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Kathryn Hill
Kathryn Hill
updated Apr 5, 2024
4th of july
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It's not summer until there's a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. Here's how to make a batch everyone will enjoy.
Makes1 gallonPrep10 minutesJump to Recipe
Jump to Recipe
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Before my fellow Southerners read this and start thinking, “Are you kidding me? Who doesn’t know how to make sweet tea?” — hear me out. I am Florida-born and Georgia-raised, but when I moved to California, one of the first things I noticed was that no one drinks sweet tea out here! I always keep a pitcher ready in my fridge, and my friends inevitably ask me, “How do you make this?”
Today you’re going to find out how. Whether you’ve never heard of sweet tea or have only tried the bottled version, this is a recipe you’re going to want to make this summer. It’s simply steeped in large batches, sweetened while hot, and then kept chilled in the fridge. Southerners, chime in here with your best advice!
Quick Overview
Tips for Making the Best Southern Sweet Tea
- Steep a full pitcher’s worth of tea. Most recipes call for a relatively quick steep, anywhere from a few swishes of the tea bags through the hot water to a full five-minute dunk. However, some Southerners like a nice long steep to make a stronger sweet tea.
- Mix the sugar into the hot tea so it dissolves completely. I like the relatively mild sweetness of a cup of sugar in a gallon of tea, but you could certainly add more (or less) to suit your own personal taste. (We Southerners do have a sweet tooth! Coca-Cola, pecan pie, and sweet tea … Our love of sugar keeps dentists in business.)
- Chill your sweet tea thoroughly before drinking it. I find the flavor actually changes and improves the more chilled the tea gets. Pour it over ice, and drink it straight, or add a sprig of fresh mint or drop in a few lemon wedges.
What Is Sweet Tea?
Sweet tea is not a glass of iced tea with a spoonful of sugar stirred in. Rather, it’s steeped in large batches, sweetened while hot, and then kept chilled in the fridge. That way it’s always ready for an afternoon visitor or an easy cool-down on a hot summer day.
How to Make Southern Sweet Tea
- Boil the water. Bring 4 cups of the water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat, then remove from heat.
- Steep the tea for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, remove the bags and discard.
- Add the sugar to the tea. Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
- Pour the tea base into a 1-gallon pitcher. If using multiple pitchers, divide the tea evenly between them.
- Top off the pitchers with water. Add 3 more quarts of water to the tea base to make a gallon of sweet tea and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate until very cold. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or, ideally, overnight.
- Serve over ice. Pour the sweet tea into ice-filled glasses.
How to Customize Your Sweet Tea
The best sweet tea is the one in the pitcher in your fridge. If you’ve never made sweet tea before, start with this recipe and then adjust it to taste. Steep the tea for longer, add more or less sugar, squeeze a few lemons into the pitcher — you like your sweet tea the way you like it, and that’s just fine.
- Stronger sweet tea: For stronger tea, add the tea and the sugar at the same time, stir to dissolve the sugar, and then let the tea steep for up to 3 hours. Remove the tea bags and continue with the recipe.
- Sweeter (or not-so-sweet) sweet tea: As it is, this makes a fairly mild, lightly sweetened tea; if you’d prefer a sweeter tea, stir in extra sugar, 1/4 cup at a time, to the full 1-gallon batch just before refrigerating. Stir until dissolved, then refrigerate. You can also add less sugar, if you prefer.
Sweet Tea Variations
- Arnold Palmers (aka Swamp Water): Mix equal parts lemonade and sweet tea.
- Spiked sweet tea: Add a shot of your favorite liquor to the glass, then pour the sweet tea over top. Bourbon and whiskey are favorites. Try our Sparkling Sweet Tea Pitcher co*cktail or Sweet Tea and Bourbon Pitcher co*cktail for your next gathering.
What’s the History of Sweet Tea?
A little history on sweet tea. The cultivation of tea began centuries ago in Asia; global trade routes brought it to the rest of the world starting in the 1600s. By the time it reached the Americas the sugar trade — a key component of the Trans-Atlantic slave trade — was in operation.
It is impossible to tell the story of sweet tea without acknowledging this dark legacy — we are all grown ups here and maturity means facing our past so we can look to the future. Through sacrifice and persistence slavery was abolished, but the tradition of sweet tea lives on, now enjoyed by people of every race and background.
The first sweet tea recipe has been traced back to the cookbook Housekeeping in Old Virginia, by Marion Cabell Tyree, and was published in 1879. It called for green tea, which was more commonly drunk as iced tea at the time, until World War II when green tea importation was cut off and Americans switched to black tea imported from India.
Sweet tea is so ingrained in Southern culture that in 2003, as part of an April Fool’s joke, the Georgia Legislature introduced a bill that would make it a misdemeanor for restaurants not to offer sweet tea.
In the movie Steel Magnolias, Dolly Parton proclaimed that sweet tea was “the house wine of the South.” One of my favorite simple pleasures is to sit on the back porch on a velvety Georgia night, sipping sweet tea, and eating a plate of fried green tomatoes while watching fireflies.
Storage Tips
The sweet tea will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for about a week.
Southern Sweet Tea Recipe
It's not summer until there's a pitcher of sweet tea in the fridge. Here's how to make a batch everyone will enjoy.
Prep time 10 minutes
Makes 1 gallon
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
- 3
family-sized black tea bags (or 12 individual tea bags), such as Lipton or Luzianne
- 1 cup
granulated sugar
Ice
Fresh mint leaves or lemon slices (optional)
Instructions
Show Images
Bring 4 cups of the water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat.
Dunk 3 family-sized black tea bags (or 12 individual tea bags) a few times in the water to fully hydrate, then leave submerged with the strings hanging over the side of the pot. After 5 minutes, remove the bags and discard.
Add 1 cup granulated sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
Pour the tea base into a 1-gallon pitcher. If using multiple pitchers, divide the tea evenly between them.
Add 3 more quarts of water to the tea base to make a gallon of sweet tea and stir to combine.
Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or, ideally, overnight.
Pour the sweet tea into ice-filled glasses. Add a sprig of mint or a slice of lemon to each, if desired!
Recipe Notes
Storage: The sweet tea will keep refrigerated for about a week.
Filed in:
Beverages
Dairy-Free
Drinks
easy
Gluten-Free
How To
