Southern-Style Sweet Tea

Steps

1. Bring 4 cups of water to a

   boil (how to boil)

   Boil Heat liquid until big bubbles rise and break all over the surface. 1. Use a pot big enough that the water fills it no more than three quarters.2. Cover it to boil faster, over high heat.3. Salt pasta or vegetable water once it boils.4. Add the food, stir, and bring it back to a boil before you start timing. Done when: A rolling boil keeps bubbling hard even when you stir. Safety: Turn pot handles toward the back of the stove, and drain pasta into a colander in the sink, pouring away from you. Steam burns fast: lift lids and foil away from your face, tipping the far edge up first.How to boil water for pasta and vegetables: mistakes to avoid

   in a saucepan.
2. Turn off the heat and add the tea bags and the pinch of baking soda.
3. Let the tea steep. Longer than this and it turns bitter.
   ⏱ Steep: 5 min
4. Lift out the tea bags without squeezing them, since squeezing adds bitterness.
5. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves completely.
6. Pour the tea into a pitcher and stir in the 4 cups of cold water.
7. Refrigerate until cold.
   ⏱ Chill: 2 hr
8. Serve over plenty of ice with lemon slices.

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Tips

• Chilling the tea before pouring it over ice keeps it from tasting watered down.
• Tea can turn cloudy in the fridge. It is fine to drink; adding the cold water to warm tea helps prevent it.

Storage

Refrigerate up to 3 days. It tastes best within 2 days.

How long leftovers keep, and freezing and reheating: leftovers and storage.