Thursday, September 4, 2008

20. Make Sweet Tea From Scratch





Tonight I took on the task of making sweet tea. Melissa's parents brought me some tea leaves last weekend when they were here. The picture of the tea didn't come out too great, but if you could see it in person and smell it, you would think it was great!
I have been looking for recipes for awhile for how to make it. It seems like every house wife in the South has a recipe posted out there for the "best" sweet tea. Most of them have the same general make-up. First boil water, then put in tea bag. Remove tea bag and put in sugar. Finally, put in more water, then serve with ice.
I followed those steps and I must say the tea didn't turn out too terrible. (I did expect the worst!) I learned after trying it once that I will need to put in much less sugar next time. I guess in the south, if you don't have a 6:1 ratio of water to sugar then it is not sweet tea. That is definitely too much sugar. Next time, there will be less for sure. It didn't take too much time to make this so I know that when I make it next time it isn't the big task than I thought it would be. I am also very glad that I made this during a time that I am trying to stay away from pop. It might become a Sunday afternoon staple this fall as I watch football. That will help ward off the cravings to go grab a Coke.
Another task down! I'm enjoying checking these tasks off and hope to keep up this pace.

5 comments:

Tyler N said...

My Great Grandfather used to make sweet tea...he used about 3 cups of sugar per gallon. It was sweet. I am trying to stay away from pop too. It's difficult but you can make it.

JRev said...

My wife would love you. She loves her sweet tea

Torres is the last name... said...

Yeah and you can't use any sugar substitute! Straight up southern sweet has to be my ABSOLUTE favorite. Definitely my beverage of choice hands down.

Glad you found the recipe, its definitely not hard and super easy to make. When we visit, I will be waiting to sip some tea with ya!

Matt said...

I love the photos - they look like they came straight out of a recipe book for sweet tea.

Eric Weis said...

I strive for professional photography on my blog. Nothing less. How about the one of the actual tea leaves. Nice and in focus!