Best Delicious Southern-style Sweet Tea
Some things in life, like a particular fragrance, the sound of the waves, or the taste of your favorite childhood dessert, can instantly take you back to memory lane. You roll down the window whenever you travel to the beach because the sea breeze instantly reminds you of summertime and school holidays when your annual one-week vacation to the beach was the pinnacle of your year. You’re always in a good mood when you breathe in the salty air and you wish you could store it for the cold season when you begin to feel far less beachy. The exact sentiment applies to Southern-style sweet tea and we can’t get enough of it. If you want to make Southern-style sweet tea just the way your mother used to, follow this simple recipe to get the perfect taste every time.
HOW TO MAKE SOUTHERN STYLE SWEET TEA?
Adding a tablespoon of sugar to iced tea is only one aspect of making sweet tea. Similar to making a less sweet version of simple sugar syrup, you can make this sweet tea in large batches by heating water and whisking in sugar until it dissolves. Then, brew the tea for a little while in the sugar syrup until it cools down — you now have a sweet tea solution. Take the tea bag and add it to water and the sweet concoction in a pitcher. For last-minute guests and to cool down during the sweltering summer, Southerners store pitchers of sweet tea in their refrigerators.
SOME TIPS AND TRICKS TO MAKE DELICIOUS TEA
Boiling
Tea feels excellent when you brew it with water that has a rolling boil in a pot on the stove. When you unevenly heat water in the microwave, it might lose temperature when pouring it into the kettle and impact the flavor of the tea. You can also use an electric kettle to ensure a perfect boil every time.
Steeping
Instead of putting the tea bags in the hot water, you should slowly pour water over them. Simmer them until you get a powerful, black, and intensely aromatic beverage. To ensure that you’re doing it right, the tea pitcher must be so black that you can’t read a newspaper through it.
Sweetening
You should add sugar to steaming tea as soon as you take the tea bags out. Sugar will affect the steeping if you do it before.
Cooling
To prepare a double-strength brew, soak the tea for a few minutes in boiling water. After that, add some cool water to start the cooling process before refrigeration. The tea will cool down fast if you mix it with ice, but it will drastically reduce the flavor as well.
CAN I USE GREEN TEA TO MAKE SOUTHERN STYLE SWEET TEA?
Yes, of course! For a version of iced tea with a less intense flavor, you can absolutely use green tea instead of black tea. In reality, people used to make sweet tea with green tea until the end of World War II. But then there was a ban on green tea imports and people started using black tea to make sweet tea because it was more easily available. And thereby, Southern sweet tea was brought into the world.
WRAPPING UP
This three-ingredient recipe of Southern-style sweet tea is so easy to make that even a novice can make it without messing it up. But be mindful that even the type of tea and amount of ice that you use count. Even though it’s widely available in supermarkets, fast food chains, and eateries, nothing tastes better than fresh sweet tea. You can identify the eateries that use a machine to brew their tea rather than a separate unit. It’s like having a drink with another person’s lipstick lingering on the rim of the pitcher. After reading this guide, you can definitely prepare the finest sweet tea at home and enjoy it with your loved ones.