Recipes:1.Sweet Tea

pinkbunny

pinkbunny

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Was thinking that we should actually post recipes.

Sweet Tea, ubiquitous, yet so often done wrong. Here's my recipe, post yours.

I use loose tea, as I think it has a better taste than the dust they use to make tea bags.

Ingredients:
Upton Tea Darjeeling-Ceylon Iced Tea Blend(https://secure.uptontea.com/store/i...a+Recommendations&sortMethod=0&categoryID=215 )
2/3 cup sugar

Optional:
Mint leaves+stems, broken
Lemons
Other fruit(peaches, strawberries, huckelberries, etc)

Directions:
Bring water to boil. Put 8 tablespoons loose tea in large tea ball. Steep tea five minutes in 2 qt pitcher, and longer and tannins make the tea bitter. Remove tea ball, add 2/3 cups sugar, stir until dissolved, fill rest of way with water.

Optionally, mint can be steeped with it, or any number of fruits, though I prefer straight.

Any other recipes?
 
Sounds good, minus the sugar. I prefer loose leaf tea as well. There are a few places to order online and it will be fresher than grocery store offerings.
 
During the winter we occasionally like a hot tea. We discovered PG Tips and it is good strong tea. It is not good for iced tea, though.

pg%20tips_zpsly3c6kxi.jpg
 
When we lived in Florida, we had a friend who had a "special" jug that he said was his grandmothers. It was made of glass, and had a small spigot near the bottom. He put all his ingredients in it, and then put it out in the hot Florida sun. He said that's how his Granny did it, and that's exactly how he did it. He called it "Sun tea." I don't know what all he put in it, but as Andy Griffith used to say, "It's Gooooooooooood!"
 
Two teas I quite liked as a base for a nice sweet tea were more fruity teas. Sometimes it's just fun to experiment.
http://www.mariagefreres.com/UK/2-marco-polo-classical-black-tin-100g-TC918.html
https://www.amazon.com/DAMMANN-FRERES-LOriental-Loose-Ounce/dp/B0031XKI8C

Got 5 tins of the marco polo tea from Williams Sonoma for $1 apiece. When they run out, I'm going to experiment with some blends.

The base of the L'Oriental, which is very similar to the Marco Polo, is green tea, main flavor being passionfruit, with secondary flavors of peach, strawberry, and cornflower.

So, when that runs out, I'll try blending teas.
https://www.freshroastedcoffee.com/organic-shangri-la-green.aspx
and
http://www.adagio.com/flavors/strawberry.html

Say, mix 1lb of the green tea mix with 3 oz of the black tea mix, I bet that'd make a nice cuppa tea.

At about 8tbsp per pitcher, and I think a 3.5 oz tin gives three pitchers worth, that should make 16 pitchers worth of tea, for $25. Not bad, especially since that will be a once-in-a-blue-moon luxury tea.
 
My favorite tea is Stinging Nettle tea. It's been a long time since I've had any. We used to harvest it when we were ginseng hunting.
 
I use the tea maker.

1 tea bag and 1/2c sugar per quart.

Melt the sugar in the water that's in the pitcher before brewing. It's just better that way.

Sometime 1 or 2 of the bags are switched to decaf.

After a day or two, you can stand a spoon up in it. :D
 
Luzianne or Lipton...don't matter.

2 qts of water in a pot. Toss in 2, that's 2, gallon size tea bags in the pot. Use just one and you might as well drink tap water. Throw the heat to it and get it rolling...just as soon as it does, cut the heat, but leave the pot sitting on the stove eye for around 10 minutes.

Dump a cup and a half of sugar (I use raw cane sugar) in a pitcher. Pour the hot tea in the pitcher. Using a plastic spatula, press the tea bags firmly against the inside of the pot to get every last bit of liquid out of them.

Now...stir that sh*t for at least a couple minutes to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Run another quart of cold water into the pitcher. Stir for a minute.

Fill the pitcher the rest of the way with ice. In the fridge and let it set for 10 minutes.

Take it out of the fridge. Fill a glass 1/2 full of homemade lemonade, which is to say lemonade made with lemons...not some powdered sh*t in a paper packet. Fill the glass the rest of the way with tea, but leave enough room for the displacement caused by the 4 or 5 cubes of ice you're gonna toss in, because if any of that nectar spills over the sides of your glass and gets wasted, you will most certainly spend eternity in everlasting hellfire.

Now, you've got yourself some tea. Drink up and enjoy. If you managed to spill any of it when you tossed in the ice, savor the tea because there will be none when you get to the hot place.
 
My sister-in-law makes her iced tea sweet by adding sugar while it is still boiling until it can't hold anymore in solution. I swear a spoon can almost stand by itself in a glass of that tea. Makes my teeth hurt and my eys water just thinking about it
 
Harold2689 said:
When we lived in Florida, we had a friend who had a "special" jug that he said was his grandmothers. It was made of glass, and had a small spigot near the bottom. He put all his ingredients in it, and then put it out in the hot Florida sun. He said that's how his Granny did it, and that's exactly how he did it. He called it "Sun tea." I don't know what all he put in it, but as Andy Griffith used to say, "It's Gooooooooooood!"
Click to expand...

yep i grew up on sun tea, though i didn't live in florida
 
wsfiredude said:
Luzianne or Lipton...don't matter.

2 qts of water in a pot. Toss in 2, that's 2, gallon size tea bags in the pot. Use just one and you might as well drink tap water. Throw the heat to it and get it rolling...just as soon as it does, cut the heat, but leave the pot sitting on the stove eye for around 10 minutes.

Dump a cup and a half of sugar (I use raw cane sugar) in a pitcher. Pour the hot tea in the pitcher. Using a plastic spatula, press the tea bags firmly against the inside of the pot to get every last bit of liquid out of them.

Now...stir that sh*t for at least a couple minutes to make sure all the sugar is dissolved. Run another quart of cold water into the pitcher. Stir for a minute.

Fill the pitcher the rest of the way with ice. In the fridge and let it set for 10 minutes.

Take it out of the fridge. Fill a glass 1/2 full of homemade lemonade, which is to say lemonade made with lemons...not some powdered sh*t in a paper packet. Fill the glass the rest of the way with tea, but leave enough room for the displacement caused by the 4 or 5 cubes of ice you're gonna toss in, because if any of that nectar spills over the sides of your glass and gets wasted, you will most certainly spend eternity in everlasting hellfire.

Now, you've got yourself some tea. Drink up and enjoy. If you managed to spill any of it when you tossed in the ice, savor the tea because there will be none when you get to the hot place.
Click to expand...


Most southern folks make their tea like this or something very similar. A few make the sun brewed tea others have mentioned, but I'm gonna give you a way to make the best tea you'll ever make. After you play with the idea a few times and decide exactly how you like it, you'll probably never make it any other way.

First let me explain that i come from a typical southern home whose tea was made just like what @wsfiredude posted. My problem was that when I got married and my wife went make tea it always seemed to be a little.... inconsistent. It was good one day and the next, well, not so much. Sometimes it would be weaker, sometimes stronger, even though we made sure it was made the same way each time. I also had issues with water quality that affected the flavor.

So I got smart and did it a little different. Family laughed when they saw what I was doing and then they tasted it. We've never looked back.

Tea is something that has to be made in advance, no exceptions. Now keep in mind that sugar in sweet tea gets stronger the longer it sits. This is something you have to manage. One cup of sugar may be sufficient if your not gonna drink it for three days.

Here's the easiest, best tasting tea you can make:

One gallon of water - I use bottled water, it's consistent and well worth the .75¢ or so it costs me
Five family size tea bags tied together at the tag - I use Luzianne
1.5 cups of sugar

Pour your water in your tea pitcher until almost full.
Pour sugar in and stir to mix well
Drop tea bags in with tags just hanging over the edge
Gently hold tea bags down long enough to allow them to become fully saturated
Place lid on pitcher and place in refrigerator
Wait 4 to 6 hours - depends on how strong you want it, play with it until your satisfied
Remove tea bags and stir a couple of times.
Enjoy.

It's so simple, and once you know how long to let them steep for your taste, you'll have the best tea in the neighborhood.
 
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Shrek said:
One gallon of water - I use bottled water, it's consistent and well worth the .75¢ or so it costs me
Four family size tea bags tied together at the tag - I use Luzianne
1.5 cups of sugar

Pour your water in your tea pitcher until almost full.
Pour sugar in and stir to mix well
Drop tea bags in with tags just hanging over the edge
Gently hold tea bags down long enough to allow them to become fully saturated
Place lid on pitcher and place in refrigerator
Wait 4 to 6 hours - depends on how strong you want it, play with it until your satisfied
Remove tea bags and stir a couple of times.
Enjoy.

It's so simple, and once you know how long to let them steep for your taste, you'll have the best tea in the neighborhood.
Click to expand...

After boiling it, correct?

Wanna get this right. Going to try it tomorrow at the firehouse.
 
wsfiredude said:
After boiling it, correct?

Wanna get this right. Going to try it tomorrow at the firehouse.
Click to expand...
No. No boiling. Just soak the teabags in the fridge.

It tastes just as smooth as can be. No scorch to worry about or nothing.

Take a sip after four hours and see how strong it is. Let it soak until you reach the strength you like.

*one correction* my wife says she's been using five bags instead of four lately cause they got weaker or something. (I ain't real sure she's right in the head, though)
 
Shrek said:
Here's the easiest, best tasting tea you can make:

One gallon of water - I use bottled water, it's consistent and well worth the .75¢ or so it costs me
Five family size tea bags tied together at the tag - I use Luzianne
1.5 cups of sugar

Pour your water in your tea pitcher until almost full.
Pour sugar in and stir to mix well
Drop tea bags in with tags just hanging over the edge
Gently hold tea bags down long enough to allow them to become fully saturated
Place lid on pitcher and place in refrigerator
Wait 4 to 6 hours - depends on how strong you want it, play with it until your satisfied
Remove tea bags and stir a couple of times.
Enjoy.
.
Click to expand...


^^^^^^^^^

This recipe is the shiznit.

Tried it at 5 hours. It was great, but that extra hour of steeping made it a bit stronger and imo, excellent.

Thanks for posting this!!!!
 
wsfiredude said:
^^^^^^^^^

This recipe is the shiznit.

Tried it at 5 hours. It was great, but that extra hour of steeping made it a bit stronger and imo, excellent.

Thanks for posting this!!!!
Click to expand...
Guess what - it will be the same every time. Just that good.

I don't know who started boiling the tea bags, but I would like to kick em in the rear.
 
pinkbunny said:
Was thinking that we should actually post recipes.

Sweet Tea, ubiquitous, yet so often done wrong. Here's my recipe, post yours.

I use loose tea, as I think it has a better taste than the dust they use to make tea bags.
.
.
.
Directions:
Bring water to boil. Put 8 tablespoons loose tea in large tea ball. Steep tea five minutes in 2 qt pitcher, and longer and tannins make the tea bitter. Remove tea ball, add 2/3 cups sugar, stir until dissolved, fill rest of way with water.
Click to expand...

You guys give me sh*t as a Northerner who drinks unsweetened tea and you have the unmitigated GALL to post what amounts to a NORTHERN recipe for sweet tea after posting the comment "Sweet Tea, ubiquitous, yet so often done wrong" in a GUN FORUM centered around the Carolinas?

That's either "gall" or "balls", considering that kind of thing is a shootin' offense in the South. I thought Southerners took their tea seriously?

Two-thirds of a cup, in a half gallon? You might as well be making tea for the family reunion on my Mom's side of the family in Indiana? 'Cause that's pretty much how I grew up making tea in Indiana. That's barely enough to taste the sugar, much less make the simple syrup Southerners like to call "tea".
 
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RetiredUSNChief said:
You guys give me sh*t as a Northerner who drinks unsweetened tea and you have the unmitigated GALL to post what amounts to a NORTHERN recipe for sweet tea after posting the comment "Sweet Tea, ubiquitous, yet so often done wrong" in a GUN FORUM centered around the Carolinas?

That's either "gall" or "balls", considering that kind of thing is a shootin' offense in the South. I thought Southerners took their tea seriously?

Two-thirds of a cup, in a half gallon? You might as well be making tea for the family reunion on my Mom's side of the family in Indiana? 'Cause that's pretty much how I grew up making tea in Indiana. That's barely enough to taste the sugar, much less make the simple syrup Southerners like to call "tea".
Click to expand...


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Curmudgeon said:
My sister-in-law makes her iced tea sweet by adding sugar while it is still boiling until it can't hold anymore in solution. I swear a spoon can almost stand by itself in a glass of that tea. Makes my teeth hurt and my eys water just thinking about it
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I had an old woman who used to watch us when we waz little make sweet tea so sweet that I couldn't hardly drink it!
 
RetiredUSNChief said:
You guys give me sh*t as a Northerner who drinks unsweetened tea and you have the unmitigated GALL to post what amounts to a NORTHERN recipe for sweet tea after posting the comment "Sweet Tea, ubiquitous, yet so often done wrong" in a GUN FORUM centered around the Carolinas?

That's either "gall" or "balls", considering that kind of thing is a shootin' offense in the South. I thought Southerners took their tea seriously?

Two-thirds of a cup, in a half gallon? You might as well be making tea for the family reunion on my Mom's side of the family in Indiana? 'Cause that's pretty much how I grew up making tea in Indiana. That's barely enough to taste the sugar, much less make the simple syrup Southerners like to call "tea".
Click to expand...
I call BS. As everyone knows about the barren wastelands of the north, they all drink their tea with no sugar. I remember being in Boston once, asked for tea. The pain of that trip stays with me today.

they-can-fill-me-with-whatever-yankee-beverage-they-want-8103964.png
 
pinkbunny said:
I call BS. As everyone knows about the barren wastelands of the north, they all drink their tea with no sugar. I remember being in Boston once, asked for tea. The pain of that trip stays with me today.
Click to expand...

We know the difference between "tea" (which has no sugar) and "sweet tea" (which has sugar).

If you ordered "tea" in the North, then you got EXACTLY what you ordered. If you wanted tea with suger, then ask for that.

Camellia Sinensis has not yet been geneticaly cross-bred with Saccharum Officinarum, though I strongly believe the day it is it will have been done by a Southerner.
 
I like my "sweet tea" less sweet than most. Can't stand overly sugary beverages of any sort. I might put 1/3 of a cup of sugar in a full pitcher, but no more.

That said, I've always used lipton family size tea bags, boiled them for a good 10-15 minutes, then squeezed everything out into a pitcher, added a little sugar, water, and stuck that puppy in the fridge.
 
I quit boiling my tea decades ago. I boil the water, then turn the heat off before I drop the bags in. Just let it steep for a few moments, then pour into the jug.

I used to press the tea bags, too, but quit that years ago as well. The tea will taste better if you don't do either of these things.

My wife, back in the early days of our marriage, used to make hers with decaf tea. There used to be two pitchers in the fridge all the time...hers (decaf and Southern sweet) and mine (unsweetened). She was always on me to quit drinking my tea and switch to decaf. No way! She told me I wouldn't be able to tell the difference, not believing me otherwise.

One day, I came home from base, poured myself a glass of tea...then said "You made this with decaf, didn't you?" "You can't tell!" "Then why am I asking you this question?"

Caffeine has a bitter taste, however slight it may be depending on how strong you make your tea. Take it out and you'll notice the first sip. Maybe not if you make your tea Southern sweet, though.

Tea is better if you use actual tea leaves...but I like the convenience of tea bags.
 
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