perfect southern iced tea

[gypsyseagod]

1 family bag lipton(no lemon) tea bag in a 2 cup measuring cup in the nuker for 3:30. let sit after for 5-10 mins. drain into 1 gallon pitcher, fill the said cup twice more (bag in) cold water into pitcher, fill the rest of pitcher w/ cold water,add 3/4 cup sugar- stir & chill. done

 

[lisacsco]

Oh no no no you didnt say 'nuker'

....no Southern Girl would let you get by with makin' sweet tea that way!!!

And if I told you how to really make, I'd have to kill ya

you better BOIL that water for that tea bag and at least 1 cup of sugar!

you can take a man outta Texas, but he still wont make a Southerner...

Lisa

 

[gypsyseagod]

this is the millenium & i am born & raised in corpus christi... anything north of the alamo is a damn yankee... where were ya born man .....

 

[ultramag]

No good Southern girl would have him making the tea Lisa.

 

[TulsaJeff]

Fill a tea kettle or a medium sauce pan with water and let it come to a boil.

While it is heating up, get a gallon pitcher and measure 1-1/3 to 1-1/2 (depending on how southern you are) cups of white granulated sugar.

You will also need 3 family size tea bags.. I prefer the Luzianne brand but you can use just about any kind that you like as long as it is a mix of black and orange pekoe.

Place the tea bags on top of the sugar with the string tabs hanging over the edge of the pitcher.

Once the tea starts boiling, turn it off and pour 1/2 gallon of water into the pitcher and place a cover on the pitcher loosely.

Let the tea steep for 10-12 minutes and then remove the cover from the pitcher.

Squeeze the tea bags with a spoon against the side of the pitcher for good measure and toss the tea bags in the garbage.

You will notice that the sugar is still in the bottom of the pitcher so you will need to stir the tea until the sugar melts completely.. THIS IS IMPORTANT and takes about 45 seconds to a minute of stirring.

Once the sugar is completely melted/disolved and mixed into the tea.. fill the remaining space with another 1/2 gallon of cold water.

Stir the tea really well once again and the tea is ready to serve over ice.

I guarantee you that this will be the absolute best tea you have ever tasted!

 

[gypsyseagod]

to be honest.... after making tea for oh... 30 years.. if lipton didn't go tits up on q&a and teabags falling apart in the pot - i wouldn't have to nuke it- but it serves the same effect & not so bitter.

 

[chris_harper]

for one gallon of tea, we use 4 family size tea bags, and 2-cups sugar.

we have been buying the "cold brew" tea bags. no boiling needed. just place the tea bags in a pitcher with a little water. after 5 minutes, i think that is the time, it is ready. add the rest of the water and the sugar. i don't like to put hot liquid in a glass with ice.

 

[lisacsco]

oh man, you got me there!!

 

[smokin for life]

Snap!!!! Who Da Girl!!!!

 

[az_redneck]

Sugar in iced tea? YUCK!

But, I was born in Wisconsin, so what do I know.. Now, ask me how to make brats, and we'll have a real discussion..

 

[zapper]

WOW! Everyone seems to put alot of sugar into the fray, 2/3 cup is plenty.


The Zapper approach:

Boil a kettle of water, (2 Quarts) pour that over 2-3 large Lipton tea bags or like 8 little tea bags and let steep for a coulpe of minutes. Remove the tea bags without ringing the life out of them (a gentle queeze if you like, but too much trauma to the tea is said to cause bitterness) Add 2/3 cup of sugar to the still hot 1/2 gallon and stir until the crunch is gone. Fill the rest of the gallon with cold water (or ice even) and serve over ice.


There is a misconseception that Southern Iced Tea is supposed to be as sweet and thick as a syrup. Just try it one time with the reduced amount of sugar and see if the crisp snap of the cold tea is more refreshing than the tea colored sugar that most places serve.


Trust me, I drink a half to over a gallon of tea every day! When I finally get that kidney stone it is gonna make Stone Mountian look small!

 

[gypsyseagod]

same here- i drink a gallon or 2 unlessi have "adult beverages" in the house. i just noticed yesterday wheni put mine in the nuker- it does boil & i let it sit a few it's like concentrate. and the jug is a gallon so 2/3 sugar is perfect.

 

[zapper]

@ gypsy

When you mentioned concentrate it brought back a memory. Long, long ago in a time far, far away.....

I had a roomate that would make tea concentrate, he would usually make a little sausepanful at a time. He even had a special sausepan that was for tea concentrate only. It was not that his tea was all that good or anything, but with like six of us living in the same house, a jug of tea didn't stand a chance. So.........I came in late/early one time and in the middle of the dark night I grabbed the tea jug and poured a glass over ice. What I soon learned was that he spent like half of the day making tea concentrate and the only container that we had big enough to hold it all was the tea jug! SUPRISE!

 

[gypsyseagod]

lmao... awake for days...

 

[cheech]

Love sweet tea but lean towards the raspberry iced tea. I would venture to guess that there must be some sort of raspberry flavor I could add to the above recipes and make it myself

If you are into hot tea the misses and I enjoy the tea from www.teavanna.com There roiboos tropical and lemon mate are the best mixed together

 

[gypsyseagod]

lipton makes raspberry- but if tha ain't right i'd add 4 to to the 2 cup concentrate

 

[deejaydebi]

I like window green tea the best but I'm the only one that drinks tea so I make one cup at a time in the nukeulator. Just nuke the water and throw in a bag, them dump it in my tea drinking cup added a slice of lemon or orange.

I don't like tea sweet but I like about 5 teaspoons of sugar per gallon if it brown tea - none if it's green.

 

[gypsyseagod]

see...i knew i was right- a fam sized bag for 3:33 just brings mine to a boil & let set for a few mins....add to 3/4 cup organic sugar... & the rest for a gallon pitcher.

 

[zapper]

Sasafras! I got a couple little trees growing near the foundation right now that I am gonna pull up. Great with honey, surgar or just plain!

 

[deejaydebi]

Sasafras tea! Haven't had that since I was a kid!