WFMW: Texas Sweet Tea
Okay, so I am playing a little fast-and-loose with the title TEXAS sweet tea. I know there are plenty of Texans out there who might beg to differ with me that this is how Texans make sweet tea. So let me just say that this is how we in the SortaCrunchy household (firmly planted in Texas) make us some sweeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet tea.
(We also don't have a recipe handed down to us from a great-great-grandmother who made the original sweet tea. Our concoction is a melding together of many recipes we have come across; we have tinkered and made it our own!)
Recipe for one gallon of sweet tea:
1 gallon of water (divided; tap will do fine)
3 or 4 cups of sugar (how much do you love your dentist?)
12 Luzianne iced tea bags
In a large pot, bring 2 quarts (half a gallon) of water and all of your sugar to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, remove pot from heat and add the tea bags. Cover and let sit. (I'd say at least half an hour, but we let ours sit up to two hours sometimes.) After tea has steeped, remove tea bags and pour tea into a gallon sized container. Fill with two more quarts of water (to make a gallon - the magic of math and measurements!). Chill and serve over ice. I like a lemon wedge or two in mine to cut the sweetness, but The Coach prefers his straight up.
A gallon makes a LOT of tea, so unless you are having company over for a grill-out, you may want to make just half a gallon. Tea (sweet and otherwise) tastes funny to me after it's been in the fridge for three or more days.
Enjoy!
For more Works For Me Wednesday tips, pour a glass of tea and drop by Rocks in My Dryer!
11 comments:
YAY for sweet tea. I live in MI, and NO ONE up here even knows what it is. Great recipe!
For a gallon of tea, I use four decaf black tea bags (unflavored, like Luzianne, in other words) and one decaf Constant Comment (it's a lovely orange flavor.... MMMM!) and eight tablespoons of sugar. You like yours a lot sweeter than I do, but I'm in Indiana, so of course... Anyway, I just fill it with hot tap water and let it sit on the counter until it looks done. Then I stick it in the fridge.
In other words, I'll bet you could save yourself a fortune if you used half the tea bags, and you'd never know the difference.
We definitely go through this much tea in a day in our house (but I'm breastfeeding two kids, so, ya know...). Tea can grow botulism, so if it tastes "off" to you, definitely throw it out, particularly in restaurants.
Amy
http://prettybabies.blogspot.com
Mmmm, love me some sweet tea here in my Indiana home too! A friend with Southern roots clued me in on how to make it, and it's a staple in our fridge all through the summer months.
However...holy SUGAR Batman!!! LOL My friend's recipe called for 1 1/2 cups, and I usually reduce that by at last half! I guess I couldn't cut it as a Texan...however, I'd be intrigued to try some of that tea!
Oh Megan, you're going to be the death of me!!! Let me start by saying...grilled bananas..YUM!!!!! Max LOVED them!! Now I have a craving for some tea!!
That doesn't sound like tea, that sounds like DESSERT! I'll bet it's delishous!
I usually use 2 large size teabags, plus one lg rasberry teabag and then about 3/4 to 1 cup sugar for a 1/2 gal.
But I'm not really FROM Texas, I just live here.
Now ya'll! I am staring to get the impression you don't like your tea so sweet it makes your teeth hurt! What you have to remember is we are talking about making a gallon of tea here. That's a lot! And you also may have forgotten we are talking Texas here - you know, bigger is better and more is more?
I am loving the idea of adding some flavored tea bags in the mix. Had not thought of that, but it sounds yum!
(Nichole - so glad Max loved the bananas. D loves them too!)
Over here in Georgia we put 1 1/2 cups of sugar in a gallon of tea. But, I'm thinking next time I'm in Texas I'm finding some of your sweet tea! Cause that's some sweet stuff!
I'm ashamed to admit it, but I stopped drinking sweet tea about 5 years ago (please don't report me to the authorities!). I now drink it decaffinated and unsweetened with 1 Sweet and Low. But, I hope they don't revoke my "southern" status!
Blessings,
Georgia Mom
Yum! My mom's family is from Texas and one of my favorite memories is sitting on the porch with my Papaw (Grandpa) drinking sweet tea. I should make some...is it sacreligious to use decaf tea bags?
Wow! That is a lot of sugar! It makes my teeth hurt just thinking about it and I love me some sugar! Anyway, that's generally how I make my iced tea in the summer, but I only use 8 tea bags, 1 cup of sugar, and one packet of kool-aid lemonade sugar-free mix + 1 TBS lemon juice. We drink through it pretty fast so it doesn't stay in the fridge long.
I make my tea almost the same way. I put 1 cup of sugar per gallon, and I don't boil the sugar with the water. I just put the sugar in the bottom of the pitcher and when I pour the warm and freshly steeped tea over it, it dissolves it. And I use like 3 Family Size tea bags... and yes it's decaf. Then I just add water from the tap to fill up the pitcher. It's not really very scientific or measured on my end.
Um, from what I see, sweet tea is popular in TX. I'm planning a trip to Arlington, TX next month. From what I've read about sweet tea in TX all I've seen is people making it at home. If I go to a restaurant down there how likely am I to hear "we only have unsweet"? Because I will get seriously pissed off if that happens. Some people have told me restaurants in TX just serve it unsweetened and make you sweeten it yourself (which is impossible if you're using sugar) and other people tell me the exact opposite that if you don't want sweet tea you have to specifically ask for unsweet cause if you go to a restaurant in TX and you ask for iced tea it's gonna be sweet tea unless you specifically say unsweet. Obviously one of these people is lying to me (both are from Arlington) so which is it? Any help would be appreciated. Please email me at megagreen@cox.net if anyone has an answer.
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