Sweet Tea

Last weekend I posted my cocktail of the week, and also had bonus cocktail Saturday, so this week I decided to have "no booze Sunday" instead.  Sweet Tea is probably more important than any alcoholic drink right now, though - it's time for barbecued meat, and while you can have barbecued meat without booze¹, it is just not right to have it without Sweet Tea.


The problem, however, is that there is way too much bad Sweet Tea in this world - over-brewed and bitter, weak, stale, too sweet, or not sweet enough.  One solution is to brew your tea using a method shared by the founder of Sweet Leaf Tea Company a while back in Texas Monthly magazine.


To make a half-gallon pitcher, boil 1 quart of water that has been filtered to remove any chlorine or other impurities.  Take it off the heat and dump in 1/2 ounce of high-quality loose leaf black tea (that will be something like 3 tablespoons, but use a decent kitchen scale if you have one), which will give you a lot better flavor than what you can get from the stuff they put in tea bags.  Give it a little stir and steep for exactly 4 1/2 minutes - any longer will make it bitter.

While you are waiting, fill a half-gallon pitcher with ice and pour a rounded half-cup of white sugar over it.  When the timer you are using goes off (use a timer, because if you don't you will get distracted and forget when 4 1/2 minutes is up), strain the tea through a wire mesh sieve into the pitcher.  Stir until the sugar is dissolved, cover the pitcher and refrigerate until cool.


A couple more thoughts.  If you like mint, it would be good to add a few sprigs to the ice and sugar before adding the hot tea.  Also, if you are not having barbecue, and you don't need a sugar high, you might just want to omit the sugar - this method makes a wonderful pitcher of unsweetened tea.

In this picture, you will see that the tea in the pitcher is a little cloudy.  That's OK - the tea experts say that can happen with good quality tea, and it doesn't hurt a thing.


Serve over ice with a nice wedge of lemon.  Then enjoy with some 5-hour slow-smoked spare ribs, or those Bourbon-Brined Pork Chops.


^{1This does not include beer, which is also necessary with barbecue.}