What Is Sweet Tea Made Of
Like all teas, sweet tea is made with tea bags and hot water. It is usually sweetened with sugar, but some prefer honey and maple syrup. After the tea bags have been steeped and tea is ready, it is cooled and bottled. The flavor of sweet tea is largely dependent on the type of tea bags you use. You can learn how to make sweet tea with fruity, flowery and even chocolaty infusions.
Flavor Tips And Variations:
- Tea blends This recipe calls for plain black tea bags, but you can use whatever blend you like. For instance, fruit-infused black teas tend to make great iced tea.
- Using Green TeaIf you are using green tea, the hot brew method is particularly important as it can get bitter if you steep it cold.
- I have made this recipe using other citrus fruits like orange, tangerines, and limes. All of the flavors have been delicious so dont be afraid to play around and create your own!
Southern Sweet Tea History
Southern sweet tea used to be considered a luxury, only available to the very rich.
In the hot summers of yesteryear, ice used to be a rare and expensive commodity.
Before ice makers and electricity, blocks of ice had to be shipped from cold regions far away.
Sweet tea began appearing in cookbooks as more of a spiked tea punch in the early 1800s. The earliest written sweet tea recipe was published in 1879 in a community cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree. Even today, sweet tea cocktails and spiked iced tea recipes are a delicious addition to a picnic or dinner party.
The earliest written sweet tea recipe was published in 1879 in a community cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree.
Also Check: How Do You Make Cold Brew Tea
How To Make Iced Tea Using The Hot Brew Method
jenifoto/Getty Images
Iced tea really only has two componentswater and teaso the ingredients have nowhere to hide. For best results, choose the highest quality ingredients you can find. Use filtered tap water or spring water, if possible. When it comes to the tea itself, weve found that loose-leaf tea produces a fuller-bodied tea, but tea bags will work in a pinch.
The basic ratio of water to tea varies depending on the amount of tea youre brewing. Of course, you can always increase or decrease the amount of tea, depending on your strength preference.
For small batch tea , use one cup of water per tea bag .
For larger batches , you can use a little more waterabout 1-1/3 cups water per tea bag .
How To Make Homemade Sweet Tea
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.
Homemade sweet tea is the ultimate in summer drinks. Easy to make, refreshing and a Southern classic. I love making a big pitcher to serve to guests and at less than 100 calories a serving, its a great alternative to the store bought stuff.
I dont think there is anything more American than a pitcher of sweet tea! It conjures up images of sitting on a porch on a hot summer evening, watching the world go by. This is a really easy and fool proof way of making sweet tea at home, it will be your drink of the summer!
Sweet Tea is something my Mom always has on hand for entertaining, and I look forward to it each and every time! This is her recipe, so I hope you enjoy!
Read Also: Is The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-day Saints Mormon
Heres A List Of What We Will Cover Today In The Secret To Perfect Southern Sweet Tea
- Youll be able to make sweet tea without depending on the dark tea line on the saucepan.
- No more guessing at the amount of sugar.
- There will be no more questions about how many tea bags to use.
- No more trying to understand when to add the sugar.
- Im sharing ALL of the secrets right here with exact measurements HENCE, YOULL HAVE NO more guessing!
Sweet tea and pitcher!
The Best Sweet Tea By Mistake
My mom makes better sweet tea than your mom. *wink* In todays post, you can learn to make sweet tea just like my momma does it.
Mom has a habit of always making sweet tea when guests come over. She also has a habit of not checking to make sure she has all the ingredients she needs before she starts a recipe.
The combination of these two habits means that she has come up with some really interesting sweet tea variations over the years by digging through her herbal tea basket at the last minute.
Also Check: How To Brew Loose Leaf Tea
Why This Recipe Works:
- The hot brew of the tea helps to give a robust quality.
- The fresh lemon juice gives a fresh vibrant flavor you just cant get with store-bought.
I adore iced tea. Back home in New Jersey, I drank it all year round. They dont sell mixes here in England and although I find the occasional bottle of ready-made in the grocery stores, its really hard to come by.
After so many summers of craving iced tea, I decided to try my hand at making my own, and ever since, I make it all the time.
You can never have too many iced tea recipes right? If you love iced tea, you can also check out my recipe for Sweet Peach Iced Tea Its delicious!
This Fresh homemade iced tea recipe is so easy to make, the only tedious part is getting all the juice out of those lemons but, please use fresh juice it is so worth it in the end!
What Is Southern Sweet Tea
Southern sweet tea is a black tea that has been steeped in hot water. The tea steeps for 5 to 15 minutes. The hot tea solution is then mixed with sugar so the sugar can be dissolved. It is then poured into the cool water. After that, It is then chilled and poured over ice. It is drunk as a cold drink at dinners or enjoyed anytime you want a refreshing drink.
Let me reiterate that sweet tea is not made unsweet and then you add sugar. You add the sugar while the tea is hot. It doesnt taste the same if you make unsweet tea, then try to add in sugar. The only way to make it taste similar is to make a simple syrup and then add that to the unsweetened tea.
Don’t Miss: Where Can I Buy Valerian Root Tea
Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka
Deep Eddy does vodka right. They use high-quality real corn and pure, clean water thats filtered through reverse osmosis. The vodka is distilled ten times in a premium copper pot still and filtered eight times through their proprietary system to ensure a perfectly smooth finish.
Deep Eddy Sweet Tea Vodka uses this excellent vodka as a base and blends it with whole-leaf black tea. Its sweetened with a touch of organic honey and nothing more. They promise to keep the spirit free from added sugar and other processed sweeteners.
It has a simple aroma with deep, rich notes of strong and well-steeped tea. Its a fresh, authentic aroma that leads into a more complex palate. Right away youll notice a steeped flavor peppered with notes of chocolate. The flavor builds into a sweeter mid-palate where youll notice the honey coming into play. The finish is warming and a little peppery. The sweet tea is undoubtedly present, but the honey and chocolate add some layers that make this one a true stand-out in the category.
The Old Fashioned Stove
Top Tip: Do not over boil it, or youll boil out much of the oxygen, which makes for a less flavorful tea.
Read Also: Is Tea Tree Shampoo Good For Hair
How To Make Homemade Teas
What better way to get in touch with the therapeutic power of nature than by creating a blend of herbs that can heal, nourish, boost your wellness, and provide a satisfying taste as a bonus?
If you thought that making homemade tea was an undertaking only for the knowledgeable herbalists, you were so wrong.
Making herbal tea requires nothing more than following a special formula and using herbs that will taste and make you feel good.
How Can I Sweeten Tea Without Sugar
Traditional sweet tea recipes call for sugar. Lots and lots of sugar. Instead, we prefer to use delicious raw honey.
The key is to add it while the water is warm enough to allow the honey to incorporate but not so hot that it kills the awesome beneficial properties.
If you prefer to allow others to sweeten their portions to taste, you can also keep a bottle of homemade Honey Simple Syrup or Honey Ginger Syrup in the fridge.
And if you love healthy and refreshing drinks, check out this Cucumber and Mint Water Recipe. Cucumber infused water is so good keeps for a few days in the fridge!
Also Check: Is Black Tea Good For Headaches
Tips For The Best Iced Tea
Below, find a couple of tips and tricks to help you make the best iced tea.
- Be sure to measure the water. To prevent your tea from turning out too strong or too watery, measure the water to make sure you arent adding too much or too little.
- Set a timer for the steeping. Dont let the tea steep longer than 10 minutes, or else it will turn bitter. Set a timer so you dont forget to remove the bags.
- Experiment with different teas. If youre not a fan of black tea, try using green tea instead. You could also go caffeine-free and use a variety of herbal teas. Mint tea is especially delicious iced.
- Play around with different sweeteners. You can use honey, agave syrup, coconut sugar, or even maple syrup to sweeten your tea. Play around with different sweeteners and tea combinations to see what you like best!
- Use filtered water. Use filtered water instead of tap water to get the smoothest flavor. There are lots of additives and minerals in tap water that can dull the taste.
Can I use loose-leaf tea? Yes, one teabag roughly equals about one teaspoon of loose leaf tea so youll need 2 Tablespoons. Simply dump the tea leaves into the hot water and strain them out using a fine-mesh sieve. Follow the directions as noted and enjoy!
You May Like: Does Tea Help With Constipation
Can You Mix Sweet Tea To Create Different Drinks
Absolutely! There are loads of different ways to mix sweet tea to create a unique drink or cocktail. Here are some of our favorite ideas:
How to make sweet tea and lemonade
The Arnold Palmer is a delicious drink that combines iced tea and lemonade. The drink is named after the professional golfer because its one of his favorite drinks. Simply mix one part lemonade with one part sweet tea and youll get an Arnold Palmer. This is a huge hit with kids and adults alike and adds a lemony flavor to your sweet tea.
Here are some tips for making a great sweet tea and lemonade:
- Lemonade can be quite sweet so you may want to omit adding sugar to the tea if you plan to make an Arnold Palmer. You can always add more sugar later in the process to adjust the taste.
- There are lots of different kinds of lemonade and youll need to adjust your recipe to fit your tastes. For example, some lemonades are known for being more acidic while others focus on the sweetness. You could even try British-style lemonade which is carbonated. This adds a unique twist to this drink and makes it attractive for anyone that loves soda.
- You can also leave out lemons as the citrus flavors will come from the lemonade instead!
- If youre going for a very lemony taste then add a sprig of mint to give it a unique twist and balance out the flavors. This takes the drink up a notch in freshness and makes it great for hot summer days.
How to make sweet tea cocktails
Read Also: Is Chai Tea Keto Friendly
When To Drink Sweet Tea
Southern Sweet Tea is a drink that is enjoyed by the gallons year-round in the south. We drink it at meals, when we have been outside and are hot and sweaty, as well as sipping it on our front porches. Nothing quenches your thirst on a hot day like sweet iced tea! Dolly Parton even coined the phrase House Wine of the South in the movie Steel Magnolias!
But just as with food recipes that have been passed down from generation to generation, there are many variances and sweet tea is no different. It can be very subjective depending on who you ask.
With that being said this southern sweet tea recipe I am sharing has been passed down to me by my mom which was passed to her by her mom. To me, this is the perfect ice tea recipe
Make Your Own Homemade Tea
Making a tea blend is not rocket science, really. You just have to find out which herbs pair well together so you can enjoy the taste, as well as the healing properties that the plants bring with them.
However, the blending process requires giving it some thought. You may be tempted to dump a bunch of herbs in your cup, but if they do not complement each other well, the result will be far from desirable.
The whole point is to be mindful of the purpose of the blend. Ive discovered that adding more than three herbs to the blend is, in most cases, not that efficient. When you have many herbs combined together, the concentration of each of them gets diluted, which makes it much harder for your body to absorb the needed benefits.
For that purpose, following the formula of three parts yields the best results:
#1 The Base
Also Check: King Kong Milk Tea And Smoothie
Recommended Reading: Best Gifts For Tea Drinkers
How To Drink Sweet Iced Tea Properly
TOP TIP: Fill the entire glass with ice all the way to the top. Most people screw this up. They think too much ice will water down the tea, when in fact, the opposite is true. If the glass is full of ice, the temperature of the tea will drop to almost freezing in a matter of seconds. This prevents the warmer tea from melting all the ice, which is what happens when there isnt enough ice in the glass. Too little ice waters down the tea.
For The Perfect Pitcher Of Ice
TAP ON IMAGE TO VIEW PRICE
- A tea-maker machine. I use a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea And Iced Coffee Maker which is a handy option if you are an avid sweet tea drinker like me OR a small saucepan will also do fine.
- A pitcher this comes with the tea maker. Otherwise, you need a pitcher that holds about 2 quarts or 8-10 cups.
- A long spoon for mixing.
Don’t Miss: Church Of Jesus Christ And Latter Day Saints
The Benefits Of Blending Your Own Tea
With only 1-2 different pure teas and herbs, flowers and spices you can create numerous blends and enjoy different tea each day. Changing only one or two ingredients can change a tea from calming to invigorating. Blending is good for enhancing the flavor of tea you dont necessarily enjoy, but would like to drink because of the health benefits. You can find most of the ingredients for blending in health food stores or even grow your own herbs, collect flowers or dry fruit. This way you can reduce the risk of drinking tea with sweeteners or artificial flavors sometimes hidden in blends.
What Is A French Press
- The French press is a small glass pitcher with a plunger made of fine mesh to keep the grounds separate from the coffee and pushed to the bottom when the coffee is brewed and used as well for other drinks.
- Despite the name, the French press is actually Italian. It was patented by an Italian designer in 1929. Yes, it is that old.
- When using the French press to brew tea, it is necessary to pour up the tea into a pitcher as soon as it is finished steeping to avoid the tea from becoming bitter.
- French press tea is not suitable for tea that needs to be boiled, such as Indian Chai.
Read Also: How To Brew Loose Leaf Tea For Iced Tea