Sweet Tea. Sweet tea with NO DREGS....sweet...

My mom has made tea ever since I can remember.  It is served in those giant brown plastic tupperware jugs.  Remember these guys??

The big one is sweet tea, the little one is unsweetened. I grew up on it. I love it. However, I HATED the little dregs of tea that would end up in the bottom of the jug. Sometimes I would pour that last cup and be expecting yummy sweet tea and instead get a mouth of dregs.

So I came up with a better method.

Same Sweet Tea (yes it is capitalized...). No Dregs.

It is a simple process that starts with your tea kettle. 

Get it full to the fill line and put it on a small burner on your stove on HIGH.

While your water heats to boiling, pour some sugar in the bottom of your pitcher.  Make sure your container is room temp.
I broke a glass pitcher once thinking I could pour boiling water into it minutes after it came out of the fridge.  It shattered.

Keep pouring, this IS sweet tea.  
You use a whole cup, or more or less depending on your taste.  Just skip this part for unsweetened tea :)

It is important to get the sugar in the pitcher before the water and tea because you want to make a simple syrup
so the sugar completely dissolves and spreads throughout your entire batch of tea instead of settling on the bottom.
 

Once your sugar is ready, it's time to get your teabags prepared.
My mom taught me to rip off the paper tops and tie all the teabags (4-6 small) in a knot at the top.

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See the tied teabags in my hand?

So, your sugar is in the pitcher, the bags are tied, but NOT in the pitcher and your teakettle is boiling.
Get a wooden spoon, pour the boiling water into the pitcher and stir, stir, stir!  
You want the sugar to dissolve and mix while the water is still hot.

Here is the little trick...get the water and sugar mix spinning, pull the spoon out and drop your teabags in.
They will spin enough to dunk under the water and start brewing without the force of water breaking open the bags and spilling tea.

Let it brew 15-20 minutes for a light tea and longer for a stronger tea.
Pull the tea out and toss those teabags in the compost!
 

The last step is to add a little bit of cold water to dilute the tea and cool it down before going into the fridge.
You just want to add a couple cups or your tea will get too weak.
Alternatively, you can just fill glasses with ice, poor the warm tea over and serve immediately.

Enjoy!

Folks have asked where to get the bottles/crate the tea is pictured in.  

Mine were from Lehmans  -- a little store in Berlin, Ohio, but you can find a similar crate/bottle set HERE, HERE, HERE or HERE.

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Did you like this post?  

You might want to check out my dandelion and hibiscus tea!

 If you liked this tutorial, then you might enjoy the BOOK!

Make your own coconut oil.
Gather your own sea salt.
Grow your own grapevines for wreaths.
Give gifts naturally grown and crafted from your backyard garden.

Each chapter focuses on a plant or groups of plants and how to grow them in your home garden.  Then, gather up those natural ingredients and get crafting! From lavender wreaths and hypertufa planters to lambsear angels and pickled tomatoes, there are projects for beginners on up!

Crafting with Nature is available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books a Million, POWELL's! (!!!!)  Booktopia (Australia!), IndieBound, Alibris, Glose.com, The Book Depository and Walmart.com.  Books are also rolling out to retailers and libraries, so check for them there. 

 If your library does NOT have it yet, this is why you should talk to your librarian!