It may not seem a likely choice for a cold-weather culinary entry, but considering it’s 80 degrees outside and most of the trees are still fully clad in green leaves, iced tea is the ideal drink for a day like this. And it’s such a lovely, crisp thing to swirl in your mouth, to cleanse out all the fatty, rich foods you’ve probably been cramming in your mouth since November, that I just couldn’t resist.
My husband is a great tea-drinker, and when I type “great,” I mean, he puts most big Southern boys to absolute shame. Waiters tend to find him tiresome because he requires refills every ten minutes (not an exaggeration.) Our gallon-sized pitcher is well-worn with use, because he grows through A WHOLE PITCHER OF TEA PER DAY. I kid you not.
This quantity of tea, however, has not dulled his palate at all. Daniel is persnickety about his tea - he wants it lightly sweetened, preferably with Sweet-n-Lo, with a touch of citrus and a subtle-rather-than-strong flavor. Sigh. It took me a whole year to figure out exactly how to craft this fragile balance by the pitcherful (this is the picture of true love). I borrowed from Nanny’s method and tested multiple batches on the man himself until I came up with a foolproof way to make perfect tea. Even I’m hooked now!
Barely Sweet Tea
2 family-size bags Luzianne or Lipton tea
1 small bag of orange-and-spice tea
5 packets of Sweet-n-Lo
Dunk the tea bags in boiling water and let steep for about 4 minutes. Pour the sweetener in the bottom of a gallon-sized pitcher and pour the tea over it to dissolve quickly. Fill the pitcher with cold, clear water, pour over ice, and gulp.
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1 comment:
5 measly packs of sweet-n-lo! i make mine with TWO cups of sugar, a handful of mint, and FOUR family sized tea bags. i'm not sure this is really sweet tea ;)
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