In this article
There was a pitcher of sweet tea in my mother’s refrigerator every single day of my childhood, and when it ran low she made another one, the way other people refill the ice trays. It came out onto the porch in the afternoon, it sat on the supper table in a sweating glass pitcher, and it was sweeter than most people’s dessert. Up north they drink it plain and pass the sugar. In our town the sugar was already in there and there was nothing to discuss.
She did two things that I have never seen a restaurant do. First, the sugar went into the tea while it was still hot from the stove, where it dissolves completely into a smooth, round sweetness. Sugar stirred into cold tea sinks to the bottom and sulks. Second, before the tea bags touched the water, she shook a tiny pinch of baking soda into the pot. She said it took the bitterness out and kept the tea from going cloudy in the refrigerator, and she was right about both. The soda neutralizes some of the tannins, so the tea tastes smoother without tasting of anything but tea. And the bags never boiled. The water boiled, the pot came off the heat, and only then did the bags go in. Boiled tea tastes like the bottom of the pot. Steeped tea tastes like tea.
Why this sweet tea works
- A pinch of baking soda. It softens the bitter tannins and keeps the tea clear in the refrigerator instead of cloudy. You will not taste it.
- Bags steeped off the heat. Boiling water pulls out the harsh flavors. Water just off the boil pulls out the good ones.
- Sugar stirred into hot tea. It dissolves completely, so the first glass and the last taste the same.
- Made strong, then diluted with cold water. A concentrate topped up with cold water gives a gallon in twenty minutes, with no wait for a hot gallon to cool.
Ingredients
Makes one gallon, about 16 tall glasses over ice. The measurements are in US cups with grams in brackets.
- 4 cups cold water (950ml), for the pot
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda (a small pinch)
- 3 family-size black tea bags, or 9 regular tea bags
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g) for a true Southern sweet tea, or 1 cup (200g) for a lighter one
- About 12 cups cold water (2.8 liters), to fill the gallon pitcher
- Ice, and lemon wedges for the table
Plain black tea, the ordinary orange pekoe kind sold for iced tea, is what this recipe is built on. A gallon pitcher with a lid is the right vessel; glass or plastic both work, but it must hold a full 16 cups.
How to make sweet tea
- Bring the 4 cups of water to a full boil in a medium saucepan. As soon as it boils, take the pan off the heat.
- Add the pinch of baking soda to the hot water and give it one stir. Then lay the tea bags in the water, making sure every bag is under the surface, and put the lid on the pan. Never set the pan back on the burner with the bags in it.
- Let the bags steep, off the heat and covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. Ten gives a medium tea; fifteen gives the strong, dark amber tea most Southern families expect. Do not go past 15 minutes or the tea turns bitter no matter what the soda does.
- Lift the bags out with a spoon and let them drain over the pan for a moment. Do not squeeze them, which wrings out the bitterness. Pour the hot tea into a heatproof gallon pitcher, add the sugar, and stir for a full minute until every grain has dissolved and the tea is clear. It must still be hot for this step.
- Fill the pitcher the rest of the way with cold water, about 12 cups, up to the gallon mark, and stir again.
- Cover the pitcher and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, until thoroughly cold. Serve over plenty of ice with a wedge of lemon on the rim for whoever wants one.
Tips that make the difference
- Measure the soda. A pinch means 1/8 teaspoon, no more. Too much and the tea tastes flat and faintly soapy.
- Pour the hot tea over ice only in an emergency. It melts the ice at once and waters the tea down. Chill it in the refrigerator instead.
- If you like it very sweet, 2 cups of sugar (400g) is the old full-strength recipe. Most families have quietly come down to 1 1/2.
- Keep a second pitcher going. A gallon does not last a hot afternoon with company on the porch.
Variations
- Lemon tea. Add the juice of 2 lemons with the cold water, after the sugar has dissolved, never to the hot concentrate, or the tea can turn cloudy.
- Mint tea. Push a big handful of fresh mint into the hot tea with the bags and take it out with the bags.
- Half and half. Half sweet tea and half lemonade over ice, the way it is served at every family reunion in the South.
- Peach tea. Stir 1 cup of peach nectar into the finished pitcher and cut the sugar to 1 cup.
Storage and make-ahead
Sweet tea keeps in a covered pitcher in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. After that it tastes flat and can pick up a sour note, so a family that drinks it makes a fresh gallon every two or three days.
It does not freeze as a drink, but it makes good ice cubes. Freeze a tray of sweet tea and use the cubes in the glass so the tea never waters down.
If a batch goes cloudy, it was chilled too fast, steeped too hot, or the soda was left out. It is still good to drink.
Frequently asked questions
Why do you put baking soda in sweet tea?
A pinch neutralizes some of the tannins that make black tea bitter and astringent, and it keeps the tea from turning cloudy in the refrigerator. You will not taste it. Many Southern families have done it for generations without explaining why, and it turns out to have real chemistry behind it.
Why does my sweet tea go cloudy?
Tannins bind together as the tea cools, most of all when the bags are boiled, when hot tea is poured over ice, or when lemon goes into the hot concentrate. The pinch of soda, steeping off the heat and chilling slowly in the refrigerator all keep it clear.
Can I stir the sugar in later, once the tea is cold?
You can, but it will not be the same tea. Sugar dissolves slowly and unevenly in cold liquid, so the sweetness sits at the bottom of the pitcher. Stirring it into the hot tea is what makes sweet tea sweet all the way through.
How many regular tea bags equal a family-size bag?
Three, so use 9 regular bags for this gallon. Decaffeinated black tea works the same way with the same amounts.
Boil the water, not the tea. A pinch of soda, the sugar while it is hot, cold water to the top, and a pitcher in the refrigerator that never quite gets to empty.
Southern Sweet Tea (The Pinch of Baking Soda Recipe)
A gallon of real Southern sweet tea the old way: family-size tea bags steeped off the heat, a pinch of baking soda in the pot before the bags go in, the sugar stirred into the tea while it is hot, and cold water to fill the pitcher. Exact amounts, number of bags and steeping time.
Ingredients
- 4 cups cold water (950ml), for the pot
- 1/8 teaspoon baking soda
- 3 family-size black tea bags, or 9 regular tea bags
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (300g) for a true Southern sweet tea, or 1 cup (200g) for a lighter one
- About 12 cups cold water (2.8 liters), to fill the gallon pitcher
- Ice, and lemon wedges for the table
Instructions
- Bring the 4 cups of water to a full boil in a medium saucepan. As soon as it boils, take the pan off the heat.
- Add the pinch of baking soda to the hot water and give it one stir. Then lay the tea bags in the water, making sure every bag is under the surface, and put the lid on the pan. Never set the pan back on the burner with the bags in it.
- Let the bags steep, off the heat and covered, for 10 to 15 minutes. Ten gives a medium tea; fifteen gives the strong, dark amber tea most Southern families expect. Do not go past 15 minutes or the tea turns bitter no matter what the soda does.
- Lift the bags out with a spoon and let them drain over the pan for a moment. Do not squeeze them, which wrings out the bitterness. Pour the hot tea into a heatproof gallon pitcher, add the sugar, and stir for a full minute until every grain has dissolved and the tea is clear. It must still be hot for this step.
- Fill the pitcher the rest of the way with cold water, about 12 cups, up to the gallon mark, and stir again.
- Cover the pitcher and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, until thoroughly cold. Serve over plenty of ice with a wedge of lemon on the rim for whoever wants one.
