Sweet tea. House wine of the South.
For the uninitiated, the first taste of sweet tea might be jarring. Often containing upwards as much as twice the sugar as a can of soda, sweet tea is among the traditional Southern recipes contributing to what the Centers for Disease Control calls the “Diabetes Belt.”
Trying to offer anything resembling an all-inclusive sweet tea recipe is about as contentious as it gets. Everyone has their own way of making it. And in large swaths of the south, it seems like everyone is making it. In the majority of restaurants, you can ask for tea and hear a drawn-out “sweet or ‘un?”
Still, despite the differences of opinion on how to make it, there are certain ground rules. But first, a bit of background.
Among the first published recipes for sweetened, non-alcoholic iced tea appeared in Marion Campbell Tyree’s 1879 community cookbook Housekeeping in Old Virginia: Containing Contributions from 250 Ladies in Virginia and Her Sister States.
Note that the recipe, from a Mrs. S. T. (Mrs Sweet Tea, perhaps?), uses green tea. Prior to 1900, the vast majority of tea in the United States was green tea from Japan, China, and – to a limited degree – green tea grown on American soil in places like South Carolina and Georgia. Black tea became cheaper than green tea around 1900 with British colonialism in India. It was nearly impossible to get green tea in the United States after 1941 when America went to war with Japan.
Already you see some of the signs of sweet tea in this recipe even beyond the sugar. For example, the lengthy steeping time to produce a highly concentrated tea base. Also the use of an acid – in this case, lemon juice.
Sweetened iced tea was a rare treat for many years and for a variety of reasons. Sugar was expensive and had to be imported. Before mechanical refrigeration, ice had to be shipped in from mountains or cut out of frozen lakes and ponds to be stored beyond winter. Thus, for the many years in its infancy, iced tea was a status symbol of wealth and decadence.
But sweet tea and sweetened iced tea are two very different things.
The General ‘Rules’ of Sweet Tea
1) Since the 1950s, the tea of choice for sweet tea is an orange pekoe blend. This is usually different from what comes in tea bags generically marked “black tea” and has a different flavor.
2) The tea base is a much stronger concentration than what would be brewed for hot tea. The strength balances out the sweetness of the tea, and also accounts for dilution from melted ice.
3) A substantial amount of sugar must be added to the hot tea base. This ensures that the maximum amount of sugar is dissolved into a syrupy consistency. The amount of sugar varies according to taste and region, but a syrupy base is what separates sweet tea from sweetened iced tea.
4) Tannins can make iced tea very bitter. My not-so-secret trick for mellowing out the bitterness is adding a pinch of baking soda to the base. It may sound weird, but I swear it’s magic and it works.
5) Traditionally, sweet tea is served with a garnish, though what the garnish is or whether one is used at all also varies according to taste and region. You can, for example, garnish with wedges, slices and/or peel of lemons, limes and oranges. You can also throw in some mint leaves or a maraschino cherry. Usually only one or two garnishes are needed.
So, having provided a bit of a background and some general rules, this is my personal recipe for sweet tea noting once again that everyone has their own way of making it. If this is the first time trying sweet tea, and you find it’s just not your cup of tea so to speak, don’t throw it out! Add some regular-strength lemon juice to the mix and you’ve got an Arnold Palmer.
The Recipe:
3 gallon-sized orange pekoe tea bags
1/2 gallon boiling water
1-2 cups sugar
1 pinch of baking soda
3 cups cold water or ice
Bring 1/2 gallon of water to a boil in a medium-sized pot with a lid. Take the pot off the burner and add the tea bags. Steep, covered, about five minutes. Remove tea bags and discard. Return pot to burner and bring to a light simmer. Stir in sugar until dissolved and immediately remove from heat. Add pinch of baking soda to tea base and stir. Add water/ice and stir. Pour into a sturdy container (NOTE: Never pour hot liquids into untempered glass). Refrigerate. Serve chilled over ice with garnish (see rule 5 above).
First Posted: July 25, 2012