# Brewing Sweet Tea



## Craig

My wife and I drink lots of sweet tea...and realized, paying nearly $4 a jug for it is too expensive...we were surprised to find a mr. coffee tea brewer for $20.00, so we bought it.

What kind of tea do you use? We bought Lipton tea bags...we just brewed a quart with 2 tea bags and 1/4 cup of sugar (we wanted to start small before we brewed a full pitcher) . It tastes decent, just not quite as sweet as I'm used to.
What ratio do you tea brewers use? (Preferably Southerners since y'all make the best sweet tea  )


----------



## Seb

We use 4 tea bags + 1 cup of sugar for 2 quarts of tea.


----------



## Southern Presbyterian

Seb said:


> We use 4 tea bags + 1 cup of sugar for 2 quarts of tea.



Sounds about right to me!


----------



## BJClark

Craig;3



> My wife and I drink lots of sweet tea...and realized, paying nearly $4 a jug for it is too expensive...we were surprised to find a mr. coffee tea brewer for $20.00, so we bought it.
> 
> What kind of tea do you use? We bought Lipton tea bags...we just brewed a quart with 2 tea bags and 1/4 cup of sugar (we wanted to start small before we brewed a full pitcher) . It tastes decent, just not quite as sweet as I'm used to. What ratio do you tea brewers use? (Preferably Southerners since y'all make the best sweet tea  )



I use my Coffee maker to brew tea, I typically use 6 tea bags (regular lipton tea bags or store brand doesn't matter) to one pot of water (12 cups) then add about 2 c of sugar to a 1 gallon pitcher and add another pot of water..and stir..


----------



## JBaldwin

How to make Sweet Tea if you live north of the Mason Dixon Line:

Boil 4 cups of water. Dump in 1 very large tea bag. Let it sit for about 5 minutes. Dump it into a pitcher and add water until it looks like its not too dark. 

Pour some of that good tea in a tall glass of ice. Please don't ask for sugar. We don't know how to sweeten tea.


----------



## Herald

Actually I drink iced tea unsweetened. I like the taste of tea, not sugar.


----------



## Quickened

Currently i am enjoying Orange Blossom White Tea from the Republic of Tea.


----------



## servantofmosthigh

I used to drink alot of sweet tea when I lived in Texas. When I moved north, sweet tea isn't as popular. When I got my health check back, they said my cholesterol was good, my blood pressure was good, but my glucose level was high. Well, that motivated me to drastically drop sweet tea and any other high-sugar products.

I hope you're watching your glucose level.


----------



## Dan....

The words "Sweet Tea" are redundant. Of course tea is sweet. 

Six tea bags and two cups of sugar to a one gallon milk jug of water.


----------



## Craig

servantofmosthigh said:


> I used to drink alot of sweet tea when I lived in Texas. When I moved north, sweet tea isn't as popular. When I got my health check back, they said my cholesterol was good, my blood pressure was good, but my glucose level was high. Well, that motivated me to drastically drop sweet tea and any other high-sugar products.
> 
> I hope you're watching your glucose level.



I'm watching my glucose level soar...and I'm okay with that


----------



## ServantOfKing

Tea makers are great as long as they do not pour the brewed tea into ice and sugar at the same time. This does not make true sweet tea. The sugar does not dissolve and spread into the tea properly when the liquid becomes too cool. 
Coffee makers are good for making sweet tea if you use them exclusively for tea. I have tasted some coffee flavored iced tea which was clearly brewed in a coffee pot... It was gross. 
I prefer to just boil the water in my tea kettle, pour it into the tea bags (Lipton usually) and sugar at the same time, let it brew until cooled to room temperature, and then transfer to refigerator to chill before serving. Sometime it does need to be watered down a little bit or else it can be very overpowering. It takes longer but the result is worth it. My husband is picky about the sweetness of his sweet tea!


----------



## cwjudyjr

Craig said:


> My wife and I drink lots of sweet tea...and realized, paying nearly $4 a jug for it is too expensive...we were surprised to find a mr. coffee tea brewer for $20.00, so we bought it.
> 
> What kind of tea do you use? We bought Lipton tea bags...we just brewed a quart with 2 tea bags and 1/4 cup of sugar (we wanted to start small before we brewed a full pitcher) . It tastes decent, just not quite as sweet as I'm used to.
> What ratio do you tea brewers use? (Preferably Southerners since y'all make the best sweet tea  )



I like very sweet tea. We use Cold Brew from Lipton. Place 4 large bags in a gallon and let it sit. Then add Splenda to sweeten to taste. 

With Cold Brew there is not clean up or device to store. 

Sometimes I place some mint in a small cheese cloth baga nd let it steep as the Cold Brew steep. Then sweeten for a great sweet minted tea. Especially good on hot, steamy summer days.

Conrad


----------



## Craig

cwjudyjr said:


> Craig said:
> 
> 
> 
> My wife and I drink lots of sweet tea...and realized, paying nearly $4 a jug for it is too expensive...we were surprised to find a mr. coffee tea brewer for $20.00, so we bought it.
> 
> What kind of tea do you use? We bought Lipton tea bags...we just brewed a quart with 2 tea bags and 1/4 cup of sugar (we wanted to start small before we brewed a full pitcher) . It tastes decent, just not quite as sweet as I'm used to.
> What ratio do you tea brewers use? (Preferably Southerners since y'all make the best sweet tea  )
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I like very sweet tea. We use Cold Brew from Lipton. Place 4 large bags in a gallon and let it sit. Then add Splenda to sweeten to taste.
> 
> With Cold Brew there is not clean up or device to store.
> 
> Sometimes I place some mint in a small cheese cloth baga nd let it steep as the Cold Brew steep. Then sweeten for a great sweet minted tea. Especially good on hot, steamy summer days.
> 
> Conrad
Click to expand...


Interesting...we'll try to work our way up to adding mint . That sounds really good for a hot summer day.

Our tea brewer isn't anything fancy...it heats water and is dripped over a filter filled with tea bags and sugar...from there it dispenses directly over ice. It really does work just like a coffee maker.

Last night I used 4 tea bags and a cup of sugar to 2 quarts of water...it came out a bit too watery...so we're going to add another tea bag and see how that goes.

If anyone has other refreshing ideas for sweet tea, I'd love to hear them.


----------



## Carolyn

Luzianne family-sized tea bags work nicely for ice tea as well. 

Another trick I've learned is to add a pinch of baking soda after brewing to neutralize the acid in the tea. This is especially good to do if you are not sweeting it.

I usually make sweet tea with a simple syrup. This seems to create the humming bird feeder-food quality that my friends and family adore.

Personally, I make up a batch of plain tea for me and hit the dessert table to raise my glucose level!


----------



## ServantOfKing

Carolyn, 
Where do you find syrup for your sweet tea? I've never seen that in the stores!


----------



## smhbbag

I only have one word for this thread: Bojangle's.

Any price. Any distance. Their tea owns me.


----------



## Carolyn

Oh, sorry, I just make my own: I heat equal parts sugar and water until the sugar dissolves. 

Sometimes the whole batch of syrup gets added to the whole batch of tea, much to my grumpiness. The idea is that they leave the tea plain and squirt the syrup into their own tea! Non-grainy sweetness for them, and refreshing plainness for me.

If I make a batch of sweet tea, I add 2 cups sugar per gallon of water.

That looks like this:

Bring 1 qt. water to boil. In a pyrex measure, have 3 family-sized tea bags waiting. Pour the boiling water onto the tea bags, cover (I use a plate) and steep for 15 minutes. Remove tea bags and add 1/4t. baking soda. Measure 2 cups of sugar into a gallon pitcher and pour the hot tea over the top, stirring to dissolve. Fill the pitcher with cold water and refrigerate. Serve with lots of sliced lemons, because someone like me will come along and put a whole lemon's-worth into her glass to counter the sweetness.

Sweet tea was a huge hit at our son's graduation open house two years ago. Hardly anyone up here had tasted it before (or had real BBQ before, but that's another story) and they just raved about it. We ended up with way more pop leftover because the kids kept drinking the tea!


----------



## Zenas

Craig said:


> My wife and I drink lots of sweet tea...and realized, paying nearly $4 a jug for it is too expensive...we were surprised to find a mr. coffee tea brewer for $20.00, so we bought it.
> 
> What kind of tea do you use? We bought Lipton tea bags...we just brewed a quart with 2 tea bags and 1/4 cup of sugar (we wanted to start small before we brewed a full pitcher) . It tastes decent, just not quite as sweet as I'm used to.
> What ratio do you tea brewers use? (Preferably Southerners since y'all make the best sweet tea  )



Dood, you were BUYING sweet tea? Now you BOUGHT a tea brewer?

Lemme break it down my brother. 

Get yourself a pot, you should already have one of these. Fill it halfway with water. Boil that sucker. When it's boiling, pour it in a pitcher which contains 2 to 3 teabags of your choice. Let it chill out. Take the teabags out and fill pitcher with water. Add sugar as you please. (I drink unsweetened). 

There you go, tea which cost whatever the teabags and sugar cost. That'll be $30.


----------



## Craig

Zenas said:


> Craig said:
> 
> 
> 
> My wife and I drink lots of sweet tea...and realized, paying nearly $4 a jug for it is too expensive...we were surprised to find a mr. coffee tea brewer for $20.00, so we bought it.
> 
> What kind of tea do you use? We bought Lipton tea bags...we just brewed a quart with 2 tea bags and 1/4 cup of sugar (we wanted to start small before we brewed a full pitcher) . It tastes decent, just not quite as sweet as I'm used to.
> What ratio do you tea brewers use? (Preferably Southerners since y'all make the best sweet tea  )
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dood, you were BUYING sweet tea? Now you BOUGHT a tea brewer?
> 
> Lemme break it down my brother.
> 
> Get yourself a pot, you should already have one of these. Fill it halfway with water. Boil that sucker. When it's boiling, pour it in a pitcher which contains 2 to 3 teabags of your choice. Let it chill out. Take the teabags out and fill pitcher with water. Add sugar as you please. (I drink unsweetened).
> 
> There you go, tea which cost whatever the teabags and sugar cost. That'll be $30.
Click to expand...


Sorry brother...you win the "I'm a cheap Dutch Calvinist" award...but that takes too much time for me! I brew the tea, it drips onto ice and can be consumed ice cold within a few minutes...$20 well spent  

If you're ever in Toledo, I'll let you have a glass


----------



## k.seymore

North Jersey Baptist said:


> Actually I drink iced tea unsweetened. I like the taste of tea, not sugar.



Me too. There is so much sugar in sweet tea I think there are probably some people who couldn't tell if you just left the tea out.


----------



## JM

I like 4 to 6 Earl Grey tea bags, 2 quarts of water, a teaspoon of lemon juice and a half cup of sugar for my cold tea.


----------

