How to Make Perfect Brewed Iced Tea

Now, if you’re a southerner like me, you may roll your eyes when you see this post. I wouldn’t blame you.

But I have a story to tell.

Many years ago when Mark and I were still dating, we took a one-week trip to Maine. At the first restaurants we went to, I was craving iced tea and ordered some.

What did I get?

Instant iced tea, which is just nasty after you get used to brewed iced tea.

We learned our lesson. From then on, we’d ask our waiter if the iced tea was brewed or instant before we ordered. In all but one restaurant, we ordered sodas or ice water because the answer was always the answer we didn’t want to hear.

Learning to make really good iced tea (brewed, of course) is one of the first things a lot of southern girls learn at a very young age. However, I was not one of those girls. I consumed instant tea until that fateful day as a young adult when I learned how easy it is to make brewed iced tea.

My goal is to show you how easy it is, so easy that you will want to find the nearest trash can for that instant tea powder you have in your pantry.

DELICIOUS BREWED ICED TEA (Option 1 using Sweet ‘n Low)

Ingredients:

2 pitcher size tea bags (regular or decaf). I use decaf tea. I cannot taste the difference between it and regular.

2 cups of water or thereabouts

16 tiny scoops of Sweet ‘n Low bulk sweetener. You can also use the packets but the bulk sweetener is faster and more convenient.

Preparation:

Fill a one quart saucepan with water. Place the 2 tea bags in the water. Boil the water. Allow the water to boil for a few minutes before turning off the burner. (I always set the timer for 15 minutes because I’ve been known to walk away from the stove and forget about it.)

Turn off the heat and allow the teabags to steep for about 5 minutes. You can let it sit longer until the water cools which is normally what I try to do. (Note: You must let the water cool if you are using a glass tea pitcher. A glass pitcher will likely break if you pour boiling hot liquid into it. This has happened to me before so let this be a warning to you.)

While the tea is brewing, put in 16 scoops of Sweet ‘n Low into a gallon-sized tea pitcher using the tiny pink spoon that comes with the bulk sweetener.

Use less or more depending on how sweet you want your tea. (Do I really need to say that?)

Lift the tea bags out of liquid using a slotted spoon, and pour the brewed liquid tea into your gallon-sized tea pitcher.

Put the tea bags back into your pan and run cold water over them. This will release any residual brewed tea from the bags. Pour that into the tea pitcher.

Fill the tea pitcher up with water. Stir the liquid mixture when the pitcher is about halfway full to ensure the sweetener dissolves and mixes well with the water and brew.

Now, a very important part! Place the tea pitcher into your refrigerator and allow it to cool for at least 2 hours. Longer is recommended. The reason why is iced tea tastes immensely better when it’s thoroughly chilled. For this reason, I almost always make sure I have plenty of iced tea for the next meal or the next day several hours or the night before so that my iced tea can chill in my refrigerator overnight.

And, that’s it! You just made your first pitcher of chilled brewed iced tea.

DELICIOUS BREWED ICED TEA (Option 2 using sugar)

Ingredients:

2 pitcher size tea bags (regular or decaf). I use decaf tea. I cannot taste the difference between it and regular.

3 cups of water or thereabouts

1 1/2 cups of sugar (adjust if you want your tea more sweet or less sweet)

Preparation:

Fill a two quart saucepan with water. Place the 2 tea bags in the water. Boil the water. Allow the water to boil for a few minutes before turning off the burner. (I always set the timer for 15 minutes because I’ve been known to walk away from the stove and forget about it.)

Lift the tea bags out of liquid, and add the sugar. Stir to dissolve it completely.

Pour the brewed liquid tea and sugar concoction into your gallon-sized tea pitcher.

Put the tea bags back into your pan and run cold water over them. This will release any residual brewed tea from the bags. Pour that into the tea pitcher.

Fill the tea pitcher up with water. Stir the liquid mixture when the pitcher is about halfway full to ensure the sweetener dissolves and mixes well with the water and brew.

That’s it! Easy.

Comments

sharon says

September 24, 2014 at 2:54 pm

Oh dear! You had me right up to the Sweet & Low!!! Such a dangerous artificial chemical couldn’t be a part of this great recipe?! I know you want your sweetener to easily dissolve so how ’bout a simple syrup? 🙂

- Kim says
  
  September 25, 2014 at 8:29 am
  
  Ha! I knew someone would comment about that. I’m aware of the dangers. Type II diabetes runs in my family and I eat enough sugar as it is. Also, I’ve read that stevia has a nasty aftertaste. I’d have to use a ton of (expensive) honey or agave nectar to get it sweet enough. So for now, it’s the “best” option for me until I can find an alternative.
  
Jane S. says

September 25, 2014 at 12:41 am

I do love a good brewed iced tea but being a northern girl, it’s unsweetened all the way for me! The closest I’ll come to adding sugar is mixing iced tea half/half with lemonade (an Arnold Palmer).

- Kim says
  
  September 25, 2014 at 8:27 am
  
  Ha, that’s true. Unsweetened is always an option, too. My stepfather likes it that way. The lemonade option sounds delicious to me!

DELICIOUS BREWED ICED TEA (Option 1 using Sweet ‘n Low)

DELICIOUS BREWED ICED TEA (Option 2 using sugar)

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