Name: Classic Sweet Tea
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 20 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 8 cups water, divided; 6 black tea bags; 1/3 cup sugar

This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.

Here’s how to make classic sweet tea! This recipe is easy to make and comes out with best refreshing flavor that’s sweetened just enough.

Hey, sweet tea fans! Did you know the best version of this classic drink is made right at home? This homemade sweet tea is full of the most perfect flavor. It’s sweetened just enough, so you taste the bold nutty flavor of the tea against the purity of the sugar. Wow! The moment Alex and I whipped up a batch, we knew we’d be drinking it this way from now on. Move over, storebought sweet tea! This recipe has the best flavor on the planet.

Want straight up iced tea? Go to our best Iced Tea Recipe.

What is sweet tea?

Sweet tea is black tea that’s sweetened with sugar, then chilled before serving. People drink it all over the world, but it’s most popular in the American South and Indonesia. It’s so famous in the Southern US that it’s almost like a religion! (Are you a sweet tea lifer? Let us know in the comments below.)

You can serve sweet tea any time of the year, but it’s especially perfect for summer entertaining. We’re thrilled to finally have a recipe of our own for sweet tea: here’s everything you need to know.

Ingredients for sweet tea

You need just three ingredients to make this sweet tea recipe! It’s quick and easy, with only a few minutes of hands on time. Here’s what you’ll need before you start:

Black tea bags: To make a full pitcher, you’ll need 6 bags. Black tea is the best type of tea to use. Remember that it does have caffeine, but only about half the caffeine level that’s in a cup of coffee.
Water: You’ll need 8 cups of water.
Sugar: There’s ⅓ cup of sugar in this recipe: which is much lower than other sweet tea recipes! Even so, it’s sweetened just enough to highlight the flavor of the tea without overpowering it.

How to make sweet tea: a tutorial!

The hands-on time for making sweet tea is quick: most of the time involved is waiting. Making the sweetened tea takes about 20 minutes total. Then you’ll need 2 hours for it to chill in the refrigerator. Here are the basic steps of how to make iced tea at home:

Steep the tea: Bring 4 cups water to a simmer, add 6 tea bags and turn off the heat. Steep for 5 minutes.
Add the sugar: Remove the tea bags. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves.
Add cold water and cool: Add 4 cups cool water and bring to room temperature (about 10 minutes).
Refrigerate 2 hours: Transfer to a pitcher and refrigerate 2 hours.

Note: You can also make sweet tea using the cold brew method. Go to Col d Brew Tea.

Variations: alternate sweeteners

You can make sweet tea with whatever sweetener you like! While they’re not standard sweeteners, you can use any of the following in this recipe if you’d like to make it naturally sweet:

Honey: Honey sweet tea has a few notes of honey in the base flavor
Maple syrup: You can also use maple syrup to sweeten: it adds nuance but does not taste like maple
Agave syrup: Another natural sweetener is agave syrup! It adds a gentle subtle sweetness

How to serve iced tea

The best part about sweet tea is hearing the music of ice cubes hitting against the glass, right? We love serving iced tea for summer entertaining, like patio parties, cookouts, pitch-ins, and pool parties. To make it look its best, we like to add the following to the pitcher or serving glass:

Lemon slices or wedges — add a squeeze of juice before drinking, as a variation
Fresh mint leaves (optional)

This sweet tea recipe is…

Vegetarian, vegan, plant-based, dairy-free, and gluten-free.