Single Guy’s Kitchen

Making a good batch of Iced Tea is essential if you live in South and are having company over. I love sweet tea but it’s really not the best thing for you to drink. My mom makes her’s with splenda and so do I. It tastes better with sugar but this is a good substitute for everyday consumption.

Ingredients:

1 gallon water (I buy the jugs of drinking water from the grocery store)

4 family size tea bags (I use luziane)

2 cups sugar or splenda

Pour about half your gallon of water into a large pot and bring it to boil. Once it comes to a boil, remove it from the heat, put your tea bags in, and put the lid on. Let the tea steep for a good 25 minutes. Once the tea has finished steeping remove the bags and pour in your sugar and stir. The remaining water is still in your gallon jug right? Using a funnel, pour the tea/sugar mixture into your jug with the remaining water. Put the lid on, give it a quick shake, and tuck it away in the refrigerator. Once its cold, enjoy over ice.

That’s really all there is to it. I like reusing the drinking water jug because its convenient but you could put this into a nicer pitcher if you like. Also feel free to add a few slices of lemon, mint, or whatever flavoring you like. I prefer to add the lemon on a per glass basis. The sweetness can be somewhat subjective also. 2 cups makes it pretty sweet so those with less of sweet tooth might want to half that. It’s best to add your sweetener when the tea is hot though so it dissolves. Alton Brown actually recommends not sweetening the tea at all and instead mixing up a batch of simple syrup in a small bottle to allow people to add their own amount of sweetness. Simple syrup is just a mixture of 2 parts sugar to 1 part water.

Enjoy!