Name: Southern Sweet Tea Recipe
Prep time: 25 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 5 cups water; 5-6 tea bags (depending on how strong you want your tea); 2/3- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (depending on how sweet you want it); Optional: lemon and mint; Ice

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This Southern Sweet Tea Recipe is a classic made with ease and deliciousness! With simple ingredients like a tea bag, sugar and the right garnish, you can make the perfect glass of refreshingly tall ice cold tea easily or even an Arnold Palmer with this Lemonade especially when served with Southern Tea Cakes! Take this sweet tea recipe and make my Sweet Tea Fried Chicken then serve along with mustard greens, mac and cheese, candied sweet potatoes and cornbread for the perfect meal.

The MOST Refreshing Southern Sweet Tea Recipe

Sad truth: I have probably had way more Southern Sweet Tea in my life than plain water. I know that sounds crazy but it is a fact. A pitcher of it existed on every supper table through my youth.

Whether we were at home in Chicago or visiting family in Mississippi, sweet tea was the beverage of choice (whether I wanted it or not) for almost every meal except breakfast. It still finds its way into my fridge from time to time, especially when the weather warms up.

What Is Sweet Tea?

While Sweet Tea is basically served all over the world in various ways, we are going to concentrate on what Southern Sweet Tea is.

Southern Sweet Tea is commonly known as brewed tea that has been sweetened with usually sugar then served ice cold in a refreshing manner.

The appeal of a Southern Sweet Tea Recipe is pretty clear: Ice cold tea with heaps of sugar to cut that tea tartness. Whoever invented this was a genius! Most Southerners would like you to believe that there is a real science to

making this beverage but I think that’s just a bunch of hoopla that has been brainwashing folks for years. The reality is it is quite simple to make a good ole fashioned homemade Sweet Tea Recipe. I almost didn’t have a real recipe to share in this post. In fact, the recipe below is more of a guideline than a set recipe to follow to the tee.

How To Make Sweet Tea

With more of a detailed idea of how to create sweet tea, you can pretty much follow your gut (and taste buds) through the process to create a rendition that will satisfy your thirst whenever necessary.

So really you only need like 3 (or 4) things to create this homemade sweet tea recipe:

Water
Tea bags
Sugar
If you want to get fancy, lemon.

That’s it. Why folks make this such a big deal is beyond me. And some ice, don’t forget how good iced tea can be.

We personally throw tea bags directly into boiling hot water and allow them to brew releasing the essence of the tea.

Tip: The longer your brew your tea, the stronger it will be. However don’t worry too much because as soon as you add ice, you will dilute the strength somewhat.

For sugar content, this is very subjective. I know folks who love their tea to taste as sweet as candy and then others that like theirs a bit on the bitter side. Again, all subjective so do what makes sense for you.

Tip: The safe way to approach this is by adding half of the sugar, allowing it to dissolve completely and then tasting and deciding how much more to add.

Lemon or mint? That’s more of a new aged thing to some. My big mama certainly would think so but I love adding them to my pitcher because of the additional flavor infused in the tea and how lovely it looks swirly around in my mason jar.

For entertaining you can add them to your pitcher or even add other fruits to make the colors pop! My Peach Sweet Tea is a great recipe to try!

What Tea Brand Should I use for my Homemade Sweet Tea Recipe?

Now for tea bags, the South is pretty loyal to Luzianne but Lipton makes good sweet tea too so grab one of those boxes and get busy.

When it is all said and done, making a Southern Sweet Tea Recipe is no sweat, believe me, and it is a very personal thing. Make it your own and enjoy a big glass for me, okay?

*Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating and leave comments below!*

**Post a photo of how your version of the recipe came out on Instagram (using #grandbabycakes)!!**

Southern Sweet Tea Recipe

This Southern Sweet Tea Recipe is a classic made with ease and deliciousness! With simple ingredients like a tea bag, sugar and the right garnish, you can make the perfect glass of refreshing tall cold tea with ease!

5 from 4 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Drink

Cuisine: Southern

Keyword: classic recipe, southern, sweet tea

Prep Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 25 minutes

Servings: servings

Calories: 279kcal

Author: Jocelyn Delk Adams of Grandbaby-Cakes.com

Ingredients

5 cups water
5-6 tea bags depending on how strong you want your tea
2/3- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar depending on how sweet you want it
Optional: lemon and mint
Ice

Instructions

Add water to a medium sized pot and boil over high heat.
Once boiling, turn off heat and add tea bags. Steep for 10-25 minutes (depending on strength you prefer).
Stir in sugar in increments until it completely dissolves into the hot tea.
Remove tea bags from pot then pour tea into a large pitcher.
Add enough water to fill the pitcher then add lemon wedges and mint (if you would like for garnish and flavor).
Refrigerate until ready to serve. Add ice to glasses and serve.

Notes

Remember to taste your your tea as you add the increments of sugar. This will allow you to make the tea as sweet as you prefer. If you add too much sugar, remember to just add more water to your tea.

Nutrition

Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 72g | Sodium: 11mg | Sugar: 72g | Calcium: 6mg

facebook

twitter

Comments

Susanna says

September 19, 2020 at 12:04 pm

We don’t seem to get iced tea much in the UK, but we got some hot weather this summer & your recipe for iced tea has been going down very nicely here . Thank you, l knew it was refreshing but l had no idea it was so easy to make

william dalton says

July 16, 2019 at 4:15 pm

I live in Leesburg Florida and I always keep sweet tea in the fridge. IMO most restaurants make tea too sweet so I order half and half. My recipe is easy and sweet enough without being like syrup. I make a 1 gallon recipe. Fill a gallon jug with water. Next pour a quart of the water in a 2 qt pot then turn stove on to med high and add 1 gallon size tea bag along with 1 family size tea bag. Bring to boil then turn off stove and cover pot for 15 minutes. Next take off the pot cover and turn it upside down then put the used tea bags in the lid and mash out some tea and pour into the tea pot. With the lid still in hand put bags into trash. Next put 2/3 cup of sugar along with a scant 1/4 cup of splenda (just enough to save a few calories without making the tea taste weird). Stir in the sugars they melt much faster when the tea is hot. Put a funnel in the big jug and pour in the tea. Let the tea jug sit on the counter until it cools to room temp. 8oz serving = 38 cal

Paula says

July 13, 2019 at 2:43 pm

I have been making iced sweet tea this summer, using two English Breakfast tea bags steeped in a half-gallon Mason jar and sweetened with stevia. All my life, I have been drinking my iced tea unsweetened! This, however, is delicious…and so good for those who are cutting out sugar. Sometimes, I do add a little lemon or a few fresh mint leaves……….!

Marie Czarnecki says

July 2, 2019 at 10:13 pm

When I drove long haul and delivering in the South I always had sweet when I stopped at a TRUCK STOP for my dinner, especially “RASPBERRY” OMG…IN HEAVEN.. My regular education was in the Medical Field though.

Mary says

June 23, 2017 at 7:07 pm

I’m guessing the pitcher is 2 qts or is it larger? Looking forward to trying this.

- Jocelyn (Grandbaby Cakes) says
  
  June 24, 2017 at 11:24 am
  
  Yes that should be good!