Sweet / Unsweetened Tea Recipe

Boil water and steep

Bring 8 cups of fresh water to a rolling boil in a kettle or saucepan. Once boiling, remove from heat and add 4 black tea bags (or the equivalent amount of loose-leaf tea in a strainer). Cover and steep for 5 minutes for a standard-strength brew or up to 7 minutes for stronger tea. Avoid steeping longer than 7 minutes to prevent excessive bitterness.

After steeping, remove tea bags or strain out the leaves. If you used loose leaf, press gently with a spoon to extract the remaining liquid, but do not squeeze tea bags aggressively (it can add bitterness).

Dissolve sugar

If making sweet tea, place 3 tablespoons granulated sugar in a small heatproof cup or bowl and add 2 tablespoons hot water. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved to make a simple syrup-like concentrate. This helps the sugar incorporate evenly into the tea.

Stir the dissolved sugar into the hot brewed tea until fully combined. Taste and adjust sweetness by adding up to 1 tablespoon more sugar dissolved the same way if desired.

Let the tea cool to room temperature (about 20–30 minutes) uncovered, then transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour if serving cold. For quicker cooling, pour the tea into a shallow container or ice-filled pitcher to bring down the temperature faster.

To serve over ice, fill glasses with about 1 cup ice each and pour chilled tea over the ice. Garnish with a lemon slice and a sprig of mint if desired. For unsweetened tea, skip the sugar step; proceed with cooling and serving.

If serving immediately as hot tea, pour into cups and add lemon or mint as preferred.