Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Sweet Tea...sweet nectar from heaven!

Truly, the only beverage that is a necessity for me is sweet tea.  My momma made it daily when I was a child and it went with EVERY meal...even PB&Js at lunch time!  I even remember my younger brothers having sweet tea in their bottles.  My cousin, Martine makes great sweet tea which I am sure she learned from her mother who is actually the one who taught my own momma the secrets to the perfect pitcher!  There are only a handful of places that make sweet tea to my standards.  Cracker Barrel has an almost perfect ratio of sugar to tea and Chick-fil-a makes a mean sweet tea, as well.  Then there is the ultimate sweet tea to which I aspire.  It is found at a BBQ joint in Decatur, Alabama called "Big Bob Gibson's".  When my family and I travel to Alabama from here in Oklahoma to see my cousins, we make sure the trip includes at least one giant glass of their sweet tea!  Now, I keep up the tradition of serving the house wine of the south here at the Triple P.  I often have friends ask how I prepare it so I thought I would give a little tutorial.

First, you need to bring about 6 cups of water to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling, add 4 FAMILY SIZE tea bags to the water and continue to boil for 1 full minute.




Once the minute is up, remove the pot from the heat and put a lid on it.  Keep it covered for a full ten minutes.
 Now comes the star of the show!  The S-U-G-A-R!  Add between a cup to a cup and half to your tea pitcher.  Once the timer goes off (you used a timer, didn't you???) pour the tea into the pitcher on top of the sugar, sans tea bags.  This will melt all the sugar.  This is the most important process in making perfect sweet tea.  Once you pour the sugar in, begin stirring to make sure all the sugar gets dissolved. 
After the sugar is all good and melted, fill your pitcher with water while constantly stirring.



Now you are ready to pour your sweet nectar from heaven into one of your favorite cups as I have done.  Enjoy your sweet tea, oh yes and ROLL TIDE!