Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea
Lightly sweetened, perfectly cold, there is nothing like Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea with fresh lemon for a refreshing drink in the summertime!
If you love homemade drinks as much as I do, check out How to Make Homemade Lemonade, Homemade Orangeade, Organic Pink Lemonade, Chocolate Coconut Water, or Healthy Orange Julius With Protein.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
- Recipe Name: Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea
- Ready In: 10 minutes
- Makes: 8 servings
- Main Ingredients: black tea, cane sugar, lemons
- Flavor Profile: nostalgic sweet tea with zesty lemon
- Dietary Info: vegan, gluten free, no seed oils, eggless
- Difficulty: Easy!
- Why You’ll Love It: 3 ingredient homemade sweet tea with the best flavor
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Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Cool Drink: Summer is for drinking – all kinds of drinks. There's nothing like a cold glass of sweet goodness when it's hot outside. And the best sweet tea is homemade, not bought. This is super nostalgic if you grew up drinking iced tea like me!
- Easy AF: I use FGO Traditional Organic Iced Tea Pitcher Bags for this recipe. These are great to buy as they come with extra large tea bags specifically for brewing iced tea, so it makes it really easy! Plus, you can easily make organic iced tea at home, without all the crap the store bought varieties can have. I use just a couple simple ingredients in this homemade Sweetened Iced Tea recipe: organic tea, organic cane sugar, water, and just a splash of organic cream (if you want!).
- Make Ahead: This organic iced tea recipe is a great recipe to make ahead of a backyard barbecue or party as it's sure to be a crowd pleaser.
- Serve with Cream: You can serve this organic iced tea plain over ice, or you can also add in a splash of cream. We've been loving the new Organic Valley Creamer and it is so good in this homemade Sweetened Iced Tea! This addition makes for a creamy sweetened iced tea that is delicious.
Ingredients
- Tea Bags: I use FGO Traditional Organic Iced Tea Pitcher Bags, which are like family-sized tea bags. Be sure you are using iced tea bags, as this is the distinct flavor that you want. If you can't find these, you can also use smaller black iced tea bags as well, you'll just need more (8 small bags per 1 large bag).
- Cane Sugar: I use organic cane sugar as it's less processed than granulated white sugar.
- Lemon: Optional for serving, but I love a little lemon slice in my iced tea.
*For a full list of ingredients and measurements, visit the recipe card below.
Easy Variations
- If you don't have a large tea bag you can use 8 small tea bags in its place.
- If you want a sugar free tea, you can skip the simple syrup step and add in your favorite organic liquid stevia to taste.
- If you want a much stronger tea, feel free to steep the tea bag longer, even up to an hour!
- Make this sparkling by filling up the pitcher's remaining water with sparkling water!
- If you want to add in 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda into the simple syrup, you can do that to help prevent the tea from tasting bitter. With these tea bags, I haven't had this problem, but depending on what tea bags you use, you can do this if you want.
How to Make Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea
- Bring the water to a boil. Add the tea bag and 2 cups boiling water into a pitcher, and allow tea bag to steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove tea bag.
- Add 1 cup water and the cane sugar into a medium saucepan. Put over medium heat and whisk until the sugar has dissolved completely.
- Pour the simple syrup to the pitcher with the brewed tea and stir to combine.
- Add the remaining cups of water to the pitcher and stir to combine. Place in the fridge to until chilled.
Serving Ideas
- Brew a pitcher and serve with 3 Ingredient Mango Guacamole, Organic Homemade Salsa With Fresh Tomatoes, and tortilla chips for an appetizer.
- Enjoy for an afternoon pick me up with your favorite cookie like Caramel Chocolate Chip Cookies With Homemade Caramel, Single Serve Chocolate Chip Cookie, or Espresso Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies.
- Skip the bar and use as a mixer for cocktails like a Bourbon Tea or Spiked Arnold Palmer. Don't forget the homemade nuts like Honey Roasted Cashews for snacking.
- Enjoy with lunch outside like Organic Chicago Style Hot Dogs With Sauerkraut or Gut Healthy Chicken Salad.
Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea FAQ's
Sweet tea is sweetened while the tea is hot, allowing the sugar to completely dissolve in the tea. Iced tea is usually brewed alone, without sugar.
I use black tea for iced tea as they make pitcher bags like the one I used here. But, you can use any black tea bags, even if they are not pitcher bags. You can use 8 regular sized black tea bags if needed.
Yes, green tea also works. You can use caffeinated or decaf, either works.
Yes, while I use a specific iced tea bag, you can also use traditional tea bags as well. If you are using traditional tea bags, you will need to use more as they are single serve compared to the iced tea bag that I used here. Use 8 regular sized tea bags to replace the one that I use in this recipe. You can use any kind you like, black tea, green tea… or even white tea like a peach flavor, whatever you choose will be the flavor of the tea.
Making a simple syrup (1 part sugar and 1 part water) and adding it into the hot tea will ensure the sugar combines into the sweet tea the best. This is because it's a liquid and you won't have granular pieces of sugar.
Yes, you can just use your favorite decaf tea. That can be green tea or even another kind like mint. There's so many amazing tea flavors, you can switch this up with any one that you want!
Adding it into the tea when hot ensure everything mixes in well and evenly.
You can use honey or maple syrup if you prefer. I don't like maple syrup for this as I feel it's a little too rich, in my opinion. But, honey is great if you would like to use it. I recommend warming the honey over the stovetop (or in the microwave) so it's melted and can easily combine with the hot tea and doesn't just sink to the bottom of the pitcher.
Sugar helps sweeten iced tea, which makes it taste better, that's why I sweeten my iced tea. You can also add in a splash of creamer, which makes it creamy and delicious!
If you didn't sweeten it, then it will taste bitter. This is why the sugar is key for the best flavor. Some people also think that the tea can become bitter if it sits in the fridge for too long. I haven't experienced this with sweet tea. This is why sometimes baking soda is added to sweet tea, they say to help it from going bitter. So, you can add this in if you want (instructions in the recipe note).
This will last for a week in the fridge.
Yes, this is a perfect recipe to make ahead of time as it needs chill time in the fridge before serving.
This is a large batch, but if you need multiple pitchers you can just 3x the recipe and make more!
I love a slice of lemon here and a little squirt of lemon juice. A sprig of mint or rosemary is also a nice garnish too!
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Homemade Sweetened Iced Tea
Equipment
- Digital Food Scale
- Small Pot
- Whisk
- Pitcher
Ingredients
- 1 FGO Traditional Organic Iced Tea Pitcher Bags (or 8 small black tea bags)
- 2 cups boiling water
- 6 cups water
- 170 grams cane sugar
Instructions
- Bring the water to a boil. Add the tea bag and 2 cups boiling water into a pitcher, and allow tea bag to steep for 5 to 10 minutes. Remove tea bag.
- Add 1 cup water and the cane sugar into a medium saucepan. Put over medium heat and whisk until the sugar has dissolved completely. Pour the simple syrup to the pitcher with the brewed tea and stir to combine.
- Add the remaining cups of water to the pitcher and stir to combine. Place in the fridge to until chilled.
- Add in lemon slices (optional) and serve over ice. Add a splash of cream (optional)!
Video
Notes
- If you don't have a large tea bag you can use 8 small tea bags in its place.
- If you want a sugar free tea, you can skip the simple syrup step and add in your favorite organic liquid stevia to taste.
- If you want a much stronger tea, feel free to steep the tea bag longer, even up to an hour!
- Make this sparkling by filling up the pitcher's remaining water with sparkling water!
- If you want to add in 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda into the simple syrup, you can do that to help prevent the tea from tasting bitter. With these tea bags, I haven't had this problem, but depending on what tea bags you use, you can do this if you want.
- High Altitude — Follow the recipe as noted.
Nutrition
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Perfect and nostalgic!