Tip Tuesday: Easy Homemade Sweet Tea (page 2)

Tip Tuesday: Easy Homemade Sweet Tea

Posted by Alexandra C. | Tuesday October 16, 2012

I mentioned last week, that over the course of my trip to Orlando, I had fallen in love with southern sweet tea. Here in Canada, sweet tea isn't as big of a thing as it is in the U.S. And let me just say, you Americans are lucky people. Sweet tea is so tasty and delicious. Though it may seem like a beverage geared more towards summer, when something is this good, I completely defy that notion. You can drink it any time of the year.

Now, sweet tea has a bit of a different taste than an iced tea. Sweet tea, like the name suggests, is smooth and not as bitter of a drink. I thought that sweet tea would be complicated to make or require special ingredients, but as it turns out, it's so easy. You just add one household ingredient: baking soda!

Here's how to make your own sweet tea:

Step 1: Brew and steep tea. I used 3 orange pekoe tea bags for about 1 1/2- 2 cups boiling water (depending on how strong you like it). Let it steep for about 15 minutes and remove tea bags.

Step 2: Add 1/2 cup of sugar (more or less depending on your tastes). Then add about 1/3 teaspoon of baking soda. Stir well and refrigerate.

Serve in a tall glass with lots of ice and enjoy!

(recipe adapted via smashpeasandcarrots.blogspot.ca)

Optional: If you're feeling adventurous, add a twist to your sweet tea. Have fun and experiment with it. Try the addition of a fruit flavour like lemon or watermelon. Or, use white or green tea instead.

(images via trialx.org, lindzandy.blogspot.ca, freerecipes.org, taylortakesataste.com, blogs.babble.com)

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16 Comments

	on October 16, 2012 Bren 26,031 said: I actually just heard that baking soda really makes it taste better..Thanks for the recipe I am defiantly making this with extra lemon :)
	on October 16, 2012 fredamans 12,209 said: I am not crazy about Twinings tea, I prefer Celestial Seasonings.
	on October 16, 2012 Creamsicle 60 said: @takoda I make iced tea for my kids all the time! We use loose tea in fruity flavours. Our favourite is Pina Colada :) I also do not add any sugar (or baking soda) and just squeeze fresh lemon in each glass. It's so yummy and my kids LOVE it!
	on October 16, 2012 AlexJC 50 said: @mamaluv the baking soda really changes the taste. It makes it way less bitter, more sweet and smoother
	on October 16, 2012 mamaluv STAFF said: I make sweet tea all the time and never use baking soda. What's that for? All I do is brew some tea, chill, add sugar and lemon to taste, and that's it. Takoda, I have made it with decaf tea before and it works just fine. Any tea you like (flavour, variety, etc) should work. If you like it hot, you'll like it cold too.
	on October 16, 2012 takoda 28,648 said: Thanks for showing us this, I think you may have given me a good idea for my son, but I have a question. Do you think I could make this with decaffeinated tea and it still be the same?