Sweet Tea

Sweet Tea

1 gallon serving

I have been making southern sweet tea all my life.   My mother, who is from Charleston, South Carolina taught me how to make this sweet, refreshing drink.   The following recipe is pretty much a copy of my mother's recipe, except for one ingredient. 

I was on Pinterest.com and came across a recipe for sweet tea.  I checked it out, and to my surprise, it said that there was a secret ingredient in making perfect sweet tea.  Well, as I've explained, I've been making sweet tea all my life, so I was interested.   How could this secret ingredient make southern sweet tea better?   The Pinterest posting said that this ingredient would remove all bitterness and create a smooth, clear amazing tea.  

I made this perfect sweet tea recipe, as directed, and after the very first sip, . . . I tasted the difference.   If you can believe this, baking soda is the secret ingredient.  It really does make a better southern sweet tea.

Ingredients:

5 - 8 family size tea bags, or 12 regular size tea bags
4 cups boiling water
12 cups cold water
1 1/2 - 2 cups sugar
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Directions:

Step 1

Bring 4 cups of water to a boil.  Turn off the heat and add tea bags.  STEEP FOR 15 MINUTES.

Step 2

Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon baking soda into a large (1 gallon) pitcher.

Remove the tea bags and pour steeped tea into the pitcher.  Add 1 1/2 - 2 cups sugar and stir until completely dissolved.  Pour in 12 cups of cold water, and stir some more.

Refrigerate. 

Serve sweet tea over ice.