Sweet Tea Recipe
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Learn how easy it is to make my 2-ingredient Southern sweet tea recipe. It’s the most refreshing drink to enjoy on your porch throughout the year.
Nothing, I mean nothing, is more Southern than sweet tea. We drink sweet iced tea at almost every meal (yes, iced tea for breakfast is quite good, actually), we make it daily year-round, and we even put it in our baby’s bottles. Dr. Phil once jokingly mentioned that Southerners started drinking sweet tea at age three, but Mama and I looked at each other in complete confusion as we knew perfectly well all of us had started on it by age one!
Go to any Southerner’s home and the first question they ask after sitting down is, “Ya wan’ some tea?” These days I make my sweet tea recipe with Splenda, but it tastes just as good. Sweet tea just makes the meal.
So, how do you make sweet tea? It’s easy! All you need is your favorite black tea bags (plus some water for brewing) and some sugar/Splenda. All we’re going to do is brew the tea either in a saucepot or in a coffeemaker (more details below), and then combine it in a pitcher with cold water and sugar. That’s all you need to do before you can enjoy a big glass of icy and refreshing Southern sweet tea.
Okay, enough chatting, let’s make some sweet tea, y’all!
What You’ll Need to Make Sweet Tea:
- Tea bags
- Granulated sugar (or Splenda)
- Water
- Small sauce pot or a coffeemaker
Helpful Kitchen Tools
How to Make My Sweet Tea Recipe:
Brew the tea
There are two popular ways of brewing tea. The one Mama and I use the most right now (this may change when the wind changes direction) is the saucepot method.
For a half gallon of tea, put five regular-sized tea bags in a pot. Cover with water (you want about three inches of water in your pot).
You don’t have to worry about taking the tea bag labels off either.
Now, as Mama says “In a pot, bring tea just to a boil and then remove from heat and turn off the eye”.
Cover and steep the tea for 15 minutes.
Your tea is now ready to be mixed.
If you do this, though, be careful to remember to remove the coffee grounds from your basket. Growing up, Mama would have supper on the table looking all wonderful and we’d take a sip and discover we were having “coffee tea”. Hehe, we always had fun with her when that happened!
Make the sweet tea
No matter which method you choose, in a matter of minutes you will have brewed, concentrated tea.
Take your pitcher and fill it about halfway with cold water. Then add your sugar (or Splenda).
This is a VERY important step because if you add your sugar to the hot tea, it will scorch the sugar and you’ll have terribly bitter tea.
So, we want to start with cold water, add the sugar…
…THEN add the hot tea.
Adding the brewed tea will warm the water enough that the sugar will easily dissolve.
Give that a good stir then serve your sweet tea over ice.
Storage
So, we always drink the tea fresh. It can be kept in the refrigerator but Southern people prefer fresh sweet tea. Personally, I always throw out the leftovers and start fresh the next day and so does my Mama. But if you did want to extend the life of your iced tea, use the baking soda trick below and store it in the fridge for up to 2 days.
Recipe Notes
- There are many tea brands on the market. Mama prefers Luzianne but I usually use Tetley or Red Diamond. Just make sure you get a general blend or orange pekoe tea that’s specifically blended for iced tea (all of these brands will have this marked on the package). Orange pekoe is a generic term for a basic, medium-grade black tea.
- A handy tip: when you squeeze your tea leaves or tea bag, you release extra tannins which will cause a more bitter taste. So just dump ’em without that extra squeeze.
- Adjust the amount of sugar to suit your taste. You might like more or less and that’s totally fine!
Recipe FAQs
How do you serve Southern sweet tea?
You simply serve sweet tea in a glass with ice. Some people like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon, a dash of bottled lemon juice, or a lemon slice garnish. Mama likes to add an orange slice. Give it a go and see what you think!
What is the mixture of sweet tea?
Sweet tea is simply a mixture of brewed black tea with sugar, served cold over ice.
How long should I steep tea for sweetened iced tea?
You want to steep the black tea bags for up to 15 minutes. The longer you steep, the stronger the tea taste.
Why do Southerners put baking soda in sweet tea?
So, some Southerners add a pinch of baking soda to their sweet tea to remove any bitterness from the black tea leave tannins. However, this is totally optional and not something I’ve ever done. But if you wanna give it a go, add it to the water when you boil your tea.
How does Paula Deen make sweet tea?
Paula Deen makes sweet tea how I make sweet tea! The only difference is hers includes a garnish of fresh lemon slices and fresh mint.
Check out these other refreshing drink recipes:
Hawaiian Iced Tea (Non-Alcoholic Punch)
Iced Cherry Apple Cider Vinegar Tea
Sugar-Free Peach Lemonade (2 Ingredients Only)
Ingredients
- 5 tea bags
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Place tea bags in a saucepot or coffee maker (down in the coffee pot). If using the coffee pot, run a cycle of water through it to brew the tea. If using a saucepot, fill it about three inches with water and bring it just to a boil, then remove it from the heat.5 tea bags
- Fill a pitcher halfway with cool water and add sugar. Stir. Then add hot tea and stir again. Add more water, if necessary, to make two quarts. Serve over ice.3/4 cup granulated sugar
Nutrition
Thank you for reading Southern Plate! Have a GREAT Day!
So true…it’s funny, I had the same “milk” experience when I was about 11 at a friends house. They’d just moved to our little southern town from CALIFORNIA!! Our world was so small then that they might as well have landed from Mars. They probably thought we were all nuts!
Yes I am a southerner but not good a making tea.:) No one ever taught me. But I do remember having tea all the time.:) Love it.:) Thanks for this. I will have to try it.:)
Sharon:)
I have visited your site, but this is the first comment . . .
Thank you, I will have to try this, I have lived in the south since I was 10, but I really do not like my sweet tea . . .my mom never made it, being from colorado.
Maybe now I can make GOOD sweet tea!
Big smiles here!
Luzianne (2 family bags)
put into sauce pot that I’ve had for 29 years…I mean the handle is gone it is so old!
3/4 cup Splenda…gotta watch that sugar ya know!
I drink it cold no ice straight from the fridge of a morning…everyone knows not to speak to me till I’ve had it too…LOL!
I’m a Midwestern gal, but we LOVE Sweet Tea in our house too! I always make sure and have some on hand for my Mother in Law 🙂
LOL Bill, I know EXACTLY what you mean!!!
And thank goodness for our SPLENDA!!! Diabetic, dieting, and hypoglycemic Southerners would die of misery without it!
Chicken fried steak and gravy fall under the “in moderation” category……so I think I’ll make a moderate amount tonight!
Hi,
Our family has always had big jugs of tea chilled to serve at all time. Once when younger and I went to visit a friend & inquired if they have iced tea in the fridge and they gave me a jar of powdered tea! I could not believe it, everyone that I ever knew has a jug/jar/pitcher or something with tea in it.
In defense of instant tea, if you let it chill it is so/so.
And when you brew it you must not let it come to a boil, must not squeeze the bags. The loose tea is much tastier as is the British tea but both are hard to find. Luzianne is widely available (and look for that $1.00 off coupon on the boxes this summer, inside the package). Other day on History channel, (I think) said if not for WWII and the stoppage of importing green tea that our common iced tea would be green tea as that was the preferred kind to make iced at the time. So they said that is how we ended up with black tea as our iced tea. But green is delicious too.
For variety at my house and my daughters, we will change out some of the regular tea bags for the various flavors like raspberry zinger/ blueberry/peach/etc.
The stevia sweetners now out there are so/so, but the sweet comes across to me like the sweet of say a carrot……..not near as good as splenda. Mama makes half/half splenda & sugar.
Just thought of another tea making tip, skim the foam off and it
helps it stay clear.
I just made a gallon of sweet tea. I also use Splenda and I truly can’t tell the difference.
I have lost 100 pounds in the past 2 years and sweet tea with Splenda has helped curb the sweet tooth.
Now if there were just a replacement for Chicken fried steak, mashed taters and gravy…
How much Splenda did you use in your tea, Bill??
Try 1/2 cup Splenda (less if you want it not as sweet) as splenda is almost twice as strong as regular sugar.
thanks, i am makinf 5 gallons for a picnic and wasent quite sure.
Of course there is a replacement – it’s called “eating dust”. Congrats on your weight loss!!! I like the sweet tea with Splenda too. Tastes great!!