8 Refreshing Sweet Tea Recipes for BBQs and Summer Parties (Print Version)

Eight easy sweet tea flavors built from one chilled black tea base, made for BBQs, summer parties, and hot afternoons.

# Ingredients:

Sweet tea base

01 - 4 cups (950 ml) water, for brewing
02 - 4 regular black tea bags, or 1 family-size black tea bag
03 - 1/2 to 3/4 cup (100 to 150 g) granulated sugar, to taste
04 - 4 cups (950 ml) cold water
05 - 1 tiny pinch baking soda, optional

Choose one flavor per 8-cup pitcher

06 - For classic lemon, 1 lemon, thinly sliced
07 - For strawberry mint, 2 cups (300 g) sliced strawberries, 2 tablespoons sugar, and 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
08 - For peach mango, 1 cup (160 g) diced peaches and 1 cup (165 g) diced mango
09 - For pineapple, 1 1/2 cups (250 g) pineapple chunks and 1/2 cup (120 ml) pineapple juice
10 - For ginger lemon, 2 inches fresh ginger, sliced, 1 lemon, sliced, and 2 tablespoons lemon juice
11 - For watermelon, 2 cups (300 g) watermelon cubes and 2 tablespoons lemon juice
12 - For cherry, 1 1/2 cups (230 g) pitted cherries and 1/4 cup (60 ml) cherry juice
13 - For apple cinnamon, 1 crisp apple, thinly sliced, 2 cinnamon sticks, and 1 tablespoon lemon juice

To serve

14 - 4 to 6 cups ice
15 - Extra lemon slices, fruit pieces, or mint leaves, for garnish

# Instructions:

01 - Bring 4 cups water just to a boil. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes. Remove the bags without squeezing them hard.
02 - Stir in 1/2 cup sugar while the tea is hot. Add the optional tiny pinch of baking soda if using. Pour into a pitcher and stir in 4 cups cold water.
03 - For classic lemon, add lemon slices to the pitcher. For strawberry mint, toss strawberries with 2 tablespoons sugar, rest 15 minutes, lightly mash, then stir the berries and mint into the tea.
04 - For peach mango, stir diced peaches and mango into the chilled base. For pineapple, add pineapple chunks and pineapple juice, then stir well.
05 - Simmer the sliced ginger in 1 cup water for 10 minutes, then cool and strain. Stir the ginger water, lemon slices, and lemon juice into the sweet tea base.
06 - For watermelon, blend 1 cup watermelon cubes and strain if desired, then stir the puree, remaining cubes, and lemon juice into the tea. For cherry, add pitted cherries and cherry juice.
07 - Add thin apple slices, cinnamon sticks, and lemon juice to the pitcher. Stir gently so the apple slices stay neat.
08 - Refrigerate the flavored tea for at least 1 hour, or 2 hours for fruitier flavor. Serve over full glasses of ice with matching fruit, lemon, or mint.

# Notes:

01 - The base makes one 8-cup pitcher. Use one flavor option per full pitcher, or divide the base into smaller pitchers and scale the add-ins down.
02 - Plain sweet tea can be made 2 days ahead. Fruit flavors are best the day they are mixed.
03 - For outdoor parties, keep pitchers cold and refresh ice often.

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