Southern Sweet Tea
Southern sweet tea is brewed black tea sweetened while it's still hot, then chilled hard and poured over ice: sweet, smooth, and bracingly cold. Dissolving the sugar into the warm tea, along with a tiny pinch of baking soda, gives you a clear, mellow glass instead of a gritty, bitter one. It's the house pour of the American South, and it comes together with three cheap ingredients.
Boil 4 cups of water, kill the heat, drop in a pinch of baking soda and 6 black tea bags, and steep covered for 10 to 15 minutes; lift the bags out without squeezing them, stir 1 1/4 cups sugar into the hot tea until it fully dissolves, pour into a 2-quart pitcher, top with 4 cups cold water, and refrigerate at least 2 hours before serving over plenty of ice with lemon.
- Sweeten while hot: sugar only dissolves fully in warm tea, so stir it in before you add any cold water or ice.
- Steep 10 to 15 minutes max and never squeeze the bags; over-extraction is what turns tea bitter and cloudy.
- Chill in the fridge rather than by dumping in ice; slow cooling keeps the tea crystal clear.
Equipment
- Medium saucepan or kettle
- 2-quart (half-gallon) pitcher
- Liquid measuring cup
- Long-handled spoon
- Refrigerator
Ingrediënten
Sweet tea
- 950 ml Water, for steeping
- Black tea bags, regular size, or 2 family-size bags
- 250 g Granulated sugar, more or less to taste
- Baking soda, optional; smooths out bitterness
- 950 ml Cold water, to dilute
To serve
- Ice cubes
- Lemon, cut into wedges, optional
- Fresh mint sprigs, optional
Bereiding
- STAP01
In a medium saucepan or kettle, bring 4 cups (950 ml) of water just to a rolling boil, then turn off the heat. You want it hot enough to extract the tea but you're done with the burner from here.
- STAP02
Drop a pinch of baking soda into the hot water, then add the 6 tea bags. Cover and steep for 10 to 15 minutes. Don't push it longer, or the tannins take over and the tea turns bitter and cloudy.
- STAP03
Gently lift out the tea bags and discard them. Never wring or squeeze the bags: that presses out bitter tannins and undoes your careful steeping.
- STAP04
With the tea still hot, pour in the 1 1/4 cups sugar and stir until it's completely dissolved and the liquid looks clear, about a minute. Hot tea is the only reliable way to get sugar fully into solution.
- STAP05
Pour the sweetened tea concentrate into a 2-quart pitcher and top it up with 4 cups (950 ml) cold water. Give it a good stir to combine.
- STAP06
Refrigerate for at least 2 hours, until thoroughly cold. Letting it cool slowly in the fridge, rather than crashing it with ice, is what keeps the tea from clouding.
- STAP07
Fill tall glasses to the top with ice, pour over the chilled tea, and add a wedge of lemon and a sprig of mint if you like. Taste and stir in a little extra sugar while it's still cold if you want it sweeter.
Make ahead
Brew it up to a day ahead: sweet tea actually tastes rounder after a night in the fridge. Keep it tightly covered so it doesn't pick up other fridge smells, and stir before pouring.
Storage
Refrigerate covered for up to 5 days. Light clouding as it sits is normal and harmless; a stir or a small splash of just-boiled water clears it right up. Toss it if it ever smells sour or looks slimy.
Variations
Arnold Palmer
Fill the glass halfway with sweet tea and top with cold lemonade for the classic tea-and-lemonade combo. Finish with a lemon wheel.
Peach sweet tea
Simmer 1 cup sliced fresh or frozen peaches with the sugar and a splash of water for 5 minutes, then stir that syrup into the hot tea. Strain before chilling for a smooth pour, or leave the fruit in for looks.
Lightly sweet, caffeine-free
Swap in decaf black tea or rooibos and cut the sugar to 1/2 cup for an all-ages, lower-sugar pitcher that still tastes like the real thing.
Serve with
Nutrition per serving
Nutrition values are estimates based on the metric measurements. Adjust as needed.
Veelgestelde vragen
How do I get my iced tea sweet all the way through instead of just at the bottom?
The secret to a truly iced tea sweet from top to bottom is dissolving the sugar while the tea is still hot. Sugar barely dissolves in cold liquid, so if you sweeten after adding ice or cold water it sinks and settles. Stir the sugar into the hot brewed tea until the liquid runs clear, then dilute and chill, and every glass comes out evenly sweet.
Why did my sweet tea turn cloudy?
Cloudy tea usually means it was over-steeped or cooled too quickly. Steep no longer than 15 minutes, and let the tea come down in temperature in the fridge rather than over a mountain of ice. If it clouds after a day, stir in a splash of just-boiled water to bring back the clarity.
How much sugar should I use?
Traditional Southern tea runs 1 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar per half gallon. I use 1 1/4 cups for tea that tastes properly sweet without being syrupy. Start lower if you're unsure: you can always stir more sugar into the hot concentrate, but you can't take it back out.
What does the pinch of baking soda do?
A tiny pinch of baking soda neutralizes some of the tannins in black tea, which cuts bitterness and helps keep the tea from going cloudy. It's a classic Southern trick, but use just a pinch, since too much leaves a soapy taste.
Can I make it less sweet or sugar-free?
Absolutely. Cut the sugar to 1/2 cup for a lightly sweet pitcher, or skip the sugar entirely for unsweetened tea. For a sugar-free glass, dissolve a sugar substitute that measures like sugar into the hot tea the same way you would the real thing.
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