Down South We Must Have This At Our July 4th Gatherings
Southern sweet tea is a must-have for all gatherings in the South. It’s even more of a must-have at our July 4th parties and gatherings. Now we know there will be everything to drink at the party or gathering you go to but the one thing you can count on is someone is bringing southern sweet tea.
History of Southern Sweet Tea
There are so many different theories as to how tea was started but according to Royal Cup Coffee & Tea, its history goes back as far as 1879. The tea made back in 1879 was found in a cookbook titled, “Housekeeping in Old Virginia” created by Marion Cabell Tyree. The original recipe used green tea. In the first recipe, Marion Cabell Tyree was looking for a way to flavor the tea. With a few different things tried, sugar and lemon were the winners.
Green Tea was the only tea we had in America so it was used to make tea. Once black tea was being imported to America sweet tea changed and it was mainly because the price of black tea was much cheaper.
So How Do I Make My Southern Sweet Tea?
![Southern Sweet Tea](https://kicks99.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/36/2024/06/zzz.jpeg?w=400)
Mine is simple. 8 small Luzianne tea bags. Put the tea bags into a cold pot of water and turn on the heat. Once it comes to a boil, it’s ready. While waiting for your tea bags to reach boiling status, you put two cups of pure cane sugar into a pitcher. Then as you are pouring the pot of tea into the pitcher, use a spoon to squeeze the bags against the pot to get all the goodness out. Then fill the pitcher the rest of the way up with cold water. Place in the refrigerator and let it get cold.
To me, there are a few things you can’t do to sweet tea. Once it’s made, you can’t add sugar to it to make it sweet. No little sugar packets will make it sweet. You also do not put ice in a cup and drink it immediately. It must have a cooling period.
You Can Find Some Great Ways To Flavor Your Tea
There’s nothing much better than a good ol’ cold glass of sweet tea. There are ways you can flavor your tea. I love to mix lemonade and sweet tea. I love to also put fruit into my Southern sweet tea. Here are some popular things and ways to flavor your tea.
Just add lemon
Peaches
Raspberries
Cherry Lime Aide Sweet Tea
Hibiscus
Lemony Pineapple
So as you can see there are so many ways to make your southern sweet tea fit your taste. While I do love lemonade with my sweet tea, you can’t beat just a good glass of southern sweet tea. Whatever your barbeque, cookout, or gathering for the July 4th holds for you, make sure you have the tea.