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Sweet Tea

Alton Brown

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown

Show: Good EatsEpisode: True Brew 2: Mr. Tea

Rated: 4 stars out of 5Rate itRead users' reviews (34)

  • Cook Time:

    5 min

  • Level:

    Easy

  • Yield:

    8 to 10 servings

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Times:

Prep
10 min
Inactive Prep
10 min
Cook
5 min
Total:
25 min
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Ingredients

  • 1-ounce loose black tea
  • 1 quart hot water
  • 1 quart room temperature water

Simple Syrup:

  • 5 cups sugar
  • 3 cups cold water

Directions

Infuse loose tea into hot water for 4 to 5 minutes. Strain tea into room temperature water. Sweeten with simple syrup if desired.

For simple syrup, in a small non-reactive pot combine 5 cups of sugar and 3 cups of cold water. Slowly bring to a boil and add 6 sliced lemons and a few sprigs of fresh mint. Remove from heat. Allow to cool 10 minutes and strain.

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Read more Comments & Reviews (34)

Comments & Reviews

  • recipe Sweet Tea
    Anonymous 09-03-2008

    Flag

    Sweet!!!

    Rated: 3 stars out of 5
    The recipe seemed simple, but it was unclear with regards to how much syrup to add. Like the Yankee I am, I added the whole... batch of simple syrup and then had to spit out my first sip! Whoa, too sweet. If I didn't have to dilute my tea with 2 other batches, this recipe would have earned 5 stars.Read more
  • recipe Sweet Tea
    Erik Savannah, GA 08-09-2008

    Flag

    What???

    Rated: 5 stars out of 5
    This is some mighty fine sweet tea... I read all the reviews with all these people asking what was Alton thinking with all... the simple syrup going in the tea... if you can READ, he tells you to use the syrup to sweeten the tea as DESIRED, not dump it all in. Anyways... READ directions and don't use all the syrup... Enjoy... I did.Read more
  • recipe Sweet Tea
    Anonymous 07-30-2008

    Flag

    Make the simple syrup

    Rated: 5 stars out of 5
    The simple syrup is really quite good.
  • recipe Sweet Tea
    Ryan Arlington, MA 07-19-2008

    Flag

    Solid tea recipe

    Rated: 5 stars out of 5
    A good, solid recipe for making ice tea. Instead of using a quart of room-temp water, I weigh 2 pounds of water and ice... (which comes out to a quart) so it cools down faster. @"Way too sweet": You should think before dumping 5 CUPS OF SUGAR into 2 quarts of tea. What were you thinking!!! The 5c. sugar/3c. water is a formula for a large batch of simple syrup, some of which you will use to sweeten the tea. Add as much sugar as you like, but for heaven's sake, don't add all of it! @"WHAT???": Too many ingredients? What are you smoking? The ingredients are water, tea, and sugar. Add lemon and mint if you like. What's complicated about that? Your recipe is just as complicated. The fact that you use tea bags shows you're not the tea expert you think you are. Orange Pekoe or better grade loose tea leaves is far superior to the fannings and dust put into tea bags. Just boil water, add tea leaves, remove tea leaves, add cool water/ice and sugar. How hard is that? In fact it's the SAME METHOD as yours except this one uses loose leaves and sugar syrup. You could add the sugar straight to the hot tea (like your recipe) with the same exact result, but the syrup allows guests to sweeten their own tea to taste. We like to keep lots of sugar syrup on hand, it allows us to sweeten all sorts of cold drinks (tea, coffee, mixed drinks, etc.) and the syrup will dissolve into the drink (unlike sugar).Read more
  • recipe Sweet Tea
    Anonymous 04-09-2008

    Flag

    WHAT???

    Rated: 2 stars out of 5
    why on earth does it take so many ingredients to make a pitcher of tea? I live in Georgia, and have lived all over the south... for my entire life. NEVER EVER in my life have I seen someone put so much mess in their tea. It's ridiculous. Take 2 family sized tea bags. Place them in small sauce pan. add about 3 cups of water. Bring to simmer then turn it off. Add 1 to 2 cups of sugar, depending on taste. Pour into serving pitcher over ice. Add water to fill the pitcher. Add more ice and stir. Then pour it into your cup and drink. SIMPLE. No fuss, no muss. Alton...darlin', I think you just went a little too crazy on this one. I normally love your recipes...but I'm just not sure what to think at this point.Read more
  • recipe Sweet Tea
    Anonymous 03-03-2008

    Flag

    Just Like Grandma Used TO Make

    Rated: 5 stars out of 5
    This is just like the Sweet Tea that my Grandmother used to make all of my life. She was from Kentucky and Iced Tea was a... staple of the dinner table year around.Read more
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