Sweet Tea ?

[Soror]

Dh and I are curious about how much sugar most people put in their sweet tea. He grew up with his parents making it to a certain sweetness and we assumed that is what most people did until a few recent conversations, so I told him I would poll here.

 

for the poll, I'm referring to how much sugar you add to 1 GAL of tea, if you don't make it in that qty please convert :) And by sweet tea I mean tea made hot then sugar added and chilled, not tea w/ sugar added after being chilled :)

[Melissa in Australia]

I cannot vote. I have never made tea by the gallon and have never met anyone who has. It must be some American thing!

[mommaduck]

I cannot vote. I have never made tea by the gallon and have never met anyone who has. It must be some American thing!

It is. Ice tea started as a Southern thing, I believe. Sweet, iced tea. Best cure for a hot summer's day. You drink it by the glass (instead of the cup) and you drink enough of it to make it by the gallon or half gallon (or there are enough people to make that amount or you make it and keep it refrigerated so it lasts the day). My stepdad's family (midwesterners) drink it unsweetened.

Edited August 3, 2012 by mommaduck

[Shamzanne]

I can't stand sweet tea, but I worked in the kitchen at a Bible College in Kentucky. I was completely floored the first time they told me to make tea. They didn't measure sugar by the cup, but with a POT. Like, a pot that holds at least 6 cups of sugar. I added two POTS of sugar to a 4 gallon container of tea, so would guess 3-4 cups of sugar per gallon. Yikes! It was almost syrup.

[Alpac]

I *only* put 1 cup of sugar per gallon of tea. I do not make my sweet tea nearly sweet enough for many in these parts. Most restaurants here serve their tea way too sweet for my taste. I usually order half sweet/half unsweet tea. Many of my friends like more sugar in their tea than I, but my dh will only drink unsweet tea. I am trying to wean myself a bit from it and drink more water. :tongue_smilie:

[Chris in VA]

Dh's family drinks a ton of iced tea. It's very inexpensive (they didn't drink soda except on the occasional Friday night for Popcorn And Soda Night :001_smile:). We make it by the gallon here--the boys, in their late teens, started drinking it with dinner with their dad.

 

Our recipe--Take 6 regular tea bags (not the giant kind, not the flavored kind) and put them in the coffee maker where you'd ordinarily put the coffee and filter. Make a pot of tea, then add it to a gallon container. Add 1 c sugar, and ice and water to fill the container. Shake the daylights out of it to mix it. Keep refrigerated. Lasts about 4 days before it "turns yucky." ;)

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

We used 1 cup sugar and 6 regular tea bags for 2L of water. If you want it to be a real Southern Sweet Tea...lemon and mint is needed also.

[Pamela H in Texas]

When I was a teen, it was 4 sweet-n-lows for a gallon. My hubby SAID it was a cup of sugar per gallon, but I'm POSITIVE that his pour measuring was much closer to 2 or so....and then he'd complain my 1cup per gallon (which I thought was PLENTY) was not sweet enough. Go figure. We haven't made tea but maybe thrice in the last year though and probably not at all the couple years before that. We HAVE had times we went through 2-3 gallons a day :blush:

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

Well, I'm from the north, so my idea of sweet tea is quite different from the sweet tea I've been served in the south. I use less than 1/2 c. per gallon, so I didn't vote. I like my iced tea only very slightly sweetened, but with lots and lots of lemon or other citrus. My sister has been brewing tea by the stock potful, and not adding sugar, but she made a simple syrup, so we can all add our own sweetness.

[Kathryn]

We used 1 cup sugar and 6 regular tea bags for 2L of water. If you want it to be a real Southern Sweet Tea...lemon and mint is needed also.

 

Tea disgusts me, but this is exactly how DH makes his--well, not lemon or mint, that's only uppity Southerners. :)

[southcarolinamom]

I'm trying to cut back on my Dh's sugar intake, so I use about 3/4 cup of sugar per gallon.

 

I also add 1 Bigelow Cinnamon Stick tea bag to the brewing procedure. It makes for an amazing gallon of cinnamon iced tea! Yum.

 

My dh can be bribed to do many things on a honey-do list, as long as there is a tall glass of this stuff ready for him :D

[Night Elf]

Growing up, my mom always put 1 cup of sugar into a gallon of tea, just like we added 1 cup of sugar to Kool-Aid. I leave it unsweetened now because I use Splenda in my individual glasses. I cannot even order sweet tea at restaurants anymore because it is so sweet is hurts my teeth. I have no idea how much sugar a restaurant adds.

[ktgrok]

Dh's family drinks a ton of iced tea. It's very inexpensive (they didn't drink soda except on the occasional Friday night for Popcorn And Soda Night :001_smile:). We make it by the gallon here--the boys, in their late teens, started drinking it with dinner with their dad.

 

Our recipe--Take 6 regular tea bags (not the giant kind, not the flavored kind) and put them in the coffee maker where you'd ordinarily put the coffee and filter. Make a pot of tea, then add it to a gallon container. Add 1 c sugar, and ice and water to fill the container. Shake the daylights out of it to mix it. Keep refrigerated. Lasts about 4 days before it "turns yucky." ;)

 

I have an iced tea maker, that does basically what you describe. And yes, about that sweet. I even go slightly less sweet if I can . So for me my iced tea maker makes 3 quarts and I use 1/2 cup sugar, and often a good swig of lime or lemon juice. YUM.

 

And it was invented at a World's Fair I believe....I read that recently. That it was too hot for people to drink tea so they started serving it over ice, which was a novelty.

 

I will say that I also like unsweetened iced tea, but my family does not, hence the bit of sugar. TRUE sweet tea is MUCH sweeter than what I make.

[Annie G]

Even though I grew up in Atlanta, my family never had sweet tea at home- my folks are not from the south. But oh, my friends had sweet tea and it was heavenly. When we go back to visit, I MUST have it. It's an addiction- I can go for a year without it but once I hit Atlanta, I crave it constantly. Once we're back home, I'm fine.

[The Girls' Mom]

It is around 1.5 cup per gallon pitcher. That is to appease my dh who grew up drinking syrup tea. His mother makes it with over 2 c per gallon :eek: I usually drink it unsweetened or half unsweetened/half syrup tea..lol.

[Laurie4b]

The person I learned from (I don't make it anymore) said she kept adding sugar until it wouldn't dissolve anymore. It was oh-so-good!

[MamaT]

Honestly, I don't measure. I would guess it to be 1.5 cups per gallon. My dh and I grew up drinking it even sweeter. We go through 2-3 gallons every day around here in the summertime. No mint or lemon in our tea around here, and I never knew anyone who drank it like that growing up.

[Bensmom]

We became hooked on sweet tea when we lived in Georgia. I made it with 1.5 cup/gallon. In recent years, I have cut back to 1 cup/gallon. A gallon lasts my family of 3 about a day and a half. We LOVE our tea :D

[Mom23Boys]

2 cups per gallon - standard for my family and friends. I live in South Louisiana

[Parrothead]

On the very very rare occasion that I make iced tea for dh I use 3/4 cup to the gallon. Where he is from they like a little tea with their sugar. I had to wean him down from 2.5ish cups per gallon. :glare:

 

It is very rare that I make it anymore.

[Truscifi]

I only put 1/2-3/4 cup, but dh puts 1 cup. We have both scaled WAY back from what we grew up with, which typically had 2-3 cups per gallon. We're both from Alabama, btw.

[Sasharowan]

I voted 1 cup, but it is closer to 3/4 cup. We are slowly cutting down on the sugar.

[Soror]

In dh's house growing up it was always 1 cup per gallon. One time I made tea for a family event and his Grandpa added a TON more sugar as he said I didn't add enough. Personally I think 1/2 is plenty good(although I don't drink it myself but maybe 2 x a year), dh likes his with 1/2 c. honey per gallon these days. I was shocked that when he was talking to several people at work that they used 2 c per gallon and another lady from the hs group was telling me she just cut back to 1 1/2 c.

[BarbecueMom]

I grew up (in central Illinois) with 7/8 c. for a little less than a half-gallon of tea. We make gallon pitchers now, and I use a little under 1/3 c. if I sweeten it at all. My family was a little offended the first time we hosted dinner and the tea wasn't super sweet. They're of the "I don't care if it's healthier, it's not the way our family does it" mentality.

[Cinder]

This is funny--I couldn't vote. I did not grow up on sweet tea and I usually drink it unsweetened. When I do feel like having it sweet I usually add about 1/2 Tbs per quart, so I guess that's 2 Tbs per gallon.

 

I have known people to commonly add 1 cup per half gallon. :eek: Way too sweet IMO. When we were at a friend's house she asked if we liked sweet tea--not really--so she cut it down to 1/2 cup per half gallon. Most sweet tea is way too sweet for me.

[Slipper]

My husband always teases me for how sweet I make my tea and now I'm embarrassed by the poll! :tongue_smilie:

 

I brew by the half gallon and put 1.5 - 2 cups with my Mr. Tea Maker (or whatever it's called). I love putting in peach or mint flavored tea bags and have occasionally used cinnamon. We make tea daily but do not drink a lot of soda.

[Dobela]

My mother decided sweet tea was a health risk many years ago and stopped making it sweet. One grandmother added about 1 cup, sometimes more to a gallon. Then she started doing 1 cup sugar and a bunch of artificial sweeteners (remember that liquid sweet stuff :ack2: ) so she could tell my mom there was less sugar in it. My other grandmother would add sugar to the tea when it was hot and would only stop when it would stop dissolving.

 

One of the restaurants here will add approximately 1 pound of sugar to 1 gallon tea. I watched them make it. Some of the other restaurants make a simple sugar syrup first then add it to the tea. McD usually has so much sugar in their's that you can feel the grit sometimes.

 

I have been drinking mine unsweet for a long time now.

[bolt.]

I'm Canadian, so I don't know how I got into the 'sweet tea' habit. I make a half gallon using two tea bags in warm (not hot) water, 2 packets of stevia (they say each packet is equivalent to 2 tsp, but I find them much sweeter) plus 1 tbsp actual sugar... So more or less that's equivalent to 3 tbsp sugar per half gallon, 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp per gallon (but it tastes sweeter).

[djsmom]

I didn't vote because we use 1 1/4c sugar for a gallon of tea.

[justamouse]

I make it by the gallon, unsweetened.

[Tutor]

I voted 1c, but it's more like 3/4c. We're slowly trying to cut it back from our high of 1.5c.

 

ETA: We're Yankee transplants into The South, and most born-and-bred southerners we know use 2-3c/gal or use a mix.

Edited August 3, 2012 by Tutor

[LarlaB]

Roughly 2/3-3/4 cup of sugar- depends on how strong I've made the tea. :) We like it just barely sweet :)

[Soror]

I make it by the gallon, unsweetened.

 

No vote for you, your obviously not southern enough :)

[KungFuPanda]

I add 1 cup/gallon, but I grew up adding 2 cups/gallon.

[LoriK]

I had my first taste of sweet tea at a restaurant in Missouri when we were driving across the country. We were moving from California to Alabama and this tea was a revelation to me!

 

When I first started making it, I used an ice tea brewing machine and I put about 2/3 of a cup per pitcher. Later I just brewed tea and refrigerated it and a cup to a cup and a half per gallon was the norm.

 

Now days I brew a gallon or two of unsweetened tea per day...we drink it with a pinch of stevia powder.

[Farrar]

I once saw my grandmother make it, put in at least two cups or so (it was probably a gallon and a half though), come back and taste it, and declare it hadn't been sweetened at all. Oyvay.

[jewellsmommy]

I drink unsweet tea because I grew up drinking tea my mother's way, over 2 cups of sugar per gallon. :glare: I just can't handle that.

 

I will make sweet tea too, but with 1 level cup of sugar to a gallon. Dh and ds won't drink unsweet but they will drink it this way. Dd prefers the sweet tea but can drink it unsweet.

 

My tea confession: I make my tea strong enough to carry someone away. :D

[jewellsmommy]

I just have to pop back into this thread to say that I think McDONALD'S SWEET TEA IS ABSOLULTELY *D*I*S*G*U*S*T*I*N*G*! :ack2:

 

 

Amen sister!

 

Chick fil a is the only fast food tea I like. No one else has enough turn over in their unsweet tea to keep it from sitting there all day getting nasty. Chick fil always has fresh unsweet tea. Sometimes I'll get it 1/2 sweet, 1/2 unsweet though. Dh gets his 1/2 lemonade, 1/2 sweet tea.

[justamouse]

No vote for you, your obviously not southern enough :)

 

guilty!

[Jpoy85]

I use Hillbillyhousewife.com's Perfect Iced Tea recipe and use 1c of sugar.

 

put 2qts water in pitcher with 1c sugar.

Boil 2qts water.

Steep 12 teabags (I use Kroger Great Value brand without tags) for 10 minutes- NO LONGER AND NO LESS!

Mix the 4qts together in pitcher

 

ENJOY!

[extendedforecast]

It is! Around here, you can do the drive-thru fast food chain and buy sweet tea by the BUCKET. Literally, they hand you a bucket of sweet tea.

 

My sister and BIL came here to visit me, and it was his first time in "the south". I told them to swing through the BBQ fast-food place and bring home a bucket of sweet tea. He said he just about died when they handed him an actual bucket. I said, "Well, what did you expect? I said 'bucket'!" He thought it was just a term meaning something cutesie, like a great big cup or something. :lol:

 

ETA: My Scottish mother-in-law (who passed away) thought iced tea was an abomination. (LOL)

 

To answer the OP: 1 cup per gallon, but I don't make mine as sweet as some folks.

 

Would this drive through restaurant happen to be Bill Miller?

[Tap]

I went with the closest that we actually use, 2/3 cup....so I chose 1/2 cup

[extendedforecast]

Amen sister!

 

Chick fil a is the only fast food tea I like. No one else has enough turn over in their unsweet tea to keep it from sitting there all day getting nasty. Chick fil always has fresh unsweet tea. Sometimes I'll get it 1/2 sweet, 1/2 unsweet though. Dh gets his 1/2 lemonade, 1/2 sweet tea.

 

I've never tried the tea at chickfila, for I've never been able to pass up their lemonade. I especially love it when they offer to refill my lemonade in the restaurant while I let DS play.

 

To answer to OP's question, I would estimate a cup and a half of sugar per gallon. Dh's mom made it way sweeter.

[tex-mex]

I'm diabetic. Thus I cannot enjoy sweet tea.

 

But I do use Sweet N Low for my tea sparingly. I actually like Sun Tea without any sweetner, to be truthful. :D

[IsabelC]

I was quite disappointed to click on this thread and find it was about tea of the beverage variety :tongue_smilie::lol:

[ktgrok]

I use Hillbillyhousewife.com's Perfect Iced Tea recipe and use 1c of sugar.

 

put 2qts water in pitcher with 1c sugar.

Boil 2qts water.

Steep 12 teabags (I use Kroger Great Value brand without tags) for 10 minutes- NO LONGER AND NO LESS!

Mix the 4qts together in pitcher

 

ENJOY!

 

I use less sugar, but yes, her tea is the BEST. I usually just use my iced tea maker, but hers is SOOO much better.

[Slartibartfast]

I make tea by the gallon but I leave it unsweetened. I make simple syrup that I put in one of those squeeze containers if people want sweetener.

 

I do like adding a little lemon-aid to my tea so it is 1/4 lemon-aid and 3/4 tea.

[GSOchristie]

I'm from NC, and I drink unsweetened tea, but when I make it for an event, I use 2 cups for a gallon of tea. I grew up with sweet tea always in the fridge, but I never liked it.

[Greenmama2]

I cannot vote. I have never made tea by the gallon and have never met anyone who has. It must be some American thing!

 

:iagree:

Also, the only time I have ever taken sugar in tea is immediately after giving birth.

[Luckymama]

I was quite disappointed to click on this thread and find it was about tea of the beverage variety :tongue_smilie::lol:

 

:D