How to Make Southern Sweet Tea

Pitcher of Sweetened Iced Tea, or Sweet Tea

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Sweet tea, also known as sweetened iced tea, is a southern favorite. Not for the faint of heart, it combines the strong brown tea with sugar and lemon or lime for a taste that is both exhilarating and comforting to the soul. It serves well with a hearty meal or as a light refreshment.

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Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

Tea bags of choice (Consider Lipton, Tetley and Nestea)
Sugar
Water
Lemon or lime for added flavor

Step1

Bring water to a boil in a pot or kettle. When the water is boiling over, add 2 to 3 tea bags to the pot.

Step2

Let the water boil with the tea bags for a few minutes. Then turn the burner off completely and let the tea sit for 15 minutes up to an hour. You want the tea bags to really steep in the flavor.

Step3

For every quart of water use about 1 cup of sugar. Most pots and kettles hold about 2 quarts minimum, so use about 2 cups to 2 1/2 cups of sugar total.

Pour the sugar into a pitcher first, and then the tea later. If you are not sure about the amount of sugar to use, add the water to your pitcher first. Then, add the sugar 1 cup at a time until it satisfies your taste. Make a note of how much sugar you used and save for future reference.

Step4

Add lemon or lime wedges to your pitcher of tea and refrigerate until cold. Then serve with lemon or lime wedges.

Serves 6-8.
Estimated Time: 45 minutes to 1.5 hours