How to make the best sweet tea????

[Chelps03]

I'm curious about how to make the best sweet tea. I'm talking the best southern sweet tea! Would appreciate any ideas recipes or ways to do it. Thanks so much
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[k.a.m.]

Chelps03, I am a southerner but I don't do anything special.
Add two family size tea bags to 2 quarts of cold water and bring to a boil. Turn off and let steep for 3 to 5 minutes. Place two cups of sugar in a gallon pitcher then add the tea and two more quarts of cold water. Chill in the fridge.
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[Jarhead]

I do mine similar to Kevin.
I bring 2 quarts of water to a boil, add 3 Quart size bags of Luzianne Tea, cover and steep 10 minutes.
Add 1/2 cup sugar to the hot tea and stir til disolved.
Add 2 quarts of cold water.
I keep a squeeze bottle of simple syrup ready for people that like it extra sweet. The syrup mixes in with the tea so you don't have a big layer of undisolved sugar in the bottom of the glass.
I don't refrigerate it, because I find that it turns cloudy and gets bitter. Set it on the counter and if you don't drink it within 2 days, toss it.
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[Manana]

I steep about 2 large bags of tea (Luzianne) in hot water, while that steeping I heat up another 2 cups of hot water and put a cup of sugar in it to make simple syrup. Then I mix it all together and add enough water or ice to make it 1/2 a gallon.
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[BBQonICE]

wonder what Si has for a recipie on Duck Dynasty....lol
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[MGeslock]

+1 on Jarhead.

Find the brand that fits your taste profile. I like Luzianne Tea also.

Be careful storing in plastic. Over time it will hold the flavors and start to taste stale.

Do mix sugar in hot water and mix in.

I would pitch daily. I understand food cost but tea is cheap to make. Nothing worse than a big gulp of stale tea after taking a bite of your awesome BBQ.....

[Manana]

[k.a.m.]

A gallon of sweet tea barely lasts 1.5 days in our house. If Debbie made a 1/2 gallon our son would ask if we are doing cut backs.
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[Manana]

[DrunkPlumber]

[wnkt]

I will pour some boiling water in a pitcher...make sure it isnt glass or there is a possibility the hot water will shock it and break the glass.
Drop in some tea bags, let it steep for a while, the longer , the stronger
take the tea bags out and stir in some sugar
I like to add some ice to cool it down quicker and then water to fill up the pitcher. We use a gallon plastic one

My sister has a small variation of this...she uses a old coffee maker and puts in the tea bags instead of coffee and has it brew that way
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[Manana]

I too add the sugar to the hot tea on occasion if I'm in a hurry. But it has to still be hot enough to melt the sugar. I do not like it with sugar crystals in it and if it has sugar crystals it is NOT true southern sweet tea.

also using stevia or sweet & lo or any of that crap, negates it being sweet tea also.
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[8fishermen]

Our daily tea is made by nuking 1 qt of water then adding a gallon size bag of lipton ice tea. The only place I know that carries this size is Sam's Club. It is like $10 per box but a box makes 48 gallons. Add 1 cup sugar, (1.5 cups if daughter number 4 is making it ) to the hot tea after steeping and then add water to make a gallon. My grandmother use to make sun tea where you fill a clear glass gallon jar and hang the bags on the side with the lid on. Let it sit in the hot sun for a couple to a few hours then add sugar and ice. This the the best I have had and being form Mississippi, I have had more that my fair share of sweet tea.

[UpNSmoke]

Does anybody make Sun tea anymore? it has a total different flavor for some reason.

[SoEzzy]

The Health Department out here does not allow restaurants to make sun tea, and serve it to customers.

In the summer I have made it a few times, but the time involved reduces the number of times I make it, and so I tend to use concentrates and powders instead!
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[ruy2sdaynar]

I have been making sweet tea all my life and the secret eluded me as well because it wasn't consistent.
I read Christy Jordan's cookbook Southern Plate and found the secret finally.

I simply place two of the large tea bags in the big sauce pot that came with my set after the water boils and let that steep. Time still escapes me as I don't count down the time, just let it set for a while and do other things and then come back to it. So 15 min, 30 min...

But the secret she says is that the boiling hot water is scorching the sugar.... So right after I put the water on to boil I get my tea pitcher ready. I put 2 -3 spoonfuls, you know the large plastic or metal serving spoons that would come with a utensil set in my pitcher. I then add water about and inch and a half up my pitcher and stir. I know its cold and won't dissolve it, but when you do add the hot tea it will dissolve, and the cool water I guess keeps the sugar from scorching. Or so the books says. I do know my tea has been perfect since using this method.

[Meateater]

I married a southern girl so had to get down pat on the sweet tea. Here's the best I've found
Put 3 family size tea bags in the coffee maker and run thru 8 cups of water. In my gallon pitcher I put about 3 inches of ice. Then 2 cups sugar. When yew done brewing pour over ice and sugar and stir. Then top off pitcher with water to taste