If You're Sweetening Sweet Tea With Regular White Sugar, You're Doing It Wrong

Sweet tea is a Southern staple and one of those things that people who live elsewhere long for upon their return. Part of what makes sweet tea so craveable is indeed the sugar, and sugar it has in spades. Though you might be tempted to toss some granulated sugar into your tea and call it sweet, no self-respecting southerner would likely approve. Bob Bennett, head chef at Zingerman's Roadhouse, shared with Chowhound that the pro move for sweetening iced tea is to use simple syrup, which is sugar that has been dissolved in water on the stovetop.

Bennett shares that the key benefit of using simple syrup rather than sugar is "that you don't end up with a layer of sugar in the bottom of your cup." He uses a standard one to one ratio of sugar to water for his simple syrup and suggests adding it to warm tea so that the sugar fully incorporates. When asked how sweet should sweet tea be (a bit of a tongue twister), he added, "I feel like sweet tea can be a little bit like cooking bacon. Everyone has their own preference. Also, each iced tea is a little bit different too so I feel that taste is the best way to go." If you like your tea sweeter, you can make a "rich syrup" which is a two to one ratio of sugar to water. Whichever strength simple syrup you choose, it will incorporate more readily into the tea than granulated sugar, since the sugar molecules quickly break down when heated and completely dissolve in the water. 

When it comes to the type of tea to use for iced tea, it really comes down to personal choice. Just be gentle and let the tea bags steep slowly, though you only need about five minutes for full-flavored iced tea. Don't add tea bags to already boiling water, which could cause them to split and burst, and don't even get us started on using a powdered tea mixture. Just don't. Other hacks for achieving the sweetest, smoothest ice tea include adding a pinch of baking soda. Just a skosh will neutralize some of the tannins in a full pitcher of tea, keeping the brew from becoming cloudy, and reducing any potential for bitterness.

Some southerners would argue that the sweeter the tea, the better. Some people would opt to saturate simple syrup with as much sugar as the solution can hold, while others can't really handle the sickly sweetness of true sweet tea, and instead opt for a half and half, or 50% sweet and 50% unsweet tea. But let's be clear, these are definitely not conversations you would have anywhere north of the Mason-Dixon line. If you are a sweet tea enthusiast and would like to mix up your repertoire, try some drinks that incorporate sweet tea like an Arnold Palmer, citrus mint tea, or strawberry basil tea. Or, take things in a decidedly more boozy direction with an iced tea margarita, a sweet tea mule, or a John Daly.