time, some even still in box. I think it is a popular gift that no one uses, tied of taking up space off to goodwill. Bee here restaurants serve unsweetened you add your own sugar same as coffee.

Here's the recipe I settled on, called "Absolutely the Best Southern Sweet Tea Recipe"....only I modified it, as I'm prone to do! Turned out I had bought "family" size tea bags, so used 5 of those for each gallon. I added more sugar, as it tasted kind of limp to me. I also added a pinch of the baking soda, which I'd never done before but it was so novel an idea to me for iced tea that I wanted to try it...supposed to "smooth" out the tea.

Don't know how I managed it, but what I got was incredibly smooth, just the right sweetness and tasted pretty good, if I do say so myself!

Ingredients Nutrition

• Servings
  6
• Yield
  1 gallon
• Units
  US

• 6 lipton tea bags (regular size)
• 1 gallon water, very hot from tap (or you can boil it first)
• 1 1⁄3 cups granulated sugar

Directions

1. Hold tea bags lined up evenly by the strings and make a loop knot to hold them together. Pull off paper and staple (from paper side). Set aside.
2. In a one gallon pitcher, add very hot water. Stir in the sugar till dissolved.
3. Add tea bags and dunk into water a few times, then leave them in the pitcher. Cover with lid of pitcher and refrigerate.
4. Wait until it is very cold (at least 3-4 hours). The flavor changes until it reaches the 'cold' state.
5. Drink and enjoy. (I leave the bags set in the pitcher, but recommend taking them out after about 8 hours--- IF it lasts that long! We make 2 pitchers at a time down here in the south. .

Nyboy said:

@journey11 I see the ice tea makers in goodwill all the time, some even still in box. I think it is a popular gift that no one uses, tied of taking up space off to goodwill. Bee here restaurants serve unsweetened you add your own sugar same as coffee.

Click to expand...

That's so futile! Adding sugar after tea is cold is useless! How do they live with themselves?

I've been known to send sweet tea back and just order a lemonade if it's not sweet enough. Some folks just do not know the meaning of "sweet" ice tea.

Interesting thatbthey allow tea bags to remain in the tea. I find tea becomes bitter when left too long in water.

I'm a Lipton (or better use leaf tea) over other brands.

1 cup = 48 teaspoons
1 1/2 cups = 72 teaspoons

1 gallon = 16 cups

72/16 = 4 1/2 teaspoons per cup, 8 ounce

Just about the same as Lipton's bottled

Steve
edit: uh oh, Bee's recipe is for 1 1/3 not 1 1/2 cups ... well, that's less complicated 64/16 = 4 teaspoons per cup

digitS' said:

1 cup = 48 teaspoons
1 1/2 cups = 72 teaspoons

1 gallon = 16 cups

72/16 = 4 1/2 teaspoons per cup, 8 ounce

Just about the same as Lipton's bottled

Steve
edit: uh oh, Bee's recipe is for 1 1/3 not 1 1/2 cups ... well, that's too complicated

Click to expand...

Yep...makes yer teeth ache, don't it?

I won't be drinking much of the brew, as I can't handle the caffeine, but I hope the boys use it as working fuel! Hope it makes them feel energized and ready to tackle the job at hand.

Hope springs eternal.....

Since we live on the West Coast... I have never even heard of sweet tea , that is untill I heard it being sung on the radio about a year ago. That is good as if I would drink just a glass of this concoction, I would end up in Emergency ever since I came down with diabetese about 4 years ago. So thanks, but NO THANKS. Does that mean that I can't be an adopted Southerner ( I do eat Southern Fried Chicken often ) ?

This was my old one

Appx 2 gallons water (NOT BOILING)

10 bags Ti Kwan Yin tea (Foojoy is good*, Fujian Butterfly Oolong is better)

2 bags good quality Earl Grey (Republic of Tea's Early Greyer is a good choice, as is Pukka's Gorgeous Earl Grey)

1 cup sugar

1. Fresh Key Lime

1. Fill bowl with Hot water (the water from the hot tap is fine, if you plumbing is good. Just do NOT use water that is boiling)

2. Add teabags (remove paper tags before adding, so as to not leave little fragments of tag dye.)

3. Wash hand and use to stir and squeeze teabags or (If you haven't been doing this long enough to have developed a Shaolin level ability to stick you hand in extremely hot water without yelling, use a large slotted spoon

4. remove tea bags

5. Add sugar

6. Cut key lime in half and juice, add juice.

7. Serve over ice.

*Foojoy sometimes markets this as Royal Kwan Yin. It's the same stuff.

@canesisters , I think that's a good idea, boiling the sugar. Basically you're making a simple syrup that would mix in well. I'm gonna try it. You're the Southern-est of us to comment so far, lol.