Cool, refreshing and simple. There is NOTHING that is more comforting than a big tall glass of my mama’s southern sweet tea. It tastes EXACTLY like home. The Secret to Perfect Southern Sweet Tea is RIGHT HERE!
EASY and READY in less than 30 MINUTES! Simple to follow directions right here!
Why This Recipe Works
- Easy
- Southern Sweet Tea is the perfect drink for any occasion
- Affordable
- Ingredients you probably already have.
Here's How It Is Done
Step 1.
Step 2.
Turn off the burner and add the sugar.
Step 3.
Add the tea bags
Step 4.
Put the lid on. When the tea is cooled (at least 15 minutes) , add it to your pitcher and then add the cool water. Drink up! Add a lemon wedge to your drink for fun!
How To Make Sweet Tea
- Heat 2 Quarts water in saucepan. When simmering, turn the heat off.
- Add 1 Cup of Sugar (for sweet tea) to the warm water and stir until dissolved. Place 4 tea bags or 1 Gallon size tea bag in hot water.
- Allow tea to come to room temp. Squeeze tea bags.
- Add 2 Quarts of Water to the sweet tea and stir.
WHAT MAKES SWEET TEA "HOME" ANYWAY?
Anyway, in all seriousness, sweet tea is so quintessentially “home” that I thought we could all use a good dose of it today.
In fact, someone wrote to me wanting to know how to make The Secret to Perfect Southern Sweet Tea and that is why you are seeing this recipe today.
WHO CAN MAKE SWEET TEA?
- At our house, Mr. Loaves and Dishes is the tea maker.
- Therefore, it stands to reason, YOU can make sweet tea!
HERE'S A LIST OF WHAT WE WILL COVER TODAY IN THE SECRET TO PERFECT SOUTHERN SWEET TEA...
- You'll be able to make sweet tea without depending on the dark “tea line” on the saucepan.
- No more guessing at the amount of sugar.
- There will be no more questions about how many tea bags to use.
- No more trying to understand when to add the sugar.
- I’m sharing ALL of the secrets right here with exact measurements HENCE, YOU'LL HAVE NO more guessing!
Frequently Asked Questions FOR THE SECRET TO PERFECT SOUTHERN SWEET TEA
- This is so straightforward, there really aren’t many tricks.
- The first tip is USE GOOD WATER. If your water is overpoweringly loaded with chemicals so that it smells like a swimming pool, then use bottled water instead. I remember my dad would always bring some of my grandma’s well water home from our visits there to make tea with at home. That is how important good water is!
WHAT KIND OF TEA?
- Do NOT USE cheap/discount/ no name tea. It is worth a dollar or so more to get good name brand tea. Trust me on that. (At our house, we prefer Luzianne or Lipton - there are other good brands too - just look around)
- Whatever you do, please Do NOT USE instant tea. Just no.
HOW TO HANDLE THE TEA BAGS...
- Once you are making the tea, Don’t boil the water because that bounces the tea bags around too much.
- When you put the tea bags in the water, make sure they sink down, but not so far that you lose the little paper tags.
- Don’t forget to stir the water with the sugar in it BEFORE you put the tea bag in because that is what finishes dissolving the sugar.
- Here is a primary rule about squeezing the tea bags, DO NOT get to fresh with those tea bags when you are squeezing them out because they break easily and hence, if they do you are going to have tea dirt all in your tea. Tea dirt is just used tea leaves and it won’t hurt you however, it is gritty and no one likes gritty tea.
WHAT KIND OF PITCHER TO USE.
- Use a pitcher that is going to be your "Tea Pitcher" and then keep it meticulously clean! Tea spoils quickly and as my grandmother used to say, tea goes "on the blink" or it gets "blinky"and I still say that. Sweet hubby had never heard that term and didn't know what I was talking about. In fact, he can't taste blinky tea until it is VERY blinky.
- We like to use glass tea pitchers at home (I feel like I can get them cleaner). In fact, I'll put a link below if you want to see the exact ones we use because we love them. They pour great and you can make just half a gallon at the time if you want or one pitcher of sweet and one of unsweet (we have a diabetic in our family). I Have two of these (one for sweet and one for unsweet). The large opening is nice, you can get your hand in there to clean them. The lid closes tightly. The handle doesn't stick out so far as to be a problem in the fridge.
- That’s it - you are are free to make your tea!
- The pitcher in the photo here is an Amazon Affiliate link, when you purchase through this link, I earn a commission from the sale. Just click the photo to go through to compare prices.
HOW TO HANDLE DIFFERING TASTES IN SWEETNESS....
- One more thing, If you are having friends over who may enjoy MORE or LESS sugar in their tea, you can always make a simple syrup and allow everyone to sweeten their own tea. It is the perfect way to suit a crowd. Simple syrup instructions can be found HERE.
- You might also enjoy Russian Nurse Tea if you like hot tea!
Would You Love to Cook the PERFECT Southern Dinner?
IMAGINE YOU, COOKING THESE! YOU CAN DO IT TOO!
Served with (choose one)
Chicken Pie or
And…
Add A little Yum Yum Sauce
Deviled Eggs made with this Easy Peel Hard Boiled Egg
And finish it all off with...
YA'LL, HELP ME OUT, OK?
Please leave me a 5 star comment below in the comment section, all right? I would LOVE to know if you made this recipe or even if you are planning to! Of course, head on over to Pinterest, Facebook and Instagram and tag me with some photos of your creation!
I can't wait!
Ya'll know I love your comments!! ❤
The Secret to Perfect Southern Sweet Tea
Ingredients
- 2 Quarts fresh cold water
- 1 heaping Cup of Granulated white sugar
- 4 regular size tea bags or one gallon size tea bag we prefer Luzianne or Lipton
- 2 Quarts fresh cold water
Instructions
- In a medium sized stock pot heat 2 quarts of fresh water over medium high heat.
- When the water is near a simmer, turn the heat off. Add the 1 Cup of sugar and stir until sugar dissolves.
- Place the tea bags into the water, place the lid on the saucepan. Allow to come to room temperature.
- Remove the tea bags and gently squeeze to remove any remaining tea. Use care not to tear the tea bags. Discard tea bags.
- Pour the tea concentrate into a gallon size tea pitcher and add the remaining 2 quarts of cool water.
- Serve over a full glass of ice cubes.
Notes
- You will want to use the best quality tea that you can afford for this recipe. We prefer Luzianne or Lipton.
- Use the BEST water you can for your tea as well. If you are going to use tap water, I suggest pouring it from the tap the day before you make tea and let it sit. This allows some of the chlorine to expel from the water.
- Never boil the water with the tea bag in it. You want the hot water to steep the tea from the leaves. Boiling is far to rough!
- Look for the gallon size tea bags (sometimes called family size). This allows you to use one single tea bag instead of 4 little tea bags.
Nutrition
***This post originally appeared on the pages of Loaves and Dishes May 28, 2019 and has been updated with video, new information, new nutrition info, new photos and how to photos.***
A VERSE TO SHARE
During the floods, the “Texas Navy” and the “Cajun Navy” were hard at work rescuing people. What in the world would we do without brave people who just “KNOW” how to get things done?
We would be sunk, wouldn’t we?
I think the difference is that while they might have taken the charge and bravely headed off to lands unknown, they still did so with a prayerful heart.
In Paul’s letter to his son, Timothy, he explains this pretty well.
2 Timothy 1: 7
Paul writes: For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Jackie says
I tried it! It is perfect! Thanks so much!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Jackie! Great! Thanks for leaving me a comment! I'm so glad you liked it!
Lisa says
Fantastic! I got hooked on sweet tea when my husband and I were OTR truck drivers. First stop to get some sweet tea, Knoxville, TN. Thank you for posting this!
Wendi Spraker says
Thanks Lisa, I'm glad you found just what you were looking for!
Debbie says
Love your recipe for the ice tea been trying to make great ice tea forever Thank you 👍❤️
Wendi Spraker says
Isn't it crazy how some things are so easy but seem so hard? I completely understand that issue! Thanks for leaving me a comment!
Bd says
Great!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi BD. Thanks for leaving a comment!
Debbie says
Absolutely perfect thank you
Wendi Spraker says
Thank you Debbie! I appreciate that you left a comment and LOVE that you Love the Tea!
Emily says
Absolutely love this easy sweet tea recipe. Thank you a million!!!
Wendi Spraker says
Wonderful! I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Reba Brown says
Being a 3 generation southerner; I appreciated the tea recipe. My late mom use to let me make the tea for our large family (5 brothers).
I would stand on her wooden kitchen stool that my daddy made for me as a little girl so that I could reach the sink and the stove while following Mom-as recipe for southern sweet tea. I enjoyed making the simple syrup and making it spin a hair and allowing it to cool to incorporate into the tea.
Thanks for the suggestion for the tea picture I will purchase one.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Reba, What a lovely and special memory to share with my readers. Thank you so much!
Laura says
Thanks for the great sweet tea recipe! Being from GA, you’d think I would remember how my relatives made this jewel of a drink.
Wendi Spraker says
Hey there Laura! No one's memory is perfect! That's why we have to write things down in recipes! lol. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've got some MORE tea recipes coming up soon, I hope you'll come back and check them out! Thanks for leaving me a comment! I appreciate it soooo much!
Stephanie says
Just made this tonight, and it's wonderful! I'm from the South and I love SUPER sweet tea, but this seems like the perfect amount of sweetness for people at a get together, with room to get much sweeter for people like me. 😀 Very flavorful and easy!
Wendi Spraker says
Thanks so much Stephanie! You are RIGHT! This is not SUPER sweet southern tea, it's a more gentle tea for beginners. lol. If you like MORE sugar, just add more. OR make that simple syrup I linked to and then everyone can make their tea as sweet as they like it! Hope this helps! Wendi
karen mccarthy says
I already commented
karen mccarthy says
Thankyou for this recipe
It seems so simple, but I had no idea how to make such great sweet tea or simple syrup
Thanks for not assuming that everyone already knows!
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Karen!
Thanks so much for leaving a comment? Know why I even posted this recipe? Because for YEARS, I DID NOT KNOW HOW to make decent tea. My mom always made the tea and I could make very good tea with her little sauce pan that had a stain line on it from years of making tea. But, I couldn't make it with my own stainless pans. Whenever I would ask her, she would say, "I don't know, I just make it". It wasn't until I was married to Mr. Loaves and Dishes that he showed me his method and we were able to measure things out that I could FINALLY make decent tea! Therefore, I KNOW it's not something that people can just easily do! lol. Thanks for letting me know that yours turned out perfectly too! 🙂 Wendi
Jason says
Hi Wendi,
My wife makes sweet tea your way and I make mine by boiling the water HARD like the Brits then adding that water to a pitcher with the tea bags and sugar. Do you think it makes a difference? I honestly don't know!
One thing I'll add that DOES make a difference: add a pinch of baking soda. My mom's tea gets funky if it sits too long, in or out of the 'fridge. Baking soda cures it! You're welcome! 🙂
...and thank you!
Wendi Spraker says
Jason, I have no idea if boiling the water hard first makes a difference. I do know that you do not want to boil the water hard with the teabag in it for the teabags will break. I never heard of using baking soda. Does it change the taste?
Misti says
@Wendi Spraker, I heard that adding a pinch of baking soda takes out the bitterness if it has steeped too long. Speaking of steeping too long...I read an article in Everyday Cheapskate newsletter today that your tea recipe was in and Mary Hunt said to allow steeping for 3 to 5 minutes maximum, but your recipe says to let it steep till room temperature?? About how long do you steep your teabags?
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Misti, I allow mine to steep as I described in this article. It's the way my mom taught me and it gets a ton of flavor out of the tea bags. I won't argue with Mary who writes Everyday Cheapskate, she is a friend of mine. I'm just gonna say, the way I've written here is the way that my mom made it, I make it and the way my husband (who makes the tea around here) makes it. I guess you could try it both ways and see what you think. Best wishes! 🙂
Krista Lynn Braun says
Thank you for this recipe. As a transplant from north of the Mason-Dixon line I have tried many recipes over the years. In my family they always do used a sweet tea powder. Now that I’ve lived in the south from us 20 years I have grown accustomed to the way it’s done here. I have tried several recipes and I’ve got to say that you were simple recipe with all of your tips and hints was finally success with my fiancé was born in South Carolina and has never lived anywhere but in the south.
Because he likes his a lot sweeter, I also did your simple syrup recipe and that is a great way for everybody to have it the way they like it. Although, truth be told when he’s been out in the heat he doesn’t like it super sugary so it works out well to have the team made your way plus have the simple syrup on the side.
I have been looking up recipes on the Internet for many many years and this is the first time I’ve come across one that was written by a Christian and include it scripture to read and think about. Kudos to you for that. I don’t believe in accidents or coincidences so I believe it was exactly where I need it to be when I found your blog. My fiancé and I also love that tithe i’m in the small amount that you would get from a purchase from a product that you recommend.
Thanks again! We look forward to trying out and many more of your recipes. God bless you.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Krista! Thank you so much for leaving me such a sweet comment. I'm glad we have had this "not a coincidence" meeting. God is Good like that. Sometimes the thing we need to hear is just put in our path. When those things happen for me, I just say,"Thank you Jesus" and keep going. Bless you and keep you. :). Have a good one.
Krista Lynn Braun says
Thank you! I couldn’t agree more. I can’t wait to tell my mother-in-law to be about your blog. I’m pretty sure my fiancé sister I’ll be excited about it too. I hope you’re having a wonderful and blessed day!
Wendi Spraker says
Krista, Thank you so much! You are a doll! I appreciate you telling anyone you run into about this blog because I LOVE making new friends. Your friend is my friend. 🙂
Moxie says
I love southern sweet tea! thanks!
Claire P says
Yes, I agree for good tea a good water is equally important as sugar quantity. Many people make so many mistakes while making tea. Thank you for sharing the tips and these tips are very useful.
Wendi Spraker says
I totally agree!
Marcie says
Hi Wendi,
I’ve been making sun tea for my husband for years and am happy to have come across your recipe for sweet tea as I would like to be able to make his favorite drink during the winter months as well. Im looking forward to making tasty sweet tea in less time as well. Your recipe sounds like the perfect solution for me. I’ve always used more tea bags per 64 ounces, usually 7 or 8 for sun tea, to avoid weak tea. I and am wondering if yours is medium in strength by using only 4?
Lastly, can you please send me the link for the glass pitcher you prefer as I didn’t see it at the bottom of your page. Thank you again for sharing your recipe as well as the lovely family story behind it.
Sincerely,
Marcie F.
Wendi Spraker says
Hi Marcie!! Thanks for your lovely comment. :). You are IN LUCK because I’m sitting here with my husband enjoying a cup of coffee and he is the real tea expert PLUS an engineer. Lol. So, we agree that the recipe is correct (I had a recipe card update a few months ago and through the magic of all things computer some quantities didn’t make it through the change correctly so I have to double check every little thing). Anyway, the amounts are right and we both agree that sun tea DOES need more bags because the steeping action of sitting in the hot sun doesn’t get the flavor out as effectively as the near boiling hot water. I also recommend the simple syrup for sweetening (just leave out the cup of sugar) if you and your husband prefer different levels of sweet. Let me try to find the link for those tea pitchers here on my phone. We aren’t at home and I don’t have access to my big computer. If I don’t have it here I’ll send to you via email and post here on the page. Cheers dear!
Wendi Spraker says
One more note. Half a gallon is 64 oz. this tea pitcher holds half a gallon. If making my recipe and you only want to fill one container, cut the recipe in half. I bought two of these and use both and make a gallon. I like these because the top is wide and you can get your hand inside to clean, Glass so there is no staining and nothing to leach into your drink. Look beautiful. Store well in the fridge because square. Dishwasher safe. https://amzn.to/2U7YxN5