Healthy Sweet Tea Recipe
Sweet tea y’all!

I accidentally developed a slight sweet tea addiction since moving to the south. Don’t judge me, it’s one of those irrisistable treats I’m allowing myself once in awhile.

However, I have almost completely eliminated sugary beverages from my diet over the past several years, and feel guilty about drinking even one glass of sweet tea in a week. To lessen the guilt I knew we had to come up with a way to make our own less sinful version of this southern favorite.

The problem with sweet tea

As we see it there are two problems with sweet tea: 1) it’s a sugary drink that should only be enjoyed in moderation, 2) it’s hard to find a source using healthy ingredients.

The answer to the first is to drink sweet tea as a treat and not an every day staple – use good ole water as your staple. The answer to the second is not as easy.

In Michigan the only place serving sweet iced tea was McDonald’s – yeah right, like we’re going to buy anything from them. The problem with grocery and convenience store sweet tea is the typical choice of high fructose corn syrup and/or aspartame as a sweetener – not doing that either. There are a few brands of organic sweet tea available but they’re too expensive, and there is a better solution.

Our solution is the same as always . . . make your own and do it with healthier ingredients.

A little help

Matt has been talking to the locals here in North Carolina for the past few weeks trying to gather all the tips he could on making the best lightly sweetened, healthy sweet tea.
One local suggested we purchase a Mr. Coffee Iced Tea maker, which we decided against since we’re trying to keep kitchen appliances to a minimum.

Another southerner told us we needed 2 cups of sugar per gallon of sweet tea, and a Texan brother-in-law who shall remain nameless told us true sweet tea needed half a bag of sugar per gallon! Since we like our teeth and want to avoid diabetes, keeping the sweetener to a minimum is a must.

Our step-sister Deona and the repairman who fixed our dryer today both suggested the approach we liked best, so while I lay on my death bed (I’m sick), Matt tinkered away in the kitchen concocting the perfectly sweetened, healthy, homemade sweet tea.

Mmmmmm . . . some things are just worth getting out of your sick bed for.

Matt’s sweet tea recipe

After advice from family, friends, neighbors, the diyNatural Facebook fans, and a lot of trial and error Matt came up with our favorite recipe:

Ingredients

• 3 large “family size” black tea bags (a store brand, Lipton, or your organic fave)
o (4 small tea bags = 1 family size)
• 3/4 cup organic cane sugar (more healthy sweetener options below)
• 1 gallon pure water

Note: use the tea you’re comfortable with, organic or otherwise.

Directions

1. Place 3 large tea bags in 1 quart of water and bring it to a boil.
2. Once boiling reduce heat to low (2 on our electric stove) and let the tea bags simmer very lightly for 10 minutes, then remove tea bags.
3. In a gallon jug that is only 1/4 full of water, add the sugar, then the hot tea and shake thoroughly to combine.
4. After you’ve made sure the sugar is dissolved, fill the gallon jug up with water, shake again, and put in the fridge to chill.

Other healthy sweetener options

Aside from organic cane sugar the only other sweeteners I recommend are raw honey, maple syrup, and stevia. Some people use agave but it’s just too expensive for me.

Like your tea, your choice of sweetener will be unique; use what you like and let others use what they like. Steer clear of artificial (aspartame) and heavily processed sweeteners (white sugar), use in moderation and you’ll be fine.

Note: if you’re diabetic be sure to adhere to your doctor’s recommendations for sweeteners.

A few tips

Sweet tea is so good that many people don’t like waiting for it to chill in the fridge. If this is you then add ice to the jug before pouring in the hot tea.

Most people buy the tea in bulk because they go through so much. I’ll say it again . . .

buy the brand and type of tea YOU’RE comfortable with. Remember, it’s DIY tea so do it yourself the way YOU like.

Keep the sweetener light and drink sweet tea as a treat. Discipline yourself to drink pure water most of the time so you can enjoy a nice refreshing glass of healthy sweet tea when you want to indulge a bit.

Share with us

Although Matt sweetened ours with organic cane sugar you may prefer one of the other recommended sweeteners. What about the tea?

Do you splurge on your favorite organic brand or stick with the old southern standbys?

This is a call to all sweet tea lovers out there. Share your tips on how you make homemade healthy sweet tea!

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