Gallon Sweet Tea?

[tinatark]

I agree (and disagree!) with previous posters - tea - a fad? it's a pretty long lasting one! A cup of sugar for a half gallon - makes my teeth hurt! I'm pretty picky about tea - won't buy it from a fountain drink machine- not at many restaurants, I would prefer water/soda over "bad" tea!

I have a special pot just for tea, put a gallon size tea bag (get them at Sam's Club) in and cover it with water -- pour the water over a cup+ a bit of sugar in a gallon pitcher - keep adding water to the pot/tea bag and pour it into the pitcher until the pitcher is full. Tupperware pitchers are best!

It's no good after about 2 days.

OP, you can get tea at Chick Fil A - if a store there sells Milo's sweet tea, it's very good, too!

 

[luvsJack]

I'm still trying to get over sweet tea being called a fad! Here, it is just what we drink-no matter how hot it is! And we don't go around saying "sweet" tea. There is tea, and there is (sometimes) unsweetened tea. But if someone asked for tea the sugar is implied!

I make it the same way as the other MS lady on this thread. Boil water, add tea bags (I use 2), steep for a little while, pour over a cup of sugar while hot, and add water to make 1/2 gallon. IF there is any left on the 2nd day, it goes down the drain. I can't imagine drinking tea that is a week old!:sick:

Exactly the way it is at our house.

I have seen recipes for "southern sweet tea" in which a simple syrup is made with sugar and water cooked until the sugar melts and then the steeped tea is poured over and then water added. Have never made it that way nor have I ever seen anyone make it that way. So, not sure how authtentic it is.

Also, everyone keeps saying "sweet tea made in the south is too sweet". We don't all follow the same measurements down here, ya know. Some people put a cup to 1/2 gallon of tea, some put 3/4 cup, some put 2 cups or any other variation. The number of tea bags used to make a pitcher is going to vary too. Just all depending on how sweet and how strong/weak you want it to be.


OOPS: Dh and I were just talking on the phone and I was laughing about this thread. He reminded me that my tea pitcher is a gallon not a half gallon. So I use a cup for a gallon of tea.

 

[NeverlandClub23]

Also, everyone keeps saying "sweet tea made in the south is too sweet". We don't all follow the same measurements down here, ya know. Some people put a cup to 1/2 gallon of tea, some put 3/4 cup, some put 2 cups or any other variation. The number of tea bags used to make a pitcher is going to vary too. Just all depending on how sweet and how strong/weak you want it to be.

Exactly. My Dad makes two half gallon pitchers of tea a day. One (for my Mom) with 1/3 cup of sugar and one (for him) with 2 tbsp. of sugar (he says he can tell the difference it tastes unsweet to me!) but both he makes like sweet tea (boiling water, steeping, dissolving sugar, etc.).

 

[december]

Exactly the way it is at our house.






OOPS: Dh and I were just talking on the phone and I was laughing about this thread. He reminded me that my tea pitcher is a gallon not a half gallon. So I use a cup for a gallon of tea.

Too funny! I just went to check mine, and it is a gallon, too! I don't know why I was thinking half gallon? I guess that would hurt your teeth (as a pp said). And I use just a little less than a full cup of sugar. The 2nd day it is sweeter, the third day it would be undrinkable!

I've seen threads where people would state they make theirs with the liquid syrup "like real southerners do." I've always thought that was funny, since I don't know anybody that does that.

I do make "sugar syrup" but it is for my bisuits, not my tea! It is the only kind of syrup I will put on a biscuit-grew up eating it every morning. I just boil my sugar and water-so good! Of course, now that I'm on my own, I only get it about once a week (when I cook biscuits to go with deer steaks!).

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

I agree (and disagree!) with previous posters - tea - a fad? it's a pretty long lasting one! A cup of sugar for a half gallon - makes my teeth hurt! I'm pretty picky about tea - won't buy it from a fountain drink machine- not at many restaurants, I would prefer water/soda over "bad" tea!

I have a special pot just for tea, put a gallon size tea bag (get them at Sam's Club) in and cover it with water -- pour the water over a cup+ a bit of sugar in a gallon pitcher - keep adding water to the pot/tea bag and pour it into the pitcher until the pitcher is full. Tupperware pitchers are best!

It's no good after about 2 days.

OP, you can get tea at Chick Fil A - if a store there sells Milo's sweet tea, it's very good, too!

Milo's tea is even better than Chick-fil-a's tea. Milo's is a fast food restaurant that originated in the Birmingham area of Alabama. When I lived in Birmingham, I ate there often. They had the best sweet tea and french fries! I missed their tea dearly when I moved to east Tennessee. I almost did a happy dance right in the middle of Kroger when they started carrying Milo's tea!! It's sweetened with sugar, not HFCS. They also have a diet version sweetened with Splenda. It's pretty good, but I still love the real thing.

And sweet tea being a fad? That's funny! Maybe people up North are just catching on. In my opinion, GOOD sweet tea is like heaven in a glass.

 

[TheRatPack]

You can buy those little tea packets at Walmart too (if you don't mind instant) and add those to a water bottle. They sell flavors like peach...etc. Koolaid also now sells Koolaid fizzers, I think 3 different flavors and you just drop the little fizzy tablets in the water bottle and it makes Koolaid LOL

 

[PBF199]

what was the original question???

 

[TheRatPack]

what was the original question???

If McDonalds or ChickFilA sold Sweet Tea in a gallon so she could take some to Disney and refill her water bottles, I believe, was the original question.

 

[Ohiodislover]

I have seen recipes for "southern sweet tea" in which a simple syrup is made with sugar and water cooked until the sugar melts and then the steeped tea is poured over and then water added. Have never made it that way nor have I ever seen anyone make it that way. So, not sure how authtentic it is.

I sort of make it this way. I make a batch of simple syrup every few days that I can use for lemonaid, tea, and mixed drinks. DH is diabetic and doesn't drink his tea sweet. This way I can make a gallon of tea a day, and can add the syrup to taste. DH can add his equal.

 

[AshleyW]

I'm still trying to get over sweet tea being called a fad! Here, it is just what we drink-no matter how hot it is! And we don't go around saying "sweet" tea. There is tea, and there is (sometimes) unsweetened tea. But if someone asked for tea the sugar is implied!

I make it the same way as the other MS lady on this thread. Boil water, add tea bags (I use 2), steep for a little while, pour over a cup of sugar while hot, and add water to make 1/2 gallon. IF there is any left on the 2nd day, it goes down the drain. I can't imagine drinking tea that is a week old!

Exactly the way it is at our house.

I have seen recipes for "southern sweet tea" in which a simple syrup is made with sugar and water cooked until the sugar melts and then the steeped tea is poured over and then water added. Have never made it that way nor have I ever seen anyone make it that way. So, not sure how authtentic it is.

Also, everyone keeps saying "sweet tea made in the south is too sweet". We don't all follow the same measurements down here, ya know. Some people put a cup to 1/2 gallon of tea, some put 3/4 cup, some put 2 cups or any other variation. The number of tea bags used to make a pitcher is going to vary too. Just all depending on how sweet and how strong/weak you want it to be.

OOPS: Dh and I were just talking on the phone and I was laughing about this thread. He reminded me that my tea pitcher is a gallon not a half gallon. So I use a cup for a gallon of tea.

Ohhh gosh, you ladies are making me jealous - DF & I haven't been down to see his family in Mississippi since last Thanksgiving and I am SO thirsty for his grandma's sweet tea. I swear, that's all I drink down there, with the exception of OJ for breakfast. So delicious!

 

[SandrA9810]

I like Publix sweet tea, but does taste slightly different than what you get at McD's or Chik. And a little less sweet.

Another good place that makes sweet tea is Sonny's BBQ. They sell it by the gallon because they do catering as well.

My trick if the tea is too sweet is just let the ice melt for a bit before drinking. And I've noticed I've never had the tea taste the same, even when it's supposed to be made the same. Only at home does it taste consistant.

 

[ilovejack02]

I am a true southerner, I make sweet tea al the time for my friends, I agree with the above pp, all sweet tea is nasty, I don't see how anyone drinks the stuff. By the way, my kids love it, but I think it is disgusting.

I am southern girl too. Drink unsweetened tea with lemon , but don't give me the sweet stuff.

 

[Maridw]

Milo's tea is even better than Chick-fil-a's tea. Milo's is a fast food restaurant that originated in the Birmingham area of Alabama. When I lived in Birmingham, I ate there often. They had the best sweet tea and french fries! I missed their tea dearly when I moved to east Tennessee. I almost did a happy dance right in the middle of Kroger when they started carrying Milo's tea!! It's sweetened with sugar, not HFCS. They also have a diet version sweetened with Splenda. It's pretty good, but I still love the real thing.

And sweet tea being a fad? That's funny! Maybe people up North are just catching on. In my opinion, GOOD sweet tea is like heaven in a glass.

I have tried Milo's and just don't like it as much as Red Diamond. Red Diamond to me is comparable to McD's. I rarely drink soda's anymore and have switched completely to Sweet Tea. I grew up all over the states (military brat) and never like unsweet tea. Lived mostly in CA and they have iced tea (unsweet) on the menus. I love being able to order tea and get it already sweetened. Mixing sugar in cold tea just does not work and is not the same. That is the one thing I miss when we go back to CA.