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.

southern sweet tea

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:

ingredients for 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

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.

The other thing you can do is place your 5 tea bags INSIDE your coffee pot and just run a water cycle through the coffeemaker. Once the cycle goes through, your tea is done and 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!

brewed tea

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.

add sugar to cold water for sweet tea

So, we want to start with cold water, add the sugar…

add the tea to the sugar water mixture

…THEN add the hot tea.

Adding the brewed tea will warm the water enough that the sugar will easily dissolve. 

stir the tea

Give that a good stir then serve your sweet tea over ice.

serve 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.

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)

Old-Fashioned Lemonade

Iced Cherry Apple Cider Vinegar Tea

Iced Mint Tea Recipe

Sugar-Free Peach Lemonade (2 Ingredients Only)

southern sweet tea

Sweet Tea

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.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 20 minutes
Course: Drinks
Cuisine: American
Keyword: tea
Servings: 2 quarts
Calories: 73kcal

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

Calories: 73kcal
Tried this recipe?Mention @southernplate or tag #southernplate!

Thank you for reading Southern Plate! Have a GREAT Day!

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149 Comments

  1. Thanks for posting this Christy! Tea seems like such a simple, staple drink to have around, but I just wasn’t sure how to make a delicious iced tea!
    I used your recipe, but substituted a couple mint tea bags and it came out great!
    Your recipe was great as usual!

  2. Just “Stumbled Upon” your blog and found your sweet tea recipe. Very interesting. I invented my own version of this a while back and it’s not all that different. I make a gallon at a time, but had no idea I was really making southern sweet tea. LOL!

    Put 1 c. turbinado sugar in pitcher. Add half gallon hot water from water cooler. Stir to dissolve sugar. Add 3-4 Red Rose tea bags. Let steep for 15-20 minutes.

    Fill rest of gallon with cold water, stir and refrigerate. I don’t use ice, just drink it cold from frig so it’s probably as strong as yours with ice. I use a pitcher with a lid so it stays fresh for the few days it takes to finish.

    We grew up having Kool-Aid with dinner. Yuck. Tea would have been much better.

    Now to try your Pecan Pie Muffins. Thanks!

  3. Oh Christy I love love love iced tea. While I was overseas I visited a store which produces their own coffee and tea products, and I bought home with me packets of their ice tea mix – I know that must sound dreadful to you to have instant ice tea. I’ve been drinking it non stop since I came home. The rate I’m going I will run out in no time. Actually it’s not meant to be ice tea, they sell it as a warm lemon tea drink, but I’ve been making it up and then chilling it before drinking.

    I have tried in the past to make my own ice tea but it always turned out so bitter. Perhaps I let the tea brew for too long? In any case, I will have to try my hand at making ‘real’ ice tea again.

  4. Great recipe, thanks so much. I LOVE sweet tea but being a (darn) Yankee, I didn’t know how to make it. One tip, though: Another cause of bitter tea is the type of tea used. Now, I love Luzianne tea, but I find most of the standard commercial brands (eg Tetley, Lipton, etc.) far too bitter because the orange pekoe content is too high. When I make any kind of tea, I go for blends such as English or Scottish breakfast. These are true “black” teas and give strong flavor without any hint of bitterness.

    Your site is wonderful! My beloved late Aunt Betty was married to a southern gentleman whose mother taught Aunt Betty how to cook, Southern style. I bought her a covered biscuit server because hers were so light and airy that they’d float away otherwise. Gosh, I used to beg Mom to go to Aunt Betty’s for dinner. (Mom was a great cook, too, her specialties being southern Italian and plain old comfort food.)

    Anyway, thanks for giving me the inspiration to learn a bit of Southern style cooking myself.

  5. Life At The Lake Isn’t it funny how we live so very close to each other but our cultures are so very different on some things? LOL Oh wow, five new recipes in one week, that IS inspired!!! I’m so glad you are reading Southern Plate and you have my mouth watering for your chicken fried steak and tea now!!

    Donna Bless your heart, having to live with such a travesty! LOL I can drink unsweet with no sweeteners if nothing else is available but….yeah, gimme something sweet any day!!!

    Anonymous Its amazing how many of you have the same name! (that was a joke).
    I have always found that splenda substitutes in equal amounts for sugar with no additional sweetness. Could you possibly be packing your Splenda when you measure it out, or using the smaller grained variety as found in the packets? When using the fluffy grained splenda which is designed for baking, it works out just fine for me and everyone else I know! I am sorry you’ve had difficulty with it, though!

    Myself and my son both have migraines from time to time but Splenda has never been a trigger for either of us. Sounds like you and Splenda just don’t get along. I’m glad you are able to use sugar!

    Thanks to you all for reading!
    Christy 🙂

  6. Splenda is MUCH sweeter than sugar so if anyone is planning on using it they might want to experiment a bit with the amounts. Also, people prone to migraine headaches should stick to sugar. Splenda is a known trigger for migraines.

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