Who would love a glass of good ol’ sweet tea? Well, if you asked this question in the South, it would be a resounding YES! However in Massachusetts, they would look at you like you had two heads.
History of sweet tea goes as far back as the late 1700s. South Carolina was known for being the only state to produce the tea commercially. In the 1800s when ice boxes were common, the idea of creating different kinds of tea and tea punches were published in a variety of community cookbooks.
By the 20th century, tea being served cold was common place. Why?… It is hotter than hell in the South and during the American Prohibition, it was a good alternative to illegal alcohol. Many well-known cookbooks, like Southern Cooking by Henrietta Dull, set the standard on how it was to be made. All ladies of society had this book and did their best to follow her recipe to a tee.
One of the biggest don’ts in preparing tea was that milk was never to be served with it. Well, darn, if New Englanders can have medium, regular ice coffee, why can’t Southerners have medium iced tea with milk?
If you want to try my recipe for the two types of traditional teas, Ice Tea and Sweet Tea, the recipe is the same but the only difference between the two is SUGAR.
Traditional Ice Tea and Sweet Tea Recipe
- Bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.
- Turn off heat, add 8 to 10 tea bags and let them steep for about 10 to 15 minutes. I prefer Lipton Black Tea bags.
- While still warm, pour the steeped tea in a gallon jug.
- If you want a traditional tea, no sugar required and go to Step 5. If you want sweet tea, place ½ cup of sugar and increase sugar slowly to get your desired taste. Usually 1 cup of sugar is sweet enough.
- Fill the rest of the gallon jug with cold water and refrigerate until nice and cold.
- Serve over ice, with or without lemon and enjoy.
Do you have a favorite tea recipe that was passed down to you? Please let me know and as always, thanks for stopping by.