southern sweet and I mean sweet ice tea recipe??

[dis2cruise]

about a month and a half ago my dh and I went furniture shopping down in north carolina. while getting tired from sitting on sooo many sofa's
i told my dh I want to get something to drink....

Iced tea looked good WOW!! was it ever !!! I have never tried southern sweet icedtea. Well, we soon found out that every restruant has it available. actually one night we were having dinner and the waiter must have relized our love for it and asked if we wanted a large container of it to take back to the hotel with us of course we said "yes" & he actually gave us 2 large containers and along with that our waiter rec'd a nice tip lol!!

If any of you lovely disers has/or makes sweet iced tea southern style and would love to share your recipe with me, ,me and my dh would love it !!

 

[HeyIt'sMe]

Ooo, southern sweet tea is SO good. I'll be interested in posted recipes too!

 

[Sandi]

"Good Eats" had a show about tea that aired again recently. Alton Brown made some sweet iced tea by choosing just the right tea leaves, preparing a syrup for the sweetening and making certain the right temperatures of water were used, etc. Check the Food Network's website and you'll likely find the recipe.

 

[kathi29]

I can't make sweet tea to save my life. But I've watched the girls in my brother's restaurant make it and I almost went into a sugar coma just being in the room! They dump sugar in as it is brewing, then fill a pitcher from the spigot and pour it back in. They do that a few times - I'm assuming that is what gets the sugar dissolved completely and not left sitting on the bottom.

As to how to make it at home... I fill up a container and take it with me!

 

[tiggger1]

i dont know if this is considered southern sweet ice tea but I just put water in a pot. heat until boiling, add a ton of sugar ( usually around a cup) boil until melted. then i turn off the heat and let cool a few minutes and then add the tea bags. depending on my mood (and if I remembber) i take the tea bags out after a bit, but I have left them in until it cools. then the tea isnt hot we pour it over ice and add some lemons..then we keep in the the fridge so its nice and cold.. it never lasts more than a day!

 

[CajunGirl2]

Here's the recipe from Southern Living.

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1647507

It's not quite the same as the one from my Southern Living cookbook but I'm sure it's good.

 

[crisi]

The easy way to do it is to do it with simple syrup. Put a quarter cup of sugar in a microwave safe bowl. Put in half a cup of water. Microwave two minutes until the syrup is dissolved.

Make some strong tea. Much of the South uses plain old Lipton grocery store teabags. Use the directions on the box for teabags to water and seeping.

Now you have hot strong tea and sugar syrup. Add sugar syrup to the tea until its sweet enough (which depends on taste, for many people, you'll need more than the quarter cup of sugar above - or less tea - to get the real "rot your teeth out" sweet tea.) Pour over ice.

 

[cmrules]

Boil Luzianne tea bag, at least 4 or 5, you need to figure out how many you like. When it boils remove from heat, take out the tea bags and dump in the sugar and stir until dissolved. More than a cup for a gallon, maybe 2 or more. I have cut back because I'm dieting. Then add it to your pitcher and add cold water or ice depending on how soon you want to drink it. I like cold water better.

I lived in the south for several years and now live in PA and people come over to my house and ask for my tea!

 

[DVCLiz]

My recipe is 4 Lipton Family Size teabags, steeped in a pan of water that has just come to a boil and then been taken off the heat, for about 30 minutes. Discard teabags and pour liquid into pitcher (I use a plastic Rubbermaid pitcher and it is "the tea pitcher" at my house. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar and stir until dissolved. Add water to fill the pitcher, then add the juice of two large lemons. Stir and serve over ice - yum!!

 

[loveabargin]

My recipe is 4 Lipton Family Size teabags, steeped in a pan of water that has just come to a boil and then been taken off the heat, for about 30 minutes. Discard teabags and pour liquid into pitcher (I use a plastic Rubbermaid pitcher and it is "the tea pitcher" at my house. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar and stir until dissolved. Add water to fill the pitcher, then add the juice of two large lemons. Stir and serve over ice - yum!!

This is pretty much how I do it, except for adding a little more sugar and no lemon (my DH doesn't like lemon!) I've lived in NC my entire life.

 

[stephgles]

My recipe is 4 Lipton Family Size teabags, steeped in a pan of water that has just come to a boil and then been taken off the heat, for about 30 minutes. Discard teabags and pour liquid into pitcher (I use a plastic Rubbermaid pitcher and it is "the tea pitcher" at my house. Add 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar and stir until dissolved. Add water to fill the pitcher, then add the juice of two large lemons. Stir and serve over ice - yum!!

I do this as well. I start with 1/2 cup of sugar to 3/4's dh doesnt like it that sweet. I got this recipe from whom I call my second mom who was from S. Carolina.

 

[NCRedding]

This is my mom's sweet tea recipe, updated for the microwave. Use 6 regular sized tea bags or 2 family size (we prefer Luzianne). Put in one quart of water and heat in the microwave for 4 minutes on high. Pour into a pitcher over 1 cup of sugar. Refill the quart sized container with the tea bags. Let this steep for about 3 minutes, then pour into the pitcher. Be sure to squeeze the bags to get the tea juice, but don't squeeze so hard that the bags break (hate tea leaves in my tea). Fill the pitcher almost to the top with water and stir. Lemons are NOT allowed in our tea at "mama's" house!

BTW, I hate tea that has been refrigerated, since most tea in restaurants here is made fresh in the morning and stays out all day.

 

[powellrj]

I use to make sweet tea syrup and keep it in the fridge and just make it by the glass when I wanted tea. Now I can't even drink sweet tea because it makes my teeth ache!

Take 28 tea bags and add to 7 cups of boiling water. Steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags and add 4 1/2 cups sugar. Bring to a boil to melt sugar. Remove from heat and cool. Store in refrigerator in a closed jar. Makes 2 quarts of syrup.
When ready to make tea, mix 1 cup syrup to 2 quarts of water or use a couple of tablespoons for a glass and add water to fill.

 

[neffernie]

Wow! We must like it really sweet in my family!

This is how we have made it since I was a kid. Bring 1 gallon of water to boil. Take 9 regular or 3 quart size Luzianne teabags and add them to the boiling water. Turn the temp down and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and remove the tea bags. Add 2 cups of sugar. That's right...2 cups. Stir and then allow the tea to cool. Once it is cool you can strain it to remove the extra tea oils floating on top if you want. Stick it in the fridge or add ice and enjoy!

 

[ama4889]

The way I was taught to do it, is to fill a small saucepan with water and about 5 tea bags. Bring to a boil. Put 1/2c-1c in the bottom of your pitcher, and then pour the boiling tea on top of it (helps it dissolve). Then, stick the pitcher under the faucet and fill the rest up, stirring with a wooden spoon all the while. I personally boil the tea longer, and I'm easy on the sugar...but I'm a Yankee =)

 

[MELISAZACK]

we have done this for years... we have a 2 gallon tupperware pitcher just for sweet tea and it only last 2 days max in our house.
we have a larger size tea pot- fill it past the max line on the pot.
8 teatly tea bags - bring almost to a boil - let the water and the tea bags sit until cool. 2 1/2 cups sugar in pitcher add hot water about 1/4 the way up to disolve the sugar - add tea water and fill remainder if needed with cold tap water. THAT is it!! ready to serve. we add lemon or oranges to our glass if you want it..

 

[dis2cruise]

oh my gosh everyone thank you so very much for all of your responses and so quickly too!! I just read through some of them quickly and they all sound so yummy. I think i will make some sweetened tea today

thanks again!

 

[Golf4food]

Why do Yankees make this so hard?

Put your tea bags in your pitcher, fill it with water, microwave it for the prescibed time, take it out while hot, pour it in your serving pitcher, add a bunch of sugar, then top off with more hot water and stir. Stick it in the fridge till cold or add ice to your glass before serving.

The key is to add sugar while the tea is hot or else it won't disolve properly. THAT is the only "secret". Southerners ain't French - we don't generally do fancy. Keep it simple.

 

[poohbear158]

This is the one I use:

1 pinch baking soda
2 cups boiling water
6 tea bags
3/4 cup white sugar
6 cups cool water

DIRECTIONS
Sprinkle a pinch of baking soda into a 64-ounce, heat-proof, glass pitcher. Pour in boiling water, and add tea bags. Cover, and allow to steep for 15 minutes.
Remove tea bags, and discard; stir in sugar until dissolved. Pour in cool water, then refrigerate until cold.

 

[crisi]

Why do Yankees make this so hard?

Put your tea bags in your pitcher, fill it with water, microwave it for the prescibed time, take it out while hot, pour it in your serving pitcher, add a bunch of sugar, then top off with more hot water and stir. Stick it in the fridge till cold or add ice to your glass before serving.

The key is to add sugar while the tea is hot or else it won't disolve properly. THAT is the only "secret". Southerners ain't French - we don't generally do fancy. Keep it simple.

I find simple syrup (which I have around for other purposes) to be so much easier to use - I don't have to worry about getting all that sugar to disolve in the hot water. Since I discovered the wonder that is simple syrup, I'll never go back to trying to get my sugar to disolve. I inevitable end up with at least some grit if I don't use simple syrup.