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I don't know. My Grandmother told me that is the secret. And to be honest, I have never tried leaving it out! You know, "If it ain't broke don't fix it!" Besides, you always accepted Grandma's answer and never questioned again. She was a tough ole gal and we learned real quick!
Ouch, Baby Firefly. To me that just isn't tea. It is like drinking instant coffee or eating tofu instead of real meat. I'm impressed with those who can.
You are tougher than I am. Stir on, Baby Firefly!!!
I make some pretty darn good sweet tea (IMHO) myself, similar to Cracker Barrel's, maybe a little less bitter.
*I first get the 2 Litre pitcher (or is it 1/2 gallon?) and fill it almost half full with ice cubes.
*I take a regular sized lemon, cut in in half, take out as many seeds as I can then squeeze it over the ice.
*Then I add my sugar to the ice; anywhere from 1/2 to 1 Cup. Around 3/4 Cup is enough tea to make it taste as sweet as apple juice.
*I then put 3 orange pekoe tea bags into a tea pot and pour about 500 mL of boiling water into it or filling it almost to the top. I use two spoons and I gentle squeeze the bags while they are steeping. I spend anywhere from 1.5-3 minutes steeping the tea.
*I remove the bags one by one, squeezing the extra tea back into the tea pot until they're almost dry and then discard them.
*Finally I pour them over my lemon-juice and sugar covered ice and stir. By the time the ice has all melted, there's no undisovled sugar. Makes a little less than 2 Litres of iced tea.
My tea comes out a little cloudy/opaque, but I heard that's because of the tea I use.
"Luzianne" I heard is made to make clear ice tea, but they don't sell it in Canada.
It still tastes great anyways and has a real caffeine kick.
I wholeheartedly agree with everyone here on making ice tea.
Here is what I do in a pinch - take 2 bags of British Tetely tea, large mug of water, place in microway until it boils. The tea is concentrated. Fill up a glass with ice, 3/4 water and 1/4 concentrated tea -- and it is delicious.
i take about 4 spoonfulls of the lipton ice tea mix and mix it with cold water
and i'm done
Oh my goodness, honey! I'm sorry, but that sounds perfectly awful! Although, I would have to say, that is iced tea, alright. There is a definite difference between iced tea, and sweet tea, and it seems to be regional. I knew better than to ask for sweet tea, up in New York City, when I was there some years ago, because I knew darn well they would have no idea what I was talking about. They would have handed me a glass of iced tea, with a sugar packet! Blegh! What a travesty! As SimplyAged said, you're tougher than us!
Oh, and SimplyAged, the baking soda is to take out the bitterness, to make it smoother tasting. Rather like putting salt in the coffee grounds, prior to making coffee. Also helps to keep the tea clear, not allowing it to cloud up. At least that's what I was given to understand. It seems to work, though.
mmmm, I use "Awake" as my special hot tea. It's too good for tea by the gallon.
Agreed. Usually I drink it hot. I started drinking Tazo Teas and nothing else satisfies me now. We don't drink much iced tea so I usually don't make large quantities. I also like Earl Grey iced. I just throw some sugar and water in a pan, heat it till it becomes syrup, add to tea with some lemon. When we move south, probably be drinking more iced. LOL
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I don't know. My Grandmother told me that is the secret. And to be honest, I have never tried leaving it out! You know, "If it ain't broke don't fix it!" Besides, you always accepted Grandma's answer and never questioned again. She was a tough ole gal and we learned real quick! 
