How to Make Sweet Tea

Ok, a lot of people think it's gross if they didn't grow up in the South- but I promise you with the right amount of ice and not TOO much sugar...sweet tea is entirely refreshing.

The pot: it's not a sauce pan....it's not a stock/pasta pot....it's that in-between pot that you may use for a single serving of pasta or to heat up chef boyardee because you want to feel like that's cooking. Call it a medium sized sauce pan.  Anyways, fill it 3/4 of the way full with COLD water.  That's important. I KNOW you're just going to boil it...but use cold water. If you live in the city....please use the water you would drink...not the water from the sink just because you're going to boil it and you think that's ok.  It's not. 

Throw in 8 tea bags (I prefer lipton). Don't forget to pull the staples off the strings...you don't want those to wind up in your throat.  Turn the eye on high. Now you kinda have to stand there and wait, this isn't a "i'll go watch TV for a minute" thing. Watch the bubbles as the tea starts to boil. Right as it is about to boil over, turn the heat OFF. If you do this with finesse, the bubbles will recede and not spill all down the pot. Let the tea stand or "steep" for two minutes. If you are using a plastic pitcher (this recipe is for a gallon pitcher BTW) you will need to use the extra room in the sauce pan/tea pot to fill it up with cold water. The cooled tea can then be poured into the pitcher over the one cup of sugar you have already added (dixie crystals is best!)

Now you're looking at me like I'm crazy. The tea doesn't fill the pitcher up.  Just take a deep breath, grab a long-handled wooden spoon, stir until the sugar is dissolved and then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with COLD water. If it's too watered down for you...add some more sugar.

Pour over a tall glass of ice and enjoy! You southern belle/dude you ;-)