Make Some Good ‘Ole Southern Iced Tea

If you live here in the South or are just passing through and decide to add one, just one, recipe to your repertoire, I think it should be iced tea; aka-tea. In the South, tea means iced. It also usually means, sweet. 

There are two keys to making great iced tea. Well, make that three. First, you must use boiling water to steep your tea. Nothing less will do. 

Second, don’t steep you tea too long. You want to get the good flavor from your tea bags without sucking the life out of them. Technically what happens is that if you steep it too long, too many tannins are released from the tea, making it bitter. I’d be bitter too if someone left me in boiling water for a long time. Seven minutes is my magical length of time. 

Third, if you’re serving sweetened tea, whatever type of sweetener you use, it must be added to the tea when it is very hot. If you think that you can stir sugar into cold iced tea and have it dissolve, think again. 

Below are the secrets to making good, Southern iced tea. Make this iced tea, practice saying “Y’all” and you’ll be good to go. 

Iced Tea (1 gallon)
ingredients:
1 quart boiling water-boiling is the key to success, nothing less will do.
2 family size tea bags + 1 regular size tea bag (or 7 regular tea bags)

prep:

Into a teapot or pyrex container pour boiling water over the tea bags and let them steep for about 7 minutes.

If using a saucepan, bring water to a boil and then remove pan from heat and place tea bags into water, allowing to steep as above. 

Place some cold water into a gallon pitcher and add steeped tea. 

Fill pitcher with water to reach 1 gallon.

Chill and serve with lemon, lime, mint or sugar as desired.

*For ½ gallon of tea use 1 family size bag + 1 regular size tea bag, or 4 regular size tea bags.

Sweet Iced Tea

Follow above directions for Iced Tea.

After you steep the tea for 7 minutes, remove the tea bags and add one of the following to the hot tea before you dilute it:
1 cup sugar, or
sugar substitute (equivalent of ¾ cup sugar) + ¼ cup sugar, or
sugar substitute equivalent of ¾-1 cup sugar

Remember to pick just one of these options, not all, or you’ll be in for a blood sugar extravaganza. 

*To one gallon I personally add 10, 1 grain saccharin tablets (same thing a Sweet n Low) and 2-3 Tb of sugar.

Follow the remaining tea making instructions for regular iced tea, listed above.

Here’s a summertime favorite around our house. It’s a fruitier iced tea option, hence the name:

Fruity Tea  
1 quart boiling water
2 family-sized tea bags + 2 regular tea bags (or 7 regular tea bags)  Same as recipe above.
¾ cup sugar or one of the other sweetening options listed in the sweetened iced tea recipe
1  6 oz. can frozen orange juice concentrate  
1  6 oz. can frozen lemonade concentrate

Steep tea in the boiling water in a pyrex container or saucepan for 7 minutes.

Remove tea bags and add the sugar, orange juice and lemonade concentrates to the hot tea, stirring to dissolve.

Add some tap water to a 1 gallon container.

Add the tea mixture to the container and then fill container with water to reach 1 gallon.

Stir to mix and then chill.

Stir again before pouring into glasses. 

Serve with mint if desired.