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And just so you have the "authentic" Southern sweet tea recipe, be sure to use American Classic tea. It is grown right here on Wadmalaw Island, SC on the only working tea plantation in the United States. Wadmalaw is about 30-40 minutes South of Charleston....when you leave downtown, you cross onto James Island, then Johns Island, then Wadmalaw Island. We also have a wonderful winery on the same stretch of Maybank Highway on Wadmalaw.
American Classic has a better quality taste than Lipton, Nestea, etc. and it's nice to support local farmers!
And just so you have the "authentic" Southern sweet tea recipe, be sure to use American Classic tea
My Mother introduced me to that tea...haven't been a position to find it in the last 6 years but am back south now. Thanks for the reminder of the name. Liz
Be sure to put the teabags gently into the water and not pour the water on to the bags, because they will break and you will have little tea granules floating in your tea :-)
Cravin Melon wrote a song called Sweet Tea "...On the 8th day God made Sweet Tea"
And just so you have the "authentic" Southern sweet tea recipe, be sure to use American Classic tea. It is grown right here on Wadmalaw Island, SC on the only working tea plantation in the United States. Wadmalaw is about 30-40 minutes South of Charleston....when you leave downtown, you cross onto James Island, then Johns Island, then Wadmalaw Island. We also have a wonderful winery on the same stretch of Maybank Highway on Wadmalaw.
American Classic has a better quality taste than Lipton, Nestea, etc. and it's nice to support local farmers!
Funny I was thinking about tea today myself .... HOT tea! It's still freezing here in Massachusetts! Today 43 degrees / feels like 30! I am coming to SC in 2 weeks to search for a warmer home. I hope I have the courage to move. The cold weather is really beating me My first experience with sweet tea was last August I helped my friend move into her Georgia home and we had it at a local diner. LOVED IT!!!
Well my goodness I do declare. I have never seen so much fuss over a little ole tea bag in all my pea pickin life. Glad y'all enjoyed the recipe for sweet tea. Now, if y'all will kindly donate to my Pay Pal account I would sure nuff appreciate that..
Pardon me while I sip on my Mint Julip and fan myself under my Magnolia tree by my Veranda. I'm feeling a bit parched..
I found this thread quite by accident and I'm glad that I did.
Being from the north, I always wondered what was SO special about this concoction called "sweet tea". I had a friend a few years back and she mentioned "sweet tea" and I asked her what it was. I think she told me it was tea with sugar in it. My Yankee mind said "well, what's so special about THAT? we do that in the north too!" This thread has answered my question, and I'm glad for that.
A few years ago, I was working in Cincinnati and the Kroger's there carried superfine sugar and I bought a couple of boxes, only because that was the only sugar my father would ever use (he's been gone a long time) and it brought back pleasant memories for me. Well, then I took a job in Columbus, Ohio (just 200 miles north) and the Kroger's THERE did NOT carry superfine sugar. My reasoning was that Cinci was as close to the south, without actually BEING in the south, as one could get and it was probably used in sweet tea.
No need for super fine sugar.. It just takes regular sugar, boiling water and a few tea bags. Let it cool and place in the fridge over night.. TADA Sweat Tea.
For every pitcher of tea I make, I use three family tea bags and one and a half cup sugar. (yes, that's sweet.lol!) You can boil them on the stove, but I choose to do it in the coffee pot.
Always remember that us southerners love our REAL sweet tea - not that instant stuff.
I went from using Lipton for years to using Tetley but now I use organic black tea from Whole Foods.
My recipe:
3 tea bags in 4 cups of water
Bring just to a rolling boil.
Let it sit to the side for 15-20 minutes.
In a gallon pitcher put 7/8 cup of organic sugar.
Pour in tea, stir.
Fill to the top with water and stir again.
Yummy sweet tea!!
I live in Chicago and make my own. You only find sweet tea here at a few bbq joints or southern-style restaurants.
You can, however, get Dixie Crystals sugar and Luzianne teabags, so I make my own.
I can't deal with artificial sweetener. I can spot it a mile away. It does something to the back of my tongue..... There's a weird taste. I'm trying to cut back on sugar, though, so my tea has gotten less and less sweet. My mama never oversweetened hers. I like the tea flavor, and some people's tea just tastes like sugarwater.
At this point, I'm down to about 3/4 a cup per gallon. That's still a ton of sugar, but much less than usual. Still, it's gotten to be the way I like it. I guess I'd call that semi-sweet tea?
I think it's funny that some of my northern friends have gotten addicted to sweet tea, but make ME make it for them. As if they can't do it themselves! No real recipe. Hot water. Tea bags. Sugar. Done.
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My first experience with sweet tea was last August I helped my friend move into her Georgia home and we had it at a local diner. LOVED IT!!!
All this fuss over a couple of tea bags.
