Being a true son of the south in some ways I love iced tea. There are some places near us that are known for their outstanding tea. Chicken Express is so popular that they have it for sale at the drive up by the gallon in sweet or unsweet. McAllister Deli has great tea as well as a new place here that started in Amarillo if I remember correctly called HTO. They have ultra pure water and ice as well as several flavors very good iced tea. My efforts to home brew a really good iced tea have come up short. I’m not getting the rich depth of flavor that others do. I’ve tried letting it steep longer as well as trying a couple of different brands of tea bags. Right now I’m using the gallon size bags from Lipton and they’re ok but not incredible. If you can brew incredible iced tea at home you please share your method and brand? Edit: I’m using water that’s been through a RO water filter so I should be starting with good water.
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Growing up in the Deep South, I remember that the pinnacle of great tea was "Sun Tea" ... brewed by setting a pitcher of water+ a few tea bags out in the hot Alabama sun until it looked and tasted just right. Don't remember for how long (hours as I recall), or what brand of tea (probably just Lipton bags).
Good luck with your search ... and I'll be very interested in what you find out. -
My wife also uses the gallon size tea bags. She brews with probably about 1/4 to 1/3 a gallon of water, lets it steep for a few minutes, pours into a gallon pitcher, adds 1 cup sugar, stirs to dissolve the sugar, then adds ice cubes and cold water until her pitcher is full. I've even see her do it by using our coffee maker and putting the gallon tea bag in the filter basket, and setting the pot for "strong" brew so that the water goes slower across the tea bag.
We also use filtered water - not RO but just a carbon block filter under the kitchen sink, with a separate water dispenser spout for the filtered water.
Personally I like her tea just fine, and at 1c sugar per 1gal tea, it's just sweet enough for me, and not grossly oversweet like what we tend to get out. I always get "1/2 and 1/2" tea out, as most folks put WAY too much sugar in it for my taste.
I miss McAllister's... for some reason we had two here, and both shut down, despite being insanely busy. They were replaced by Jason's Deli, also gone now.Comment
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Here's what I would suggest:
Get a 1/2 gal canning jar or pitcher and a large measuring cup or jar. Add 20 g of loose tea plus ~ 12 oz, (339 g), or more hot water, (exact amount is not critical), to the measuring cup and let steep for 5 min. Pour through a mesh sieve into the 1/2 gal jar and add sweetener of you choice plus cold water and ice to make 1/2 gal tea. If ya use a sweetener, it will dissolve quicker in hot water.
I make tea several times a week using these measurements and we both really like it. Guests have commented on how good my tea is, so it's not just me.
The linked tea will make 17 half gal which come out to a bit over $1 per 1/2 gal. That amount lasts us 3 - 4 days. If it's too strong or too weak, just add or subtract some loose tea.Comment
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Oh LORD, I love Chicken Express. The sweet tea, chicken tenders, and fried okra...
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If I didn't have kidney stones I'd have sweet tea All Day Err Day.Comment
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As jfmorris informed you, Calcium Oxyalate are the most common stones. If you are genetically predisposed to produce them simply not enough hydration in hot weather will cause them. Doctors see an uptick in the fall and I produced two HUGE stones in the summer of 1999 working for a crop dusting service back home. 14-15hr days, almost every single hour in the heat. Loader trucks had no A/C.
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I'm going through a minimum of a half gallon of tea a day lately, working out in the shop in the heat. Sometimes a gallon.
I use Luzianne iced tea large bags and lately have picked up a box of Cain's.
I'm not a connoisseur, I just boil it on the stove for a few minutes, then put it in a pitcher and add ice to cool it down. In the large tumbler I put in about 1/3 ice (if the tea has been in the fridge and is cold) and then 2 packets of pink sweetener.
That's it.
I just can't bring myself to pay $6, $8 or more for a gallon of tea.
<edit> About the pink sweetener - I've used this in iced tea since I was a kid - this is what tea is SUPPOSED to taste like to me. If I drink tea with actual SUGAR in it, I hate it. Too sweet. Or with Splenda, which I like and use in other things, but not in iced tea. For me, iced tea is the taste of tea with Sweet & Low, nothing else. lolComment
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I grew up on Georgia sweet tea. The recipe is 4 Luzianne family bags dropped into a small kettle with about 3 cups of water that has been boiled and allowed to cool for about 5 minutes. Do not steep too long or the tea will be bitter. While the tea concentrate is brewing put one rounded cup of sugar into a one gallon pitcher. Pour the hot concentrate over the sugar and mix until melted. Top off with sufficient water to make a gallon.
Dark and sweet.Comment
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That is about the same as how we make it, except we use the gallon teabags if we can get them. The family size bags are for making 1 quart, so your 4 count is the same as our 1 gallon sized bag. We use a level cup of sugar here.
I think some of the restaurants must make their tea with 2-3 cups of sugar per gallon, as it is often sickeningly sweet. -
Another vote for Luzianne. If in Heorga, or Texas, try making some peach tea.
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You can also add 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda to the finished product. This will take out any bitterness and also help in keeping the tea crystal clear.Comment
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There is a chain restaurant called Petro's Chili & Chips (think Frito pie) that used to have a location in my town. My wife fell in love with their iced tea, which had a bit of orange flavor to it. Alas, they closed that one after just a few years, and the nearest Petro's is nearly four hours away, so I needed to figure out how to make it at home. My closest approximation ended up being three Luzianne tea bags, along with one bag of Bigelow Constant Comment. I don't like any sweetness at all in my tea, so I don't add sugar.Comment
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We brew sun tea.
Summertime fun. Lipton flow-thru tea tags in a glass jug and set in the sun to brew.
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Milo’s is a local burger and chicken restaurant here in Bama, started in Bham. There tea is next level, dare I say better than McAlister’s. That said, I gave up sweet tea years ago, due to poor bloodwork. I now drink only unsweetened tea, love it. I don’t use artificial sweeteners either, it was quite the adaptation. All that to say, we drink lots of tea in our house. We typically drink Milo’s from the store. But when we brew at home, it’s 3-4 bags steeped in 4cups of nearly boiling water. For about 8-10 mins. Then fill will cool water. I keep bags in until fresh water has filled container.
The way others have described mixing sugar in while hot is key. I’ve never attempted sun tea, but think I wanna try it now.Comment
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We've been drinking Milo's as long as I've lived in Huntsville - if we buy premade tea, that is what it will be. However, these days I tend to buy 1 gallon sweet and 1 gallon unsweet and 1 gallon lemonade, and mix up my own half/half or Arnold Palmers... I can't stand the Milo's made with Splenda that my mother-in-law buys.
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Our family first made a sugar syrup and then added the tea. Boy was it sweet and growing up I loved it. Then I moved North and got away from sweet tea. When I returned home to wait for my brother to pass on all the church ladies who took over the kitchen made it the same way. I could not drink because it was so sweet. I could feel cavities starting after one sip.
I still drink a lot of tea but I make by just brewing the teabags for 6 minutes in about a quart of almost boiling water, pour that into a gallon glass jug and then just fill the jug up with ice.Comment
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Same here, I can’t drink it. I used to forget why, and I’d start drinking it again, but it only takes about 2 weeks for a stone to form. I don’t forget any more.Originally posted by Jerod Broussard View PostComment
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I don't know if this would make good iced tea but this is by far the best hot tea I've ever had. A British client turned me onto it and a local Indian grocery carries it for a few dollars cheaper than this amazon listing:
https://www.amazon.com/Tea-India-216-Bags/dp/B002HQGJHS/ref=sr_1_6?crid=8VCLKSB2X0M9&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.YC12 Zjd3jg1m15oWaGbGXfk0GnEwepoh2RI5qUmf4BEtDy6CjbKBYb Bq0AogQZJZPLsLTQmLyI8AXl3w6VkEMj0hvuuNH1tpL0WaeJKg dx01Qps68zf0fw3zRv9FPabgwB1ja7isojvWGUDky7kk2E0gZJ sFRygLvefgKV_Tj0rl2fAJ8HqqMn6lRTNSzm9jOC42jr-lWY0C02wo09V-QLJp5iStULWJ7XuKkAQl930yl9rfJsCmrONQG9ywtt9jq-0Be9qkVLzKaEVAFa_GYOQ4XXe5kfmmyCwv3lVpO1A.YMGyoqlS sF86vhmmvocjRDdVzYBS-2AWbQVXnB4AISM&dib_tag=se&keywords=tea+india&qid=1 722905927&sprefix=tea+india%2Caps%2C844&sr=8-6Last edited by 58limited; August 5, 2024, 07:06 PM.Comment
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