Sweet Iced Tea
Photo: Michael Kraus
MAKES 1 GALLON
Southerners take "sweet tea"—as genuine iced tea is known as in the South—very seriously. And what about bottled iced tea? A travesty.
4 quart-size tea bags, preferably black tea
2 cups sugar
1. Bring 2 quarts cold water to a boil in a pot over high heat, then add tea bags. Immediately remove pot from heat and allow tea to steep for 4 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, combine 2 quarts cold water with sugar in a 1-gallon jug. Remove tea bags from pot, pour hot tea into jug, and stir well. (Adding the hot tea to the cold sugared water, rather than the other way around, helps keep the tea clear and preserves its flavor.) Fill the biggest glasses you can find with ice and pour tea into them. Refrigerate leftover tea (it tastes even better the next day).
sweet tea should always be consumed the day it is made. it *does not* taste better the next day, and it should not be refridgerated, either.
i remember reading this recipe when it was first published and i was shocked to see the recommendation of keeping it more than one day. all true southerners know better.
to add extra flavor, throw a few mint leaves in the boiling water, but add new, fresh leaves to the final tea mix.
this recipe calls for too much sugar. yes, we southerners like our tea sweet, but this is overkill. 1/2 to 1 cup is plenty. i also agree about drinking sweet tea the day it is made. although it is safe to refrigerate for one or two days, it is never best to do so. the tea will become cloudy with a bitter aftertaste. and don't forget the lemon!