I grew up on iced tea and not just any iced tea, but my Southern grandma's sweet iced tea. Our family has long been obsessed with it and at our large family gatherings she knew to make a 5 gallon container worth of it. Not exaggerating. My grandma didn't use measurements very often when cooking, so when I once asked her to show me how she makes her iced tea her directions consisted of "take a scoop of sugar and then add a little bit more." I've come to learn that it was that little bit more that always made it the best. I highly encourage when making this sweet tea to just go ahead and add a little bit more. You won't regret it. Of course, if sweet tea isn't your thing that is fine! Simply leave the sugar out and make the iced tea as directed for unsweetened iced tea.
Another tip to make the best iced tea is to brew your tea stronger than normal. You'll be adding more water after it steeps and then once it's poured over ice it's going to balance out. It's kind of like making cold brew where you want to make a concentrate so once it's all said and done you don't have a weak glass of sugar water. Plus, tea tastes weaker when cold to begin with so we really don't want to dilute it.
Have you tried this yet? Let us know how it went in the comments below!
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- Yields:
- 10 serving(s)
- Prep Time:
- 5 mins
- Total Time:
- 2 hrs
Ingredients
- 12 c.
water, divided
- 12
tea bags
- 1 1/2 c.
granulated sugar
Ice
Directions
- Step 1In a medium pot over high heat, bring 6 cups water to a boil. Turn off heat and add tea bags. Let steep 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.
- Step 2Stir in sugar until dissolved. Let tea cool to room temperature.
- Step 3Pour cooled tea into a pitcher and add remaining 6 cups cold water. Refrigerate until chilled.
- Step 4Serve over ice.
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