Fruit Tea Recipe - Refreshing Punch Like Beverage from the South (2024)

FAQs

What is sweet tea from the south? ›

Southern-style sweet tea is freshly brewed black tea that's sweetened with sugar while hot, chilled until cold, and served over ice.

Adding a little baking soda to your tea will clear away any cloudiness left from the mixing process, and it's also thought to cut down on any lingering bitter tastes from the steeping tea bags, leaving your tea clarified and smooth and providing your get-together with one fantastic pitcher of tea.

There is one food tradition that seems to cross all social, ethnic, and economic boundaries in the South: iced tea, particularly sweet tea. In the movie, “Steel Magnolias” Dolly Parton's character referred to sweet tea as “the house wine of the South.” In many homes and most restaurants, this is certainly the case.

In the U.S. south a regional favorite called sweet tea – which is brewed, sweetened, and chilled in advance of consumption – may be served at all meals and throughout the day as an alternate to other beverages.

Still, there's a balance to the flavor—the tea is brewed long and strong, so it gets an astringency that can only be countered by lots of the sweet stuff. Southerners, of course, have a taste for sugar that is demonstrably stronger than what you find up North.

It always ended up on the bottom of the glass. Why is it that almost nowhere North of Kentucky serves real sweet tea? One of two reasons: They have no idea how refreshing it is during really hot weather, or they know that sweet tea is invariably cloyingly too sweet.

Chill your sweet tea thoroughly before drinking it.

Pour it over ice, and drink it straight, or add a sprig of fresh mint or drop in a few lemon wedges.

All you do is boil 6 oz. of water, add 1–2 Tbsp fruit jam to a tall glass, and then pour the water into the glass. The amount of jam depends on how sweet you like your tea; 1 Tbsp. is pretty mild and just slightly sweetened. Stir it all up to make a flavored syrup, then add your tea bag of choice.

Generally speaking, we've noticed that the tea is usually best within one day, but good for three or even four days. After that the flavor can get weird and, if you've added sugar or fruit to the tea, it can even start to ferment.

Iced tea. Sure, there are plenty of bottled and canned options vying for your cash and attention, but making your own is a lot less expensive — especially if you're brewing for a crowd — and a whole lot more satisfying. It's also remarkably easy. Here are a few expert tips to get you started.

Is it OK to drink fruit tea everyday? ›

Aside from the taste benefits of enjoying fruit tea on a daily basis you get other benefits too. Fruit tea is not caffeine based unlike other tea and of course coffee. This means it can be drunk before bed without fear of insomnia. It is also extremely high in vitamin C.

What is the healthiest tea? Green tea will get you “the most bang for your buck” when it comes to nutritional benefits, Crumble Smith said. It has better antioxidant properties than black tea because it contains more polyphenols. Green tea contains several types of catechins, a group of flavonoid compounds.

Green Tea. Green tea is often touted as the healthiest tea. It is chock full of polyphenols and antioxidants that help to boost brain and heart health. Green tea is considered one of the least processed true teas as it does not undergo oxidation.

Most Southern “sweet tea” is made with the sweetener in the water. It gives a more natural and well blended flavor to the tea. Most other sweet tea is brewed, then sweetened. This method creates less savory flavor since it is generally brewed using hot water and then the sweetener added after the fact.

Sweet tea is much more than iced tea with a spoonful of sugar stirred in. Southern style sweet tea is, generally, made in big batches by boiling water and stirring in sugar until it's dissolved…. sort of like a less sweet form of simple syrup.

Theories abound: Southerners prefer sweet tea because back in the day we used sugar as a preservative and our palates grew to crave the taste. Southerners like sweet tea because it is served ice cold and it is hot as biscuits down here.