Southern-Style Sweet Tea Recipe

Sweet tea is a summer (and sometimes year round) staple for my drinking pleasure. Here’s one of my favorite ways to enjoy it.

Welcome to the Juneteenth 2020 Cookout! This initiative was created by a group of Black Food Bloggers to honor and celebrate Juneteenth—a jubilee of freedom to commemorate the end of slavery—and to amplify Black culinary creatives.

Juneteenth (a merge of the words/date June nineteenth) marks the date in 1865 that the last enslaved people learned of their freedom. And for over 150 years since, Black Americans have commemorated the summer holiday with a wide range of food traditions that tell a story of the perseverance of a people.

This virtual cookout features nearly 70 participants with a wide range of recipes, such as spiced grilled peaches, Southern tomato pie, and grilled lemon pepper wings. Make this sweet tea to sip on while you check out all of the wonderful recipes towards the end of this post and give their creators a follow.

Is it summer time yet? Spring is officially here, and I’m ready to fast forward through the cold, rainy days and onto the shorts, tank tops, flip flops, and sunglasses. Aren’t you? And when I think of summer, sweet tea is sure to be part of the experience.

Though growing up I never really used a recipe to make the refreshing beverage, here’s a good starting point should you find yourself wanted a nice glass to cool yourself down. And once you’ve gotten down the basic recipe, I shared a few different ideas for how to make it your own over on HuffPost.

How Do You Make Sweet Tea from Scratch?

For me, it all starts with making what in essence is a concentrated tea syrup. Start by brewing a bunch of tea in a small amount of water. (If using bags, one trick I learned is to tie them together for easy retrieval.) Then stir in some sugar while it’s still warm so that it dissolves easily. From there just add more water to get it to normal strength and you’re basically good to go.

Is Sweet Tea the Same as Iced Tea?

If you look carefully at the title then you’ll notice that it reads “sweet tea” and not “iced tea.” In my mind, the two are synonymous. However, I’ve learned from experience that this is not the case for everyone. I get a little enraged anytime someone tries to serve me unsweetened iced tea—blasphemy! And there’s little that can be done to fix it unless you have simple syrup on hand, but that seems to be a rare occasion. Stirring in granulated sugar doesn’t do anything for iced tea because all the sweetness doesn’t dissolve and just sinks to the bottom.

What Kind of Tea Is Used for Sweet Tea?

Traditionally it is made with your standard black tea, such as Lipton. However, you can really use any type of tea you have on hand, such as green, mint, or rooibos. And one thing to keep in mind is caffeine. With sweet tea, you will be tempted to drink multiple glasses in the afternoon and evening. If that’s you, I recommend using caffeine-free tea for part or all of this recipe.

Juneteenth Cookout Black Food Blogger Recipes

A Girl Called Adri | Blackened Catfish

Beautiful Eats & Things | Spiced Grilled Peaches

Black Girls Who Brunch | Brown Butter Sweet Potato Cake

Brazilian Kitchen Abroad | Brazilian Collard Greens with Bacon

Britney Breaks Bread | Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Sour Cream and Honey Sauce

Brownbelle | Watermelon Hibiscus Whiskey Smash

Butter Be Ready | Chicken and Waffles

Chef and Steward | Watermelon and Feta Salad

Chef Curl Ardee | Honey and Butter Cornbread

Chenée Today | Lemon Icebox Pie

Christy Irene | Crawfish Etouffee

Collards Are The Old Kale | Guaymas Shrimp

Confessions of a clean foodie | Mint Peach Spritzer

Cooking to a T Jamaican | Beef Patties

Cooks with Soul | BBQ in a Jar

Dash of Jazz | Golden Pineapple Pound Cake

Dish It With Tisha | Honey Jerk Shrimp

DMR Fine Foods | Blackberry Ginger Soda

Dom N’ The City | Pound Cake

Domestic Dee | Easy Berry Fruit Salad

Dude That Cookz | Cajun White Beans

Erique Berry Co | Three Green Summer Salad

Ethically Living | Vegan Jackfruit Jamaican Patties

Food Fidelity | Nigerian Beef Suya Skewers

Food Is Love Made Edible | Smothered Okra with Chicken & Sausage

FoodLoveTog | Braised Cabbage & Johnny Cakes

Forks and Straws | Cassava Corn Waffles with Shrimp Creole

Geo’s Table | Curried Potato Salad

Gristle & Gossip | Sweet Potato Honey Cornbread Cake

Heal Me Delicious | Trinidadian Callaloo

Immaculate Ruému | Chin-Chin (Nigerian Fried Cookies)

Jamieson Diaries | Crockpot Smoked Red Beans

Kenneth Temple | Red Velvet Biscuits with BBQ Brisket

Kenya Rae | Ground Turkey Baked Beans

Lenox Bakery | Sweet Potato Cheesecake

Maple Points | Guyanese Peas & Rice

Marisa Moore Nutrition | Fresh Peach Iced Tea

Meiko and the Dish | Strawberry Cornbread Skillet Cobbler

Murielle Banackissa | Vegan Saka Saka (Congolese Cassava Leaf & Spinach Stew)

My Fabulous Food | Black-Eyed Peas with Smoked Turkey

Nik Snacks | Easy BBQ Pork Ribs

On Ty’s Plate | Watermelon Limeade

Open Invitation Entertainment | Coconut Collard Greens

Orchids + Sweet Tea | The Ultimate Vegan Mac + Cheese

Our Perfect Palette | Jollof Rice

Peaches 2 Peaches | Vanilla Cake with Caramel Poached Pears

Pink Owl Kitchen | Strawberry Buttermilk Biscuits

Razzle Dazzle Life | Southern Peach Cobbler

Rosalynn Daniels | Southern Tomato Pie

Savor and Sage | Black-Eyed Pea Salad

Savory Thoughts | Jus Citron (Haitian Lemonade)

Seasoned To Taste | Cajun Shrimp Deviled Eggs

Sense & Edibility | Blackberry Cobbler

Simply LaKita | Candied Yams

Slice & Torte | Fried Softshell Crab

Slight Kitchen Werk | Roasted Sweet Potato Salad

Sweet & Sorrel | Baked Jerk Chicken

Sweet Savant | Black–Eyed Peas and Sweet Potato Salad

That Green Lyfe | Vegan Red Red Stew (Spicy Ghanaian Black-Eyed Peas) and Plantains

The Dana Renee Way | Sweet Potato Cornbread

The Hangry Woman | Jamaican Jerk Wings

The Hungry Hutch | Southern-Style Sweet Tea (You’re already here!)

The Kitchenista Diaries | Grilled Lemon Pepper Wings

The Vgn Way | Juneteenth Hibiscus Strawberry Vegan Ice Cream

This Worthey Life | Strawberry Soda

This African Cooks | Whole 30 Ghanaian Kebabs

Vegan With Curves | Slow Cooker Black Eyed Pea Sweet Potato Soup

Whisk it Real Gud | Southern Sweet Potato Pie

[Note: This post has been updated from the original to make it sparkle.]