Southern Sweet Tea

Ok, now I know that sharing a recipe that is almost universally known seems unoriginal BUT I realized sharing is a MUST when I found out that my very own sister-in-law bought an iced tea maker so she could make "real" iced tea!!!!! (Do you feel my shocked silence?)
You mean - companies are actually selling Iced Tea Makers to unsuspecting people who don't actual know how to make the beverage so near and dear to my heart? I knew I had to do my part to remedy this situation and share my family's sweet iced tea recipe so no more poor souls would be conned into buying such needless kitchen appliances.
The Baker Family Sweet Iced Tea comes from my grandma, who passed it on to my dad and his sibs and on to me. Growing up, we rarely had Kool-Aid in the house. Instead we had a giant round 2 Gallon (hey 4 kids and roughly 8 thirsty neighborhood kids need alot to drink!) tupperware container always filled to the brim with Sweet Tea. I can still see it in my mind, its sides tinged brown from years of sweet tea use.

Baker Family Southern Sweet Tea

Servings: 8

Prep/Cook Time: 15 min

Ingredients

3 tea bags of Lipton (or Luzianne) Iced Tea

1 1/2 C of sugar (if you like, use more or less to get the sweetness you desire)

1 gallon of water

Directions

1. Fill a small sauce pan with water and put on oven to boil

2. Once water comes to a boil, turn off the burner and submerge your tea bags in the water

3. Leave tea bags in water to steep for at least 10 minutes (I personally will leave them in for 20-30 minutes, letting the tea steep to a richer flavor while I cook the rest of our dinner.)

4. Once your tea has steeped, pour from the saucepan into a gallon-sized pitcher. 

5. Add sugar and stir until dissolved (always add the sugar while the tea is still hot as it will mix and dissolve better)

6. Fill your gallon pitcher with water and mix thoroughly (I hold the teabags under the water as I fill up my pitcher to get every last bit of flavor out of them!)

7. Serve with ice and enjoy!