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southern sweet tea in a glass picture outdoors with ice and slices of lemon

Sweet Iced Tea

5 from 3 votes
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Ingredients
  

  • 4 family-size tea bags
  • 1½ cups sugar
  • Pinch baking soda
  • Lemon slices for garnish

Instructions
 

  • In a medium saucepan, bring about 1 quart water to a boil over medium heat. As soon as the water comes to a boil, immediately remove the saucepan from the heat.
  • Add the tea bags and let the tea steep for 20 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the tea bags.
  • Put the sugar in a gallon-size pitcher. Pour about half of the hot tea into the pitcher and stir until the sugar is dissolved. Pour the remaining tea into the pitcher and stir.
  • Add the baking soda and cold water to fill the pitcher and stir. Serve over ice with slices of lemon.

Notes

I have a few important notes that every Southerner should know about making iced tea. Make sure you turn the heat off right when the water begins to boil. If you allow it to boil, it will become bitter. The pinch of baking soda will prevent the tea from becoming cloudy. Last but not least, Red Diamond is my family’s favorite brand of tea, hands down. Lipton, Luzianne, or Tetley would be fine for this iced tea, too.
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