Sweet Tea
INGREDIENTS
- Cooking Time: 5 min
- Servings: 1 gallon
- Preparation Time: 10 min
- 3 family-sized black tea bags (or 12 individual tea bags), such as Lipton or Luzianne
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- Ice
- Fresh mint leaves or lemon slices (optional)
DIRECTIONS
- Boil the water. Bring 4 cups of the water to a boil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Remove from heat.
- Steep the tea for 5 minutes. Dunk the tea bags a few times in the water to fully hydrate, then leave submerged with the strings hanging over the side of the pot. After 5 minutes, remove the bags and discard.
- Add the sugar to the tea. Add the sugar and stir until completely dissolved.
- Pour the tea base into the pitcher. If using multiple pitchers, divide the tea evenly between them.
- Top off the pitchers with water. Add 3 more quarts of water to the tea base to make a gallon of sweet tea and stir to combine.
- Refrigerate until very cold. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or, ideally, overnight.
