Who's Thirsty for Some Sweet Tea?

I recently stumbled across a $50 gadget that promises to make the world's best Southern-style sweet tea. I laughed. This emblematic beverage of the sizzling South is so darned simple to make, you don't really need any fancy tools. On the other hand, it's also easy to go wrong.

As much as I love the coffee-centric Northwest, restaurants often don't do right by iced tea. I've suffered through many glasses of iced tea that were cloudy and bitter or, worse, as weak as a watered down cocktail. Iced tea should be amber in hue, clear and crisp. Well-balanced, never tannic and bitter. (From leaving the tea bags steep too long.)

For the definitive sweet tea recipe, I turned to Martha Hall Foose's James Beard award-winning book, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea. This gem has become one of the most dogged-earred cookbooks in my kitchen, the pages filled with bite-sized, stirring stories that truly evoke a special place, the Mississippi Delta. A place, by the way, where people drink sweet tea year-round at breakfast, lunch and dinner and anytime in between.

The beautifully simple key to this cooling beverage is cold brewing the tea. It takes a little time, but, trust me, you'll be able to taste a huge difference. Cheers!

Sweet Tea from Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Foose

Ingredients

4 pitcher-size cold-brew tea bags or 6 tablespoons orange pekoe tea leaves in a diffuser

3/4 cup sugar

2 lemons, sliced

fresh mint sprigs (optional)

ice

Instructions

1. Place the tea bags in a large pitcher. Add 3 quarts cold water and let steep for 30 minutes.

2. In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup water and the sugar. Boil, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Cool.

3. Remove the tea bags. Add the sugar and stir to combine. Serve over ice with lemon and fresh mint, if desired.

Makes 3 quarts.

--Leslie Kelly

Comments

[jeuxvideo on September 24, 2009 at 04:41 AM]

Wow- I collect & use many cookbooks, but this one in particual almost reads like a best selling novel. Along with some of the best southern inspired recipes as a main course, the reader gets treated to a side dish of recipe history and a dessert of wonderfully helpful notes! Some of my personal favorites include the Chicken Thighs & Dumplings--little pillow dumplings adrift in the richest of stews, honest devil-ed eggs, watermelon salsa (just incredible!) and the best ever, natural Red Velvet cake. Wash it all down with a McCarty Pottery Julep or a Mailbox cocktail! Well Martha, very, very well done!