Southern Sweet Tea Recipe - The Domestic Diva (2024)

FAQs

Why do Southerners put baking soda in sweet tea? ›

Adding a little baking soda to your tea will clear away any cloudiness left from the mixing process, and it's also thought to cut down on any lingering bitter tastes from the steeping tea bags, leaving your tea clarified and smooth and providing your get-together with one fantastic pitcher of tea.

Southern-style sweet tea relies on granulated cane sugar, which can be adjusted to taste. Granulated sugar, white or unbleached, works better than water-based simple syrups, which dilute the brew. Don't use just any old water for sweet tea; filtered or spring water eliminates any odd flavors in treated tap water.

For 1 gallon, boil 1 quart water (32 ounces or 4 cups). Remove from heat and pour over 1 Luzianne Gallon Size Iced Tea bag (or 4 Family Size or 16 Individual Cup Iced Tea bags). Brew 3-5 minutes and sweeten to taste. Add 3 quarts cold water, stir and chill.

Still, there's a balance to the flavor—the tea is brewed long and strong, so it gets an astringency that can only be countered by lots of the sweet stuff. Southerners, of course, have a taste for sugar that is demonstrably stronger than what you find up North.

When you next make a cup of tea don't throw away the old bag because it has many uses that you might not know about. Black tea contains tannic acid and theobromine which removes heat from sunburn so rubbing cold tea water on sore skin will soothe pain. Old tea bags can also be used to flavour rice or pasta.

Why is it that almost nowhere North of Kentucky serves real sweet tea? One of two reasons: They have no idea how refreshing it is during really hot weather, or they know that sweet tea is invariably cloyingly too sweet.

Sweet tea, also known as sweet iced tea, is a popular style of iced tea commonly consumed in countries such as the United States (especially the South) and Indonesia.

I like the relatively mild sweetness of a cup of sugar in a gallon of tea, but you could certainly add more (or less) to suit your own personal taste. (We Southerners do have a sweet tooth! Coca-Cola, pecan pie, and sweet tea …

Though moderate intake is healthy for most people, drinking too much could lead to negative side effects, such as anxiety, headaches, digestive issues, and disrupted sleep patterns. Most people can drink 3–4 cups (710–950 ml) of tea daily without adverse effects, but some may experience side effects at lower doses.

Iced tea has a long history in the U.S. You'll find iced tea in two traditional variations: iced tea and sweet tea. The big difference? Sugar. Sweet tea, which originates in the South, has added sugar.

How many Lipton Southern sweet tea bags for a gallon of tea? ›

There's more than one size of tea bag, and the “family size” bags sold in the US are supposed to make a quart per bag so if you have that size you would only need four to make a gallon.

Sweet tea is much more than iced tea with a spoonful of sugar stirred in. Southern style sweet tea is, generally, made in big batches by boiling water and stirring in sugar until it's dissolved…. sort of like a less sweet form of simple syrup.

* Granulated sugar: For a 1-gallon batch of iced tea, you can start with 1 cup of sugar and adjust to taste. * Honey: Honey is sweeter than sugar, so you will need less of it.