Southern Style Sweet Tea. Hellz Yeah.

If the South had won the Civil War, the most popular beverage would be, without a doubt, Whiskey and Beer.

(and then, Sweet Tea.)

Getting past the horrible introduction and hook (you're still reading! Ha!),

I'd like to discuss one of my favorite drinks of all time. It's a classic drink that never gets old, especially in the southern states where the word "tea" means this classic brew.

Sweet Tea is conventionally brewed from black tea (orange pekoe is pretty good) and sugar is mixed in while the tea is boiling/steeping.




Tea got it's start in America when the french imported the leaves as a trade good in the 18th century, and eventually it was cultivated and domesticated, especially in the south. With european colonization brining goods and tastes to the United states in that period, Coffee and Tea made it's way into the palates of Colonials, and especially in the Southern states controlled by the British, the tradition of tea was imparted, along with plantation-estates, womens fashion styles and a code of conduct for gentlemen in the south. The notion of "Southern Hospitality", so it's said, was a byproduct of this time period.


As my constant companion Wiki Pedia tells me, the first documented iced sweet tea recipe was published in a cookbook in 1879 by Marion Tyree, with green tea as the tea. "In fact, most sweet tea consumed during this period was green tea. However, during World War II, the major sources of green tea were cut off from the United States, leaving them with tea almost exclusively from British-controlled India which produces black tea. Americans came out of the war drinking preponderantly black tea."

I love Wiki. always so knowledgeable about all things not political.



Sweet Tea is regarded as a popular alternative to water, often being served in a pitcher in family-style restaurants, and even being served in glasses, given free refills. Quality and quanitity in production is what makes it such a widespread beverage to be sold in bulk, and is bottled by lipton, nestea and individual companies like Gold Peak. McDonalds, looking to change up their complexion, has added 1$ southern-style sweet tea to it's menu along with the southern style chicken sandwiches (also quite good) as of 2007-8.

It can be homemade as well, with many variations and recipes, but all involve the same amount of tea, with differences being the amount of sugar added.

At any rate, i've been brewing this stuff for the last month or so and can't get enough of it: tea bags and sugar are the only things you need to buy, and it's much more satisfying if you have the time to brew it. Here's my Tea Recipe


Ewok-style Sweet Tea
3 tagless family bags/8-10 individual bags of black tea (Luzianne or Lipton)
1.50 cups of Sugar
A pinch of baking soda (to cut the bitter flavor and darken the color of the tea, optional)
4 cups of water

1. Boil 4 cups of water, mixing in the sugar once the water comes to a boil.

2. Once the sugar-water is boiling heavily once again, place the tea bags and baking powder in the water, and immediately turn off the heat.

3. Take the pan off of the heater, cover it and let the tea steep for one hour.

4. Remove tea bags and press to get excess liquid and pour into gallon jug.

5. Fill jug/pitcher with cold water and refrigerate/serve with ice.

So. Good. This is the one thing to have for this summer, as the weather gets warm and humid, this is the drink to have.