Sweet tea question, for those of you who drink it

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 6,122]

Do you brew it and add sweetener or get it out of a jar?

 

whats your recipe?

 

 

 

Edited August 3 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Forty Rod SASS 3935 5,907]

I prefer to brew it myself, generally a gallon a week) but have found Crystal Light powder mix to be a suitable substitute for those days when I'm lazy or in a hurry.  It comes six envelopes to a package and each envelope makes two quarts.  There is a smaller envelope that makes glass full for when you are traveling, but I can't find it locally.  Give it a shot.....unless you are a purist.

 

Checkout other Crystal Light products.  They make a decent lemonade for use under the above conditions or when you can't fins a lemon source that's worth the price for inferior lemons.....like here.  One of the very few things I miss about California is large, fresh lemons and really great avocados.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774 2,149]

5 quart teabags

1 1/2-2 cups cup of sugar

 

Use a sauce pan and place all 5 teabags in water and bring to a rolling boil

 

Place sugar in a gallon pitcher.  Pour hot tea into pitcher and stir until sugar is completely dissolved.  Add cold or tap water until pitcher is full.

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748 17,502]

We brew ours. I no longer brew it but I would take a bit over a gallon of fresh filtered water and get it boiling. I would dump a  cup of sugar into the water the stir. I  would remove the water from the heat and then toss in 3 large Red Rose teabags or a dozen small ones and let it steep for 10 or so minutes then remove the bags and cool in the fridge. Good stuff.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 6,122]

Thanks. Didn’t know that tea bags came in big and little sizes.

 

planning for guests, figure I should at least have this in my repertoire.

 

 

 

Edited August 3 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984

[Alpo 5,243]

I learned this from my mother.

 

Bring two cups of water to a rolling boil. While it is heating half fill a half gallon pitcher with water. Pour in 3/4 cup sugar, and stir until completely dissolved.

 

When the water comes to a boil, turn off the heat and put a heaping teaspoon of black tea into the water. Let it steep for 5 minutes. Pour it through a strainer into the sweetened water in the pitcher. Stir to mix, then add water to bring it up to the half gallon line. Refrigerate.

 

This is a bitch to make because it is almost impossible to find loose tea anymore.

[Utah Bob #35998 13,509]

33 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Thanks. Didn’t know that tea bags came in big and little sizes.

 

planning for guests, figure I should at least have this in my repertoire.

 

 

 

 

[Marshal Hangtree 1,716]

We follow Smuteye's recipe, but we brew the tea bags through the coffee maker instead of boiling on the stove.  My wife's arthritic hands can handle the coffee carafe much better than trying to safely handle a large pot of boiling tea off the stove.

[Marshal Hangtree 1,716]

Or you could just buy Publix's sweet tea by the gallon.  Not bad for store-bought tea.

[Sedalia Dave 9,514]

2 minutes ago, Marshal Hangtree said:

We follow Smuteye's recipe, but we brew the tea bags through the coffee maker instead of boiling on the stove.  My wife's arthritic hands can handle the coffee carafe much better than trying to safely handle a large pot of boiling tea off the stove.

 

I use a drip coffee maker as well.  However it has never had coffee made in it. If you use a coffee maker be sure if has been thoroughly cleaned before making tea in it. Otherwise it will give the tea a bad taste.

[Trigger Mike 828]

We drink it every day.   My wife sweetens it in the picture,  I sweeten it while in the pot and don't need as much that way.  I don't like to cook it above medium but my wife cooks it on high

[Father Kit Cool Gun Garth 6,364]

Out tea is made through the coffee maker as well.

Easy as pie!

The secret to our recipe is that not only do we put six (6) regular tea bags in the basket, but we also put two (2) special flavored tea bags as well to enrich the taste, such as:

 

 

The tea container already has two (2) heaping scoops of regular sugar:

 

[Smuteye John SASS#24774 2,149]

Coffeemakers make it much easier...

 

BUT...

 

I don't like the residual coffee taste you get if the maker hasn't been cleaned thoroughly prior to swapping to tea making.  The problem seems to be in the diffuser and the basket.  The baked in coffee flavor tends linger no matter what.

 

The coffeemaker method is almost identical to the method used in restaurants.  The big Bunn tea makers that turn out 3 to 5 gallon batches work basically the same way.  For big batches like those, figure 1 1/3 to 1 1/2 cups of sugar to the gallon- unless you are a fan of really sweet sweet tea, then go with 1 3/4 to 2 cups.

 

I prefer quart tea bags for home use and stick with 'one bag for each unit of measure and one for the pot'.  Then again, I like the flavor of tea, so I make ita bit strong, and want only enough sugar to take the bitterness out.

Edited August 3 by Smuteye John SASS#24774

[Arizona Gunfighter 333]

Arizona brand makes a decent sweet tea, of course nothing beats fresh brewed sweet tea .

[Pat Riot, SASS #13748 17,502]

4 hours ago, Sedalia Dave said:

If you use a coffee maker be sure if has been thoroughly cleaned before making tea in it. Otherwise it will give the tea a bad taste.

I think you have it backwards. 

[Rowdy Ranger Rick 28]

I like my tea strong and unsweetened, restaurants have weak tea. I drink about 3 quarts of tea every day as well as water and occasional 'zero type' soft drink. I heat water in a quart canning jar, 3 1/2 minutes in microwave, then 4-6 individual cup tea bags, steeped 5 minutes or longer. I drink this as hot tea, or pour into drinking glass with ice for iced tea. In the same jar I'll use a gallon tea bag and 2-3 individual cup tea bags(or 8-10 individual bags) for 1/2 gallon of tea adding water and ice to fill 1/2 gallon jug. I like all the various flavors, herbal teas, and I mix them. I might drink caffeinated first half of day and decaf 2nd half. I like all the Celestial Seasonings teas, Rooibos, Oolong, green/white, and English/Irish teas. Do not squeeze black tea bags if you want to limit that bitterness taste. You can squeeze all others.

 

Unsweetened tea takes a little getting used to, and I do enjoy sweet tea sometimes when eating out. Waitress once told me unsweetened tea was like drinking muddied water, and Rooibos, Oolong, and Pau d'Arco teas are a little on the woody/earthy side of flavor.

 

When I come in from hunting (sitting on the side of a cold tree in Winter) a quart of strong hot tea is really nice.

 

RRR

[Anvil Al #59168 263]

Brew it.

Or.

I have got lazy and found that I like a brand called Red Diamond.

Buy it in gallon jugs at the store.

[MizPete 1,071]

I make 1/2 gallon every other day.  1qt Tetley tea bag, 1qt Luzianne tea bag, 12 cup water in a 12-cup coffee maker.  Sweeten to taste while hot.  I was weaned on Lipton but this stuff is better.  Buying in bottles is just trifling, says she from South Carolina.

[Sedalia Dave 9,514]

5 hours ago, MizPete said:

I make 1/2 gallon every other day.  1qt Tetley tea bag, 1qt Luzianne tea bag, 12 cup water in a 12-cup coffee maker.  Sweeten to taste while hot.  I was weaned on Lipton but this stuff is better.  Buying in bottles is just trifling, says she from South Carolina.

 

I grew up on Lipton. Then I was introduced to Luzianne late in my teen years. Will never knowingly go back to Lipton. Used to have my mom mail boxes of Luzianne tea when I was stationed in Spain and the PRoK.

 

As a side note the last box of Luzianne I got was not near the quality I am used to and it tends to turn after 4 days.  

 

I'll be glad when this coronavirus crap is over and food quality gets back to what it was. seems like about 3/4 of what we buy is sorely lacking in consistent quality.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 6,122]

Thanks. I followed up on the many leads here and tracked down availability, etc.

learned “family size” means quart.

 

the “pitcher” I keep in the fridge is a 1.5 qt peanut butter jar, so family size is what I’ll probably use.

[Rye Miles #13621 5,284]

16 hours ago, Pat Riot, SASS #13748 said:

I think you have it backwards. 

No way I'll ruin my coffee with making tea in my coffeemaker! Don't be messin' with my coffee!!

[Smuteye John SASS#24774 2,149]

14 hours ago, Anvil Al #59168 said:

Brew it.

Or.

I have got lazy and found that I like a brand called Red Diamond.

Buy it in gallon jugs at the store.

If you like Red Diamond (which I do), you'd love Milo's. 

 

They are a regional chain of burger joints based out of Birmingham that makes a sweet tea so good that they have it bottled and sold in grocery and convenience stores.

 

I hear their lemonade is pretty good, too.

[Smuteye John SASS#24774 2,149]

On 8/3/2020 at 11:33 AM, Marshal Hangtree said:

Or you could just buy Publix's sweet tea by the gallon.  Not bad for store-bought tea.

Publix is drinkable but runs to the weak side for my tastes.  On the other hand, it's readily available in half and full gallon jugs.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 6,122]

If I really get into this, I’d have two coffee makers, one dedicated to tea.

[Blackwater 53393 4,452]

I used to make tea and then refrigerate it.  I always added the sugar as I poured the boiling water into the pitcher then steeped the tea to taste and squeezed the last of the water out of the tea bags.  Later, I obtained a tea ball.

 

Now I buy ready made tea in gallon jugs. There are several brands available and some are better than others. I have found a brand that suits me and the ingredients fit my tastes and diet.   Those sweetened with cane or beet sugar are far better for you than those the use corn syrup or artificial sweeteners!