Sweet Tea

I really like Sweet Iced Tea and I have always thought all you had to do for a good glass of Tea was to dump some sugar into the pitcher and pour hot tea over it and leave it to steep. But I ran across this actual recipe for Sweet Tea and I not sure I want to go to all of this work for a glass of tea but ya never know.


For Simple Syrup:
4 cups sugar (Don't worry - not all of that goes in the tea!)
2 cups water


For Tea:
4 cups water
8-10 regular-sized or 3 "family sized" bags orange pekoe tea (preferably Lipton or Luzianne)
Pinch of baking soda
Additional water


Pour 2 cups of water and 4 cups of sugar into a saucepan and stir together. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and stir until thickened. Turn off heat, and set aside.


Strip tags from the tea bags, and tie strings to the handle of a wooden spoon, near the bowl. Bring 4 cups of water to a boil in a saucepan. Turn off the heat, and place the tea-tied wooden spoon in the pan with a pinch of baking soda (It smooths out the tea's tannins.). Once it's suitably darkened, and still hot, pull out the spoon. (Refrain from squeezing the teabags, as that clouds the tea.)


Stir 1 cup of the sugar syrup into the tea until it's thoroughly blended. Pour the mixture into a 1 gallon glass or metal pitcher, and fill to the top with water. Stir, and chill in the refrigerator. Pour the remaining sugar syrup into a glass jar, and cover.


Once the tea has cooled, serve it in tall glasses 2/3 filled with ice, with sugar syrup on the side so that guests may sweeten according to their personal taste.