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+ servings

Southern Sweet Tea Recipe


Pitcher and glass of sweet tea
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2.83 from 28 votes
The key here is sweet. As it should be.
Serve with: BBQ or your favorite Southern dishes.

Course:
Beverage
Cuisine:
American
,
Southern
difficulty scale

Makes:

Servings: 2 gallon

Takes:

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Chill: 12 hours

Ingredients

  • 1/2 gallon water
  • 4 family size tea bags or 8 regular tea bags
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
Metric conversion:

These recipes were created in US Customary measurements and the conversion to metric is being done by calculations. They should be accurate, but it is possible there could be an error. If you find one, please let us know in the comments at the bottom of the page

Method

  • Heat. Pour the water in a 3 quart (2.8 L) or larger pot and boil.
  • Steep. Turn the heat off and add the teabags. Cover to steep the tea for 5-7 minutes. Steep it longer to make it stronger and more bitter. Squeezing the teabags makes it stronger and more bitter. Most folks will like it better if you don't steep it longer than 7 minutes and if you don't squeeze the tea bags.
  • Sweet. Add the sugar and stir until dissolved.
  • Chill. Refrigerate the tea. Some folks like to age it 12 hours or so, others like to serve it warm over ice. It can get skunky if you keep it more than a few days.
  • Serve. Serve over ice cubes with lemon wedges and/or mint leaves as garnish.