Pearl Clemmons Perfect Sweet Tea

RECIPE FAVORITES FROM SWEET TEA AND SECRETS

(Available in print, digital, and audio)

Welcome to Adams Grove...where the tea is sweet, but trouble is brewing.

You’ll want to make this tea by the gallon, and please keep this recipe our little secret.

Glass jugs make all the difference, and I swear a good one with a spigot is the best way to go. Something about the way the tea splashes in the glass over the ice is just a little miracle all to itself.

The secret is all in the steep, ya see. Like anything that’s worthwhile, you have to give it the time to mature, to marry up and merge to its full potential. Love is like that ya know. Anyway, all tea has a temperature point of perfection, and you really have to get that water boiling if you want to get it right. Here we go!

· Place 3 family-sized tea bags (or 10 regular-sized tea bags) into your glass jug.

· Boil up a pot of water. (Be sure it’s less than a gallon of water because you’ll need to leave a little room for that cup and a half of sugar you’ll be adding!)

· Once the water has come to a full rolling boil, gently pour that bubbling hot water right over your tea bags in the jug.

· Steep for 3–5 minutes depending on how strong you like your tea. Me? I like mine nice and dark like a summer tan. I go for the whole 5 minutes.

· Stir. This is important. Stir in one direction. You don’t want to unstir it, now, do you?

· Remove the tea bags with a slotted spoon.

· Now, swish in 1.5 heaping cups of sugar into the hot tea and stir until dissolved.

· Top off the jug with some cold water or ice cubes.

· Chill on the top shelf of your fridge. The colder the better. Enjoy y’all!