how do you make Southern sweet tea ?

by Maria
(Crete Greece )

Iced tea has always been a family favorite, problem is we always bought the stuff. Now I've decided to make some from scratch only I have no clue where to start from. The reason I chose sweet tea in perticular is that we have fallen in love with your recipes ( made southern fried chicken yesterday ) and so I thought you might have a recipe for that.

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Hey there Maria! I'm so glad that you are enjoying my recipes! Sweet tea is a staple down here and very easy to make. Here's how I make it:

For 1 gallon of sweet tea:

4 cups of boiling water
3 Family Size Tea Bags or 8 to 10 regular size tea bags(Tetly or Lipton are best)
1 1/2 cups of sugar

Bring the 4 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat. Add the tea bags and allow to steep for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove tea bags....now this is important.....DO NOT SQUEEZE THE LIQUID FROM THE BAGS. Squeezing the bags will make your tea cloudy and bitter so resist the urge to squeeze the bags. Just throw them away. Add the sugar to the warm tea and stir to dissolve. Pour into a 1 gallon pitcher and finish filling with cold water. Enjoy!