The Perfect Glass of Sweet Tea.
Dolly Parton called sweet tea ‘the house wine of the South” in the movie Steel Magnolias.
Just between you and me and a box of Tetley, when I came on the scene, my mother was a iced tea sweetened with Sweet-n-Low drinker. Therefore I became same.
It wasn’t till a couple of summers ago writing a piece for local magazine — that I began to question why had my South Georgia momma sweetened iced tea with Sweet-n-Low? For in researching my story, seemed like everyone else with a South, North, East or West Georgia momma had a pitcher of sweet tea in their refrigerator.
In talking to my mom when writing the earlier piece, I learned that my maternal grandmother did have a pitcher of sweet tea in their fridge, but that my mother — when pregnant with me in the 1960s — turned to Sweet-n-Low to save calories.
In the 60s, doctors told women to gain only 6 ounces during pregnancy. Thank you 1960s obstetrics. You are why I grew up deprived in the iced tea department.
I had to learn the ways of sweet tea from my friends.
* The brand of tea is important. (Though depending on who you talk to, the best kind changes like Falcons fans after a loss.)
* Color is important.
* Clarity is important.
Yes, it sounds like we are talking about diamonds.
Wanting to give up soft drinks, I started making sweet tea that summer and was baptized in beauty of steeped tea leaves.
I picked up a few things from my sources for that article that have grafted their way into my sweet tea mystique.
Heather — Tetley is king. Therefore I use Tetley. And this is the only reason I use Tetley, because Heather says it is smooth. Not sure what smooth means to tea but it seems to be an important factor.
Bob — Bob was big on clarity. Therefore I always look to see just how clear a batch is. Some people say a pinch of baking soda is the key to transparent tea.
Mom — Talked about the color of her mother’s, my grandmother’s, tea: Amber. I know. Sounds like a exotic dancer, but it’s a color you strive for in tea. Not sure exactly what Amber tea is but as Justice Stewart said about hard-core pornography in Jacobellis v. Ohio, “I know it when I see it.”
You just know if your tea is the right color.
Pam — I have Pam to thank for the half sweet/half unsweet rule. She grew up with sweet tea in the fridge as did all my sources, but now she cuts it in half.
That’s what I do. I order it way in restaurants. Fix it that way at convenience stores. And in my home.
It still tastes plenty sweet for me and saves a few calories.
Today was the day to make the first sweet tea of the season.
I dug out my two pitchers and fixed me a glass.
I use a recipe from Allrecipes. It’s pretty standard operating procedure from listening to all my sources and it works for me.
First, put the kettle on.
Have your pitchers waiting with six tea bags. You can put a pinch of baking soda in the bottom.
When the water boils, pour two cups on the bags and let steep 15 minutes.
Once that is done — you are almost there.
Take out the tea bags, stir in 3/4 sugar in the sweet tea container.
Then put six cups cold water into the concentrate in both pitchers.
Now that’s the color I’m talking about. Untouched photo, promise.
Then I poured half sweet and half unsweet.
Cheers.
What about you?
Sweet or unsweet?
Any secrets to share . . . ?
Mostly unsweet, sigh — those darn calories. It is Summer in a glass for sure. Adding Tetley to my grocery list.
As you know we weren’t a born-and-bred Southern family, but my next door neighbor taught my mom how to make Sun Tea (surprised you didn’t mention it.)
Fill a 1/2 gallon glass jar (must be glass, must have a lid) with water and 6 tea bags, let the tabs dangle on the outside and screw the jar shut. Leave on the front porch or driveway all day, then bring in and pour it into the pitcher full of ice. We always had lemon slices floating but not sugar.
I didn’t learn to drink sweet tea until I was in school in SC. I still prefer lemons, lemonade (or lemonade flavored Koolaid) to mix in my tea.
My mom didn’t do Sun Tea. I’ve never tried to make it on my lonesome but my mother-in-law used to always have a big jug out in the sun when the whole extended family was at the beach. Maybe we need to do that again this summer?
I never dreamed of drinking it worrying about the calories but I’ve come to believe that the real sugar sweetness satisfies me. A lot more than a diet drink. I might snack a little less if I have a glass of sweet tea in the afternoon. I might?
My pet peeve: The term” unsweetened tea”. Which is actually tea. There is sweet tea and there is tea. The end. The choice should be tea and sweet tea. Less syllables, smaller chance of a waiter /waitress misunderstanding your order. Whoever came up with the phrase “unsweetened tea” should be beaten. (If I want sweet tea I also prefer lemonade.)
A good point. Unsweetened tea definitely has to be a term from the South created by harried waitresses when people kept complaining that their tea wasn’t sweet.
Only gain six ounces! Oh my!!!
Your tea – that does look right! My great grandmother made the best sweet tea and no one ever watched her do it. I never order it and on the rare occasions I taste it I don’t like it because it doesn’t taste like hers. Only at Chic Fila (here in NC) it’s pretty close. And there I get half diet lemonade and half regular sweet tea.
Now this is all new to me. Up here in Canada – at least on the west coast – sweet tea isn’t really a thing. Now I’m wondering why. Love the look of it and will try it soon. Meanwhile, I’m off to share this. Loved it.
I may be a touch biased, being a Charleston girl, but there is nothing better than American Classic for iced tea. I will boil 8 cups of water with 1 cup of honey and a couple shakes of cardamom, then steep 6 bags of American Classic until the concentrate is the color of espresso. Then, I pour the concentrate into a 2-quart pitcher, squeeze the juice from a lemon in it, and fill with ice cold water. SO GOOD!
Love SweetTea. 🙂
Dear Husband has been making suntea in a spaghetti sauce jar. He’s THAT into it. 🙂 (it can’t be more than 26oz)
He’s a funny little man.
My fav is mint tea. If you need some mint go to my house and rob my mint patch. So refreshing. I like to go out and pick a very full handful of mint take it in and let it steep in boiling water for some time. The whole house smells fresh. Pour it over ice and add some sugar or not. Mint tastes good even without sugar.
Oh dear. Now I am smelling Ragu-favored sweet tea. I have mint in my gardens most summers. Where is your mint patch? I’d probably take a hunk of Bee Balm or something. And your tomato has lots of bitty blooms on it. 🙂
Wow. That sounds very exotic. Kind of like Charleston. I’m going to try this, promise.
Kenya — in that article I wrote I spoke to the owner of our local Chick-Fil-A. He said that that sweet tea outsells unsweet by a lot. And that they brew it fresh in the store. No concentrate.
I adore this. From the way your mama made it, to the way your friends make it, to the brands (Tetley!), to the bizarre beliefs of obstetricians in the 1960s…The next time I’m in Atlanta, I’m gonna be knocking on your door for a glass.
Come on out Karen. A pitcher will be in the fridge through summer.