How to Make Grammy's Sweet Iced Tea

Real iced tea should not be bitter. True iced tea should not have undissolved sugar granules swimming around or settled on the bottom of your glass. Real iced tea should only be like Grammy's...sweet, smooth, and delicious. Making delicious sweet iced tea is easy and takes only a few steps to ensure that you'll never brew a bad glass of tea again!

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• 3 family-size or 6 regular tea bags (tags and strings removed)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
• 8 cups water
• 1/2 gallon Mason jar or heat-resistant glass pitcher
• Long-handled wooden spoon
• Tall tea glasses
• Ice cubes

1. WATER & BAKING SODA
   
   Bring 8 cups of water just to a boil and remove from heat. Add 1/8 teaspoon baking soda to a 1/2 gallon Mason jar or heat resistant glass pitcher. The baking soda will help keep your tea from being bitter.
   
   Pour approximately 2 cups of the heated water into the Mason jar.

2. SUGAR
   
   Add the sugar to the jar or pitcher and stir for several minutes until the sugar is completely dissolved.

3. TEA
   
   Add the tea bags to the Mason jar, followed by the remaining 6 cups of hot water. Let the tea steep for approximately 10-12 minutes, or until the water turns several shades darker than you would expect iced tea to be. Don't forget and leave the tea bags too long. Carefully remove the tea bags WITHOUT squeezing them.

4. COOLING
   
   Let the tea cool to room temperature, then pour it over a glass filled with ice cubes. Don't put ice cubes in the Mason jar or pitcher. The ice in the glass will cool the tea and dilute it to the proper strength.
   
   Drink and enjoy Grammy's Sweet Iced Tea!

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to click on the links around the page to learn more about iced tea.
• If you have enjoyed this article, feel free to link it to your blog or email it to your friends!
• Don't let the tea steep for more than 15 minutes or your tea will become bitter.
• Don't squeeze the tea bags. Not only will the tea become bitter, but you run the risk of breaking the tea bag.
• After the tea has cooled to room temperature, be sure to store it in the refrigerator. Leaving tea out for more than 2 hours at room temperature invites the growth of bacteria which can cause illness.

[godfather25]

on 8/30/2009 Very nice recipe for grammy's iced tea.

[Merriment]

on 8/27/2009 Wonderful tips for making sweet iced tea. Mine often do come out bitter, I am bookmarking this article until I get the recipe down to a sweet-tea! ;o)

[sonni57]

on 8/27/2009 I love iced tea thanks for the great recipe.

[waters]

on 8/27/2009 Good recipe for sweet ice tea. 5* and recommended