How to Make Homemade Iced Tea

Most people live busy lives. Work and family responsibilities take up so much of our time that we look for shortcuts and convenience wherever and whenever we can find them. Many people would be surprised to find out that some things that sound difficult or time consuming can be quite easy. Making your own homemade iced tea is something that anyone can do and only takes a few minutes of your time.

I have a very simple recipe that I use when making homemade iced tea. Since my family loves sweet tea this is the recipe I use. Here’s all you need to make your own homemade iced tea.

• Teabags
• Water
• Sugar

That’s all you need to make iced tea at home.

Here’s my recipe for sweet tea, and the proportions are two make two quarts of iced tea.

One cup sugar
Six tea bags
Two quarts water, divided

Bring your water to a boil.  Add six tea bags to two cups of boiling water.  I usually just do this in my two cup Pyrex measuring cup.  Let it steep for ten minutes.  Pour the water into your pitcher and add the sugar.  Mix well.  It’s easier to mix the sugar now when the water is hot so it dissolves completely.  Fill the pitcher to the top with water.  Chill and serve.

That’s it.  That’s my basic recipe for homemade sweet tea.  

Not everyone likes the taste of sweet tea. The tea flavor is very intense in this recipe. Before I found this recipe for homemade sweet tea online I used to make versions of the fancy flavored iced tea at home. To make this flavored iced tea at home you can follow this basic recipe and then add in the flavoring.

Base recipe for flavored iced tea.

Three tea bags (black)
Two quart water
¾ cup sugar
1/3 cup plus 2 tablespoons lemon juice

Bring the water to a boil. Add the tea bags, cover and brew for one hour. Add the sugar and lemon juice and mix well.

Variations

Strawberry Iced Tea: add 1 tablespoon strawberry extract to the pitcher

Orange Iced Tea: add 1/8 teaspoon orange extract to the pitcher

Cranberry Iced Tea: add 2 tablespoons frozen cranberry juice cocktail concentrate to the pitcher

Diet Iced Tea: substitute twelve 1 gram envelopes of Equal or Sweet n’ Low for the sugar.

Honey is also a nice addition to your iced tea, as is lime juice. You are only limited by your imagination.

If you want to make your homemade iced tea more “adult” you can do so by adding a shot or two of liquor.  A great way to spike your iced tea is to add ½ of an ounce of whiskey and ½ of an ounce of Southern Comfort to your glass of iced tea.  The amount of tea you add to your glass is up to you, depending on how much of a kick you want to get from it! 

One of the great things about making your own homemade iced tea is that you can control what goes into the drink.  If you want to cut back on the sugar you can do that.  If you like your tea a bit sweeter you can add more sugar.  The basic ingredients are simple and natural – sugar, water and tea.  There is nothing artificial in the basic recipe for homemade iced tea.

If you look at the ingredients on the canister of iced tea mix you might be surprised.  What bothered me the most is that the first ingredient listed is not tea – it is sugar.  I looked at a canister of flavored iced tea mix (green tea and honey flavored) and here are the ingredients (in the order listed) and what they really are:

Sugar – self explanatory.

Maltodextrin – This is a food additive that is used to sweeten foods or to thicken foods.  The taste of maltodextrin approximates sugar.  It is made from corn starch.

Instant Green Tea – again, self explanatory.

Citric Acid – This is a water soluble acid that is found in citrus fruits.  It is a natural preservative and gives foods an acidic or sour taste.

Silicon Dioxide – This is also known as Silica and is most commonly found in sand and is the most abundant mineral in the Earth’s crust.   Silica is used primarily in the production of glass, but is also used in cosmetics, microelectronics, as well as being used as a food additive to prevent the caking of powder mixes.

Natural Flavors (Soy Lecithin) – Lecithin is used in food preparations to help the mixing of ingredients and improves shelf life.  The FDA states it is safe for human consumption.

Once you try making your own homemade iced tea you will see that it is quick and easy to do.  The taste is so dramatically different from powdered mixes that once you make your own iced tea you won’t want to drink anything else.