Sweet Tea

Recipe from Leona Marcena Clay Johnson

Adapted by Vallery Lomas

Published June 29, 2021

  • Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
Media 1 of 1
Total Time
15 minutes, plus cooling
Rating
4(349)
Comments
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This sweet tea toes the line between just right and puckery sweet. The formula reflects the way my grandmother Leona Johnson made sweet tea: strong tea, lots of lemon juice and even more sugar. Start by adding half a cup of sugar to the batch, then add up to 4 more tablespoons to your preference. By making it extra potent, tart and sweet, this brew still tastes good even after the ice starts to melt. —Vallery Lomas

Featured in: Sweet Tea From a Grandmother’s Kettle to Your Table

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Ingredients

Yield:About 8 cups

  • 8 black tea bags, preferably Lipton

  • ½ cup granulated sugar, preferably pure cane, plus more to taste

  • 6 tablespoons lemon juice (from about 2 lemons)

  • Ice cubes, for chilling and serving

  • Lemon slices, for garnish (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving

57 grams carbs; 216 calories; 1 gram fiber; 7 milligrams sodium; 1 gram protein; 52 grams sugar

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    In a tea kettle or medium saucepan, heat 4 cups water until boiling. Remove from the heat and add the tea bags. Allow the tea to steep for 5 minutes. Gently squeeze the bags to release their concentrated tea, then discard the bags. Transfer the tea to a pitcher.

  2. Step 2

    Stir ½ cup sugar into the hot tea until it has dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice. Add 4 cups water, then fill the pitcher with 2 cups ice.

  3. Step 3

    Taste the tea to determine if you’d like to add up to 4 tablespoons more sugar. If adding sugar, stir until it dissolves.

  4. Step 4

    Cover and refrigerate until the sweet tea is chilled throughout or up to 2 days. Serve in a large glass filled with ice, and garnish with a lemon slice if you’d like.

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Ratings

4 out of 5
349 user ratings
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Comments

Kat

Luzianne tea for this southern girl!

Zoe

This Southern girl suggests adding a generous handful of mint leaves to the mixture while still hot. Divine

mrp

I have had so much Lipton in my Southern veins it appears in most blood tests. Tetley, works well also.

VBR

This recipe takes me back to my childhood. When I was just seven or eight, I would ride my bike down the street to the elderly Mrs. Staff’s house. She would always have a big pitcher of iced tea prepared. It was very similar to this only she would mash up a sliced lemon with a bunch of sugar before mixing it into her brewed tea. I even still have her handwritten 3 x 5 index card with her special “Mrs. Staff’s iced tea” recipe on it. I’d sit there with her for hours while she chain smoked, lighting one cigarette from the embers of the previous one. Core memory.

Jill

Tea bags? I would brew a good loose-leaf tea, possibly Lipton's. A breakfast tea for strength, but not a teabag, even before we became aware of the microplastics in them.

Kim

What is the difference beween adding simple syrup vs. adding sugar to the hot tea and letting it dissolve?

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