How do you make southern sweet tea?

Answer 1

Luizanne is my preference. Lipton is sometimes bitter tasting. Add your water, add about 4 family size tea bags, and boil for about 6 minutes. Remove it from the heat, and take a "tiny pinch" of baking soda (this removes any bitterness remaining). It will foam up a bit, so don't be alarmed. Let it sit there for a little while. I add about 1-1/4 cup sugar per gallon, but I love it really sweet. You should start with maybe 1/2 cup and go from there. I usually buy Dixie Sugar, but honestly, I do not believe the sugar would matter. That is one item that seems pretty consistant throughout all the brands. Now...the key is this...put your sugar in your gallon pitcher, add warm tea over it and stir until all crystals are completely dissolved. Then you can add cool water (I use cool and not cold- seems to make a taste difference but not sure why) If the 1/2 cup of sugar was not enough, I'd go in 1/4 cup incriments until you get the sweetness you desire. But...there is a key here...add your sugar to very hot water and stir until the sugar is again dissolved. Then pour your sugar water into the tea pitcher...Stir well! Put several large cubes of ice in a glass (not plastic cup...hehhehee...you want to be southern right *winks* ) and pour your tea over. Find a rocker somewhere with a book and enjoy all of what summer has to offer :)

Answer 2

Luzianne tea bags are the best. Bring about 1 1/2 cups of water to a full boil. (Use cold water, don't use warm or hot water.) After the water boils, add 4-6 tea bags-depending on how strong you want the tea. Turn off heat and let it steep for a few minutes. Not too long or the tea will be cloudy. Put 1 1/2 to 2 cups of sugar in a 2 quart pitcher. (It depends on how sweet you like you tea.) Pour the tea into a 2 qt pitcher. Stir to dissolve sugar, then fill the pitcher with enough water to fill it.

Answer 3

All you have to do is make hot tea the regular way (boil water with tea bags). Then add sugar until sweet enough for you (usually about 1 1/2 cups of sugar per gallon). Let it cool in the frig and voila! Using powered iced tea mix is gross. My family has made sweet tea by boiling and cooling it since I can remember. It's so much better!

Answer 4

Just make a batch of regular black/orange peoke tea, such as Lipton, then stir in sugar. We use 12 individual bags per gallon, but I think you can get them in quart size or whatever.
Don't leave the bags in very long! This makes it bitter. 5 to 10 minutes should do the trick.
The sweetness depends on the person, but we use about 1 cup per gallon...I think a good southerner would probably use more.
In the summer you can just set your tea bags in a gallon glass jar of water out in the sun and it makes the tea without having to boil water, although you have to wait longer.
Also, I guess this is blasphemy to some, but I think Lipton Cold Brew tastes pretty good when you're in a hurry.

Answer 5

The key is to use simple syrup rather than plain sugar.

2 parts sugar
1 part water

1. Bring the water to a boil.
2. Dissolve the sugar into the boiling water.
3. Once the sugar is dissolved completely, remove the pan from the heat.
4. Allow to cool completely and bottle.

This is what gives the tea it's sweetness and volume. Granulated sugar added in won't dissolve properly.

Answer 6

The way to do it is---when you are brewing your tea,put the sugar into the bottom of your pitcher,before you put the Hot tea in.Stir the hot tea until the sugar dissolves,then add the water to the pitcher.That way the tea is sweet already, when you pour it over ice,into your glass.

Answer 7

I use Luzianne tea bags -- six for a 2 qt pitcher. Boil your water and steep the tea as usual -- add a cup to a cup and a half of sugar to your empty pitcher (depends on how sweet you like it), pour in your hot steeped tea. Mix well, add ice and cold water.

Answer 8

make regular sun tea or home-brewed tea and add 30 pounds of sugar per gallon. No, just kidding, I just moved to the south, and I'm used to regular tea. It's too sweet for me down here.

Answer 9

Add sugar when the tea is still hot, immediately after steeping. Then chill it. Best served with a sprig of mint!

Answer 10

hi