Best Recipe for Sweetened Iced Tea, Please!
- Thread starter dcamp2002
- Start date
Swampthing
Membership Revoked
Do you steep or boil your tea bags?
Mrs Smith
Membership Revoked
If you can boil water, you can make tea.
Boil a large saucepan of water. When it comes to a full boil, turn it off.
Hang 8 regular teabags in the boiling water for about 45 minutes.
Remove tea bags.
Pour hot tea through funnel into gallon milk jug.
Add 1 1/3c sugar.
Fill jug with cold water to top.
Shake to dissolve sugar.
Refrigerate.
Boil a large saucepan of water. When it comes to a full boil, turn it off.
Hang 8 regular teabags in the boiling water for about 45 minutes.
Remove tea bags.
Pour hot tea through funnel into gallon milk jug.
Add 1 1/3c sugar.
Fill jug with cold water to top.
Shake to dissolve sugar.
Refrigerate.
OR
Buy a Mr Coffee Iced Tea Maker. Perfect tea every time...
Buy a Mr Coffee Iced Tea Maker. Perfect tea every time...
*Do not* boil the tea bags in the water. That will make the tea bitter.
Bring the water to almost a boil then turn it off. Place a family size tea bag in the water and let it sit for 15 mins or 10 is ok too if you are in a hurry.
Add sugar to taste. Usually I add about a cup (I really don't measure it) to a gallon pitcher of tea.
If you like your tea a bit weaker than you have made add some distilled water. Stir.
Then add ice to the glass and pour tea over it.
Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day in the south.
BTW, I use Lusianne (sp) tea as I like their blend better than Lipton.
Bring the water to almost a boil then turn it off. Place a family size tea bag in the water and let it sit for 15 mins or 10 is ok too if you are in a hurry.
Add sugar to taste. Usually I add about a cup (I really don't measure it) to a gallon pitcher of tea.
If you like your tea a bit weaker than you have made add some distilled water. Stir.
Then add ice to the glass and pour tea over it.
Nothing tastes better on a hot summer day in the south.
BTW, I use Lusianne (sp) tea as I like their blend better than Lipton.
Kalliope
Inactive
Sweet Tea
Does anyone use tea leaves? Gosh, it is so much cheaper to use and the leaves are fresher also. Tea bags use the cheap tea. When I use the leaves I use 1 tsp to a coffee pot and brew it in the coffee machine. If you use more than 1 tsp the water is black like coffee!
I read an article a couple of years about the Southerns and tea - 60% Sweet and 40% Unsweet. I am in the 40% bracket. Boy sugar in tea - ack! It's like a gag reflex. I like mine neat and on the rocks - no sugar or lemon.
Does anyone use tea leaves? Gosh, it is so much cheaper to use and the leaves are fresher also. Tea bags use the cheap tea. When I use the leaves I use 1 tsp to a coffee pot and brew it in the coffee machine. If you use more than 1 tsp the water is black like coffee!
I read an article a couple of years about the Southerns and tea - 60% Sweet and 40% Unsweet. I am in the 40% bracket. Boy sugar in tea - ack! It's like a gag reflex. I like mine neat and on the rocks - no sugar or lemon.
To get a smooth taste, fill a jug up with just hot tap water. It will still be just as strong as you want it. Let it sit on the counter for a couple of hours or until the color is right. I use about 16 tea bags (the cheap ones are stronger than lipton) and also add about 3 orange spice tea bags or Constant Comment tea bags. Yum! We sweeten it after pouring in a glass because the DH likes his super sweet.
When I was in college, we used to make 'radiator tea' in the winter. Fill up the jar with cold water and set it on top of the radiator or heat vent. Works good.
When I was in college, we used to make 'radiator tea' in the winter. Fill up the jar with cold water and set it on top of the radiator or heat vent. Works good.
fairbanksb
Freedom Isn't Free
Kalliope said:Does anyone use tea leaves? Gosh, it is so much cheaper to use and the leaves are fresher also. Tea bags use the cheap tea. When I use the leaves I use 1 tsp to a coffee pot and brew it in the coffee machine. If you use more than 1 tsp the water is black like coffee!
I read an article a couple of years about the Southerns and tea - 60% Sweet and 40% Unsweet. I am in the 40% bracket. Boy sugar in tea - ack! It's like a gag reflex. I like mine neat and on the rocks - no sugar or lemon.
Hard to call it sweet tea if you don't put sugar in it.
oldladydoolin
Inactive
Tetly or however it's spelled makes a much better tea. It doesn't get cloudy like the Lipton tea. There is nothing better than a glass of sun tea. The first time I ever went South and ordered ice tea, I was shocked when the waitress asked if I wanted sweet tea. Up North here, when you order tea, you sometimes have to beg for enough sugar.
Liptons has a bitter aftertaste no matter how it's made. I think there are a number of other teas that would probably do better. Don't mean to be disrespectiful of how other folks like things, but iced tea isn't meant to be sweetened is it? Sorry. However, I do like hot tea sweetened. Go figure.
Patricia
Patricia
My husband drinks ice-tea like its going out of style. I like it with some sweetness, but not too sweet. Here is what I came up with:
Boil 3 cups water. After water comes to boiling, take it off the burner and put 8-10 small teabags in to seap. Any brand is okay. We use the store brand and it always tastes fine.
Squeeze out the bags, pour tea into pitcher, add 3/4 C. sugar and then 3 Qt. cold water.
Delicious everytime!
LuckyLady
Boil 3 cups water. After water comes to boiling, take it off the burner and put 8-10 small teabags in to seap. Any brand is okay. We use the store brand and it always tastes fine.
Squeeze out the bags, pour tea into pitcher, add 3/4 C. sugar and then 3 Qt. cold water.
Delicious everytime!
LuckyLady
Warren Bone
Membership Revoked
How to make sweet iced tea:
Make some tea.
Add some sugar.
Add some ice.
warren.
Make some tea.
Add some sugar.
Add some ice.
warren.
Always use filtered or distrilled water, this makes a huge difference. Never boil the water. The best tea never touches metal. I use a pyrex cup and heat the water in the microwave. I make it strong, plenty of tea bags (Lipton of coarse). Add suger to taste to the hot water and stir.
momof23goats
Deceased
boil tea bags, and sugar together!!then let steep 15 minutes, then add the rest of water in to your jug, and add ice.
chairborne commando
Membership Revoked
What is sun tea? How do you make it and why do you need the sun (if you do)?
Warren Bone
Membership Revoked
The sun makes the tea get hot...so you can then add ice and call it iced tea.
warren.
warren.
Sun tea is what AZ Granny described. You might or might not need sun, but tea is not sterile so I would suggest putting it into the sun for the sterilizing affect. They make it in gallon glass bottles in AZ. It comes out very smooth and delicious. It does require refrigeration after making as slimy tea is very disappointing.
Mushroom
Mushroom
I can always tell when I'm in the south. I ask for "sweet tea", and the waitress dosen't stare blankly at me. I DO love southern customs and culture. As a "damn Yankee", I can really appreciate them...
Meemur
Voice on the Prairie / FJB!
Use something other than "regular" Lipton. They do make another blend for ice tea. Like another poster here, I'd rather use Tetley, but the Lipton cold brew is slightly better than their "regular" bags.
Also, I make "simple syrup" -- add as much sugar as will dissolve to 1 cup of boiling water. Keep that mixture in a stoppered bottle in the 'fridge. Add it to each gallon of ice tea. It's highly concentrated, so use it sparingly at first and taste often.
The simple syrup keeps longer than regular sugar in ice tea in my experience. It blends a lot easier, anyway.
Also, I make "simple syrup" -- add as much sugar as will dissolve to 1 cup of boiling water. Keep that mixture in a stoppered bottle in the 'fridge. Add it to each gallon of ice tea. It's highly concentrated, so use it sparingly at first and taste often.
The simple syrup keeps longer than regular sugar in ice tea in my experience. It blends a lot easier, anyway.
dcamp2002 said:
How old is this tea before it sours?
You cant keep tea more than a day or two even in refrigeration.
Are you starting with clean urns and pots and pitchers? CLorox them if you have to to make sure.
Tea needs to cool from boiling (uncovered and breathing or steaming) to room temp before putting in refrigeration to keep the clarity. Chilled to fast will cloud the tea.
Its the tea bags that get moldy and turn the tea sour. Try to use loose leaf tea. or tear the bags off to make your own loose leaf.
Tea is rated very high as an anti-oxident. Its actually very good for you.
Gizmo said:
Please don't ever drink or cook with hot water from the faucet! It absorbs lead from the pipes. You don't want to ingest more lead than you have to -- it causes brain damage, etc.
Besides avoiding hot water from the tap, you should let the cold water run for awhile before using it:
Quoting the Nebraska Extension people (http://ianrpubs.unl.edu/water/g1333.htm):
"Avoid cooking with or consuming water from hot-water taps. Hot water dissolves lead more readily than cold water. Especially avoid using water from a hot water tap for making baby formula."
"Anytime the water in a particular faucet has not been used for several hours, water should be run until it becomes as cold as it will get. This could take as little as two minutes or longer than five minutes depending on your system. Flush each faucet individually before using the water for drinking or cooking."
Scott Mayland
Senior Member
This is how I make my tea. Fill the tea boiler with hot water from tap bring water to full Boil and let it boil for about 2 minutes. Add 4 family sizes tea bags to the boiling water And turn off stove and cover the boiler. Let this sit for 30 minutes. While this is sitting I add 1and ½ cups sugar in my gallon tea pitcher fill half way with hot water mix well. Add the tea to water and mix again.
( you should try mixing brown sugar in your tea) use one cup reg sugar and half cup brown sugar) This is how Milo’s tea is made( Milo’s is a hamburger chain in the Birmingham area there is so good it is sold in all of the stores by the gallon you can even get in in Wal-Mart in this area.
( you should try mixing brown sugar in your tea) use one cup reg sugar and half cup brown sugar) This is how Milo’s tea is made( Milo’s is a hamburger chain in the Birmingham area there is so good it is sold in all of the stores by the gallon you can even get in in Wal-Mart in this area.
marsh
On TB every waking moment
Fill big glass container with spigot with water. Toss in 2 or 3 Lipton Tea bags and 1 or 2 Good Earth Sweet and Spicy Herb Tea bags (Either 3 to 1 or 2 to 2 ratio.) Let sit in sun on lawn till steeped. Add a generous dash of lemon juice and sugar to taste. Pour over ice.
Most of the restaurants use a ration of 1lb sugar per gallon of tea. That makes it a little too sweet if consumed without ice, but when the ice melts into the tea it dilutes it to that "just right" state. Mix your sugar into the hot tea so it fully dissolves, let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating. Do not let the tea bags sit in the sweetened tea mixture as this will speed the souring process.
I have had tea made and cooled in this fashion last up to 4 days without starting to sour. That's about the best I think one can do.
drink up
I have had tea made and cooled in this fashion last up to 4 days without starting to sour. That's about the best I think one can do.
drink up
Kimber
Membership Revoked
Warm tap water put in a glass jar (or plastic large Gatorade bottle) with tea bags, left in the sun. Shaken or stirred about every hour. Give it about 3 hours.
For sweetening, you need to boil some sugar in water to let it dissolve and mix in. Then, when cooler, add it to the jar. Mix it in after you've done this step.
Sliced lemon on the side of the glass.
David
P.S. I have never met a tea that's been steeped too long, so I may be odd in this regard.
For sweetening, you need to boil some sugar in water to let it dissolve and mix in. Then, when cooler, add it to the jar. Mix it in after you've done this step.
Sliced lemon on the side of the glass.
David
P.S. I have never met a tea that's been steeped too long, so I may be odd in this regard.
Vere My Sone
Inactive
definitely don't use Lipton's
we use Luzianne decaf and an old tea maker
4 family sized tea bags to 3/4 gallon? not quite a cup of sugar
tea's always in the frig
we use Luzianne decaf and an old tea maker
4 family sized tea bags to 3/4 gallon? not quite a cup of sugar
tea's always in the frig
GarnetRooster
Contributing Member
To Get rid of the bitterness, just add a pinch of baking soda BEFORE you boil or set out in the sun.
mcchrystal
Inactive
For whatever reason, Splenda (artificial sweetener) tastes *far* better than
sugar in sweet tea.
I use Upton's Scottish Breakfast tea -- lose-leaf tea, actually:
http://www.uptontea.com/
Two pounds (a little over, actually, they sell 1 KG) for $28.10, I like the
Scottish Breakfast Blend best.
I boil one gallon of water in a large pot, and then add 12 tablespoons to
the pot (which has been removed from the burner). I let it sit for 5 minutes,
then pour through a tea strainer (or very-fine mesh sieve), into four one-quart
Mason jars. I then put on the lids and bands, and allow the tea to "assume
room temperature." Those jars don't last long: I tend to drink about a
gallon per day.
I do the same with green tea, except I like to add LIME juice (which makes
it cloudy).
75 calories (or so) per gallon, and MUCH cheaper than bagged teas, for the
very finest iced tea you have ever tasted -- why would anyone spend more?
sugar in sweet tea.
I use Upton's Scottish Breakfast tea -- lose-leaf tea, actually:
http://www.uptontea.com/
Two pounds (a little over, actually, they sell 1 KG) for $28.10, I like the
Scottish Breakfast Blend best.
I boil one gallon of water in a large pot, and then add 12 tablespoons to
the pot (which has been removed from the burner). I let it sit for 5 minutes,
then pour through a tea strainer (or very-fine mesh sieve), into four one-quart
Mason jars. I then put on the lids and bands, and allow the tea to "assume
room temperature." Those jars don't last long: I tend to drink about a
gallon per day.
I do the same with green tea, except I like to add LIME juice (which makes
it cloudy).
75 calories (or so) per gallon, and MUCH cheaper than bagged teas, for the
very finest iced tea you have ever tasted -- why would anyone spend more?
mcchrystal
Inactive
By the way:
Two pounds of tea is a LOT of tea! I like to store the dry tea in Mason jars, stashed in the freezer for maximum freshness.
Two pounds of tea is a LOT of tea! I like to store the dry tea in Mason jars, stashed in the freezer for maximum freshness.
Great Posts!
I have enjoyed reading ALL of them! I am a Southern lady who loves sweet iced tea. I am looking for the perfect recipe! My favorite thing to do after I have made a good pot is to cram a big glass with ice and then squeeze one fourth of a very fresh lemon over the top of the ice, carefully putting the rind on top, then pour the very hot tea over the lemon expressing all the beautiful lemon taste down the ice, and almost cooking it while filling the glass up with hot tea which is strong but becomes perfect when melting the ice. Of course one can only do this with the first glasses of tea from the batch because the tea must be refrigerated after.
I have enjoyed reading ALL of them! I am a Southern lady who loves sweet iced tea. I am looking for the perfect recipe! My favorite thing to do after I have made a good pot is to cram a big glass with ice and then squeeze one fourth of a very fresh lemon over the top of the ice, carefully putting the rind on top, then pour the very hot tea over the lemon expressing all the beautiful lemon taste down the ice, and almost cooking it while filling the glass up with hot tea which is strong but becomes perfect when melting the ice. Of course one can only do this with the first glasses of tea from the batch because the tea must be refrigerated after.
Why is it true Southeners like their tea sweet and their coffee black like mud? I never have understood that phenomenon.
I think my mums secret to the perfect recipe for southern sweetend tea is that it was always made in the same crock picture. 12-14 bags lipton tea, water just to boiling, steeping for only 3 minutes then adding 1 cup sugar and probably 1/4 cup lemon juice, never fresh always Sunkist, I'm guessing for consistency.
Personally my twist is that I add 2 bags apricot tea. Nothing like coming out of the garden on a hot day to sit in the shade with a picture of tea!
I think my mums secret to the perfect recipe for southern sweetend tea is that it was always made in the same crock picture. 12-14 bags lipton tea, water just to boiling, steeping for only 3 minutes then adding 1 cup sugar and probably 1/4 cup lemon juice, never fresh always Sunkist, I'm guessing for consistency.
Personally my twist is that I add 2 bags apricot tea. Nothing like coming out of the garden on a hot day to sit in the shade with a picture of tea!