Description
This is the way it’s made! I have literally made thousands of gallons of this stuff over the years. Sweet tea is served at almost every church function we attend. Popular for generations and part of our Mennonite culture.
Ingredients
- ¼ gallons Hot Tap Water
- 5 bags (Individual Size) Orange Pekoe Tea (Tetley Brand Or Similar)
- 1-½ cup Sugar
- Ice
Preparation
Pour very hot tap water into a gallon-size pitcher or pail. Add tea bags. Cover and steep for 20–60 minutes. Remove tea bags, stir in sugar, and add cold water to make just less than 1 gallon tea. Add ice or pour over ice in glasses.
Notes:
• For the tea syrup method (makes 1 gallon syrup, about 4 gallons sweet tea, serves 40): Bring 15 cups water (just less than a gallon) to a boil in a Dutch oven. Remove from heat and add 30 tea bags. Cover and steep 20 minutes. Remove bags, add 6 cups sugar, and stir to dissolve. Cool and store in the fridge up to 2 weeks. To make 1 gallon, use about 3 cups tea syrup. Add water and ice to make 1 gallon. Adjust syrup more or less according to taste. To make a single glass of iced tea from this syrup, pour 1/4 cup syrup over ice in a glass. Add cold water to taste.
• When serving sweet iced tea for a crowd, 1 gallon serves 10-12 people.
• Water quality makes a big difference here. We love iced tea made with our naturally soft well water. Hard water will make your tea taste different.
• You can experiment with different flavors of tea, but for us it’s the Tetley orange pekoe black tea.
