Southern Cuisine: Perfect Iced Tea
By habee
the perfect beverage for Southern food
Okay, maybe I’m stretching it a bit in labeling iced tea as part of Southern cuisine, but believe me, it’s the perfect beverage to serve with Southern food. And to most cooks here in the Deep South, making iced tea is an art form, largely because the drink holds such a lofty position. It’s drunk year round, everywhere – in restaurants, at picnics, at church socials, and at barbecues.
The perfect Southern iced tea is a beautiful amber color – not too light and not too dark. It should never be cloudy. It should be sweet, too, and not too strong or bitter. It’s made only with orange pekoe tea – not black tea or green tea. Even the brand of orange pekoe is important. Luzianne seems to be the preferred brand, with Lipton coming in second.
To make the perfect iced tea, you need to start with great water. Hop on a plane to South Georgia and ask a farmer to let you have a jug of water from his well. Everybody knows that the best tasting well water is in South Georgia, right? Well, except for along the coast where saltwater has leached into the aquifer, giving the water a sulfur taste.
What’s that? You don’t want to make a journey to get the perfect water for your iced tea? Then you obviously fail to realize the importance of the beverage! Okay, use filtered water instead. It will probably be almost as good.
Perfect iced tea
What you’ll need:
2 quarts water
6 tea bags
1 cup sugar or Splenda
Directions:
In a two-quart pitcher, pour one quart of cold water and the sugar.
Bring the other quart of water to a full boil. Drop in the tea bags and remove from heat.
Let the tea steep for 10 minutes. Time it! If it steeps too long, the tea will have a bitter taste; if it doesn’t steep long enough, the tea will be weak, with little flavor. Do not squeeze the tea bags! This can make the tea cloudy.
After the tea has steeped for 10 minutes, remove the bags and pour the tea into the pitcher. Stir until all the sugar dissolves.
Let the tea cool at room temperature before placing the pitcher in the refrigerator. If it cools too quickly, the tea will become cloudy.
Serve the tea over ice, and top it off with a lemon wedge or a sprig of mint.
Read more great Southern recipes:
- Southern Cuisine: Boiled Peanuts
I bet you already know that Georgia is famous for its peanuts, huh? After all, the U.S. had Jimma Cahta as president a while back. Remember? He was often called the peanut president or the peanut... - Southern Cuisine: Buttermilk Fried Fish
Folks in the South love fishing. Well, allow me to narrow that down: folks in South Georgia love fishing! We have ponds and lakes everywhere. Since much of the area is rural, there are numerous farms, and the... - Southern Cuisine: Georgia Peach Pie
Mmmm...Georgia peaches! If you live in the United States, you probably know that Georgia is known as the Peach State. The reason is obvious we grow a lot of delicious peaches here! Though most of the...
Comments
Oh how I love good sweet tea! Figure I could almost drink my weight in it. Thanks!
Well, I can't say I'm a fan of "sweet" tea, but your descriptive did the south justice! Out here in CA, I make my own blend of tea using wild mountain flowers, lavendar, mint, ceylon and orange peels. I love the aromatics of good ice tea and think it's almost as refreshing as a good chilled beer... almost. However, I remember visiting relatives in Tennessee a few years back, and damned if that chilled sweet tea didn't go perfectly with cold fried chicken (picnic style)! I have to say that I have tremendous respect for southern cooking and think it truly defines "American" cuisine. Keep up the good hubs Habee! Thanks again!
Sounds great, although I never had myself. Will try in the summer. Thank you.
Oh, no, Charlie - not the dreaded water!! Try some diet Hawaiin punch. It's great! About 5 calories per serving, and loads of vitamin C.
Hi, rkh! Thanks for reading!
Delaney, your tea sounds interesting. And you're right about our sweet tea - it's perfect for washing down fried chicken, biscuits, fried green tomatoes, and turnip greens!
Good morning, HH! Bet you'll like the iced tea!
Love iced tea but it is rarely warm enough for it lol
Eth, we drink it all the time here - spring, summer, winter, and fall!
Habee, Luv the iced tea year around too! Nice tip on preventing the cloudiness... Thanks for sharing as always, Blessings!
After the first 2 cups of coffee I drink in the morning. I walk out the door to school at 7a.m. with a large glass of sweet tea with lemon. I finish that at lunch where I go to our school cafeteria and get another glass. I get a fresh class at home around 4 p.m. A few years ago while staying with my mother in the hospital in Oregon I could not find iced tea anywhere! They do not sweeten their tea out there. I finally had to take matters into my own hand and just brew my own. It is unheard of to sit down to a Sunday dinner and not serve tea. Almost heathen!
habee,
You are right about us drinking tea all year. We have sweet tea every evening with our dinner. The meal wouldn't be complete without it.
Good to see you, Deb! Blessings to you, also!
"Heathen." Funny, Vanne! Or as Sylvia Evans would say, "heathern." LOL!!
Right, Naomi! What else goes with fried chicken, sliced tomatoes, turnip greens, and cornbread?? lol!
I happen to love iced tea, so I will definitely try this. All I need is some warmth, sunshine and an end to this rain!
Nah, you don't need all that to enjoy iced tea, Bpop! We drink it all year!
My (paternal) grandfather made the best tea! It was super sweet with sugar, which is how I like it to this day. Which is also why I no longer make it, or drink it regularly. Don't need the sugar or the caffiene! But on occasion, for a special treat... It's almost like a great dessert to me.
RM, have you tried Splenda in iced tea? I really can't tell the difference! I usually make decaf for myself, too.
No artificial sweeteners for me. I can ALWAYS taste that funny aftertaste. And artificial sweeteners deplete the immune system. When I use anything, it's Stevia. Caffiene also depletes the immune system. I just get sweet tea when I eat out, at places that actually have sweet tea, like Cracker Barrel and Chick-Fil-A.
I haven't tried Stevia yet. Thanks for the additional info, RM!
Now in Birmingham, iced tea absolutely HAD to be Luzianne! I love the tip about not squeezing the tea bags-you're such a culinary joy!
Haha! Thanks, Laurel. My husband doesn't think so when I try to make him eat broccoli instead of pasta!
ralwus 2 years ago
Well Holle, I will be drinking a lot of that it seems. Someone has toddled off wi' me alcohol, beerr and Scotch! I just wonder who it was? I am being force fed WATER! and diet coke! I use Lipton loose tea in my French press and splenda. Sweetned tea, hell yeah! I need somethin to spike it wi'.