This easy sweet tea recipe is super smooth and refreshing! You’ll want to keep a pitcher of this southern sweet tea in the fridge all summer.
A tall glass of homemade iced tea is the perfect drink for a warm day! By making it yourself, you get to decide how sweet it is. You can even add flavored teas to make different flavors.
Tonia’s Notes
Since I am on vacation this week at a beach house in North Carolina, I thought it would be fitting to share a sweet tea recipe. Wilmington has become our home away from home and our favorite place to travel. Every time we go, we drink gallons of sweet tea!
But back here in Minnesota, none of the restaurants serve sweet tea. I’m not even sure if you can buy it at the grocery store. When the weather got hot this summer, I started craving tea and started making it for my family. Here is the recipe I use. I hope you can feel the sunshine and hear the ocean waves in your mind while you drink it.
How To Make
Steep The Tea
Put six tea bags in a small glass pitcher and pour two cups of hot water over the top of them. Cover and steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bag (without squeezing them) and discard.
Secret Ingredient
The secret ingredient to making delicious sweet tea is baking soda! We have found that if you stir a little baking soda into the tea, it makes it super SMOOTH and less bitter tasting.
Sugar
Stir in the sugar of your choice. Granulated sugar is the traditional choice. Depending on how sweet you like it, you can add 3/4 to 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar. You can substitute all or part of the granulated sugar with your favorite sugar alternative.
Add Water
Pour the sweet tea concentrate from the small pitcher into a 2-quart pitcher. Next, pour cold water into the pitcher and stir. If you are in a hurry and want to cool off the tea quickly, add two cups of ice and 4 cups of cold water. If you did not add ice, add 6 cups of cold water.
Recipe Tips
After making countless pitchers of homemade iced tea, we tried many different things. Here are a few recipe tips for you and suggestions for things to try.
- Lemons: If you want to use lemon in your tea, put the lemon wedges in the bottom of the 2-quart pitcher before adding the tea concentrate and water.
- Flavored Tea: You can swap out a couple of the black tea bags with flavored tea bags such as peach, raspberry, or lemon.
- Storage: Store the tea in a covered container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
- Ice Cubes: You can freeze leftover sweet tea in ice cube trays and transfer them to ziptop freezer bags for storage.
- Serving: Serve the sweet tea chilled with ice and lemon wedges. Put it in mason jars for a little southern charm.
More Southern Recipes
Sweet Tea Recipe
Video
Ingredients
- 6 black tea bags
- 2 cups boiling water
- ⅛ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 cup granulated sugar use 3/4 to 1 1/2 cups depending on taste
- 6 cups cold water or use 2 cups ice and 4 cups cold water
Instructions
- Put six tea bags in a small glass pitcher and pour two cups of hot water over the top of them. Cover and steep for 15 minutes. Remove the tea bag (without squeezing them) and discard.
- Stir baking soda into the tea to make is super SMOOTH.
- Stir in 3/4 to 1 1/2 cups of granulated sugar.
- Pour the sweet tea concentrate from the small pitcher into a 2-quart pitcher. Next, pour cold water into the pitcher and stir. If you are in a hurry, add two cups of ice and 4 cups of cold water. If you did not add ice, add 6 cups of cold water.
- Serve chilled with ice and lemon wedges for garnish.
Ginny Schneider says
Is it safe to drink baking soda?
Cat Peters says
Lol – we bake with it. Im sure drinking it is perfectly fine.
Will says
Ginny,
I use it all the time for indigestion, just mix a teaspoon in a glass of water, stir to dissolve, and down the hatch..