The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Iced tea: How sweet it is
Everyone makes the South’s favorite beverage differently.
How you feel about iced tea often depends on where you grew up and what you grew up with. Did you drink tea sweet enough to stand up on its own? Did your family brew Lipton? Luzianne? Is lemon essential or blasphemy in your glass of tea? And what about the ice?
Lifelong tea drinker Linton Hopkins says there’s nothing sadder than a glass of iced tea that just has a few lonely ice cubes. He calls it “sad face emoji iced tea” and reminds us that “iced” has more letters than “tea” and therefore ice should be the largest portion of the drink.
“Bad iced tea looks like end of the movie Titanic. Those few little ice cubes floating around in that big ocean. In my version of the Titanic everyone would survive because there’s so much ice. Don’t let Leonardo die. Use lots of ice!”
To prepare a glass of iced tea to his specifications, you fill the glass 95 percent full of ice, then pour room temperature tea over it. “The ice shrinks to about 75 percent of the glass. Then add a little squeeze of lemon and simple syrup if you want it sweet.”
And about that lemon, Hopkins has an opinion there as well. “I have one request to the world about lemons. Take the seeds out. Take the time. No one wants lemon that was precut last week and has been sitting in a plastic container. Cut it fresh every day and if you have lemon left over at the end of the day, make lemonade.”
To cut lemons in Hopkins-approved fashion, cut off the top and tail of the lemon, then cut the lemons into eight wedges. Cut out the center membrane, which makes it easy to remove the seeds. Done.
Brandon Hughes of Bellina Alimentari in Ponce City Market grew up with Lipton. “Sweet tea has to be Lipton. I’ve tasted others, but it’s Lipton for me. I’ve recently opened up to cold brew iced tea. It’s convenient and it tastes good.”
Hughes remembers that his parents didn’t drink coffee. They reserved their coffee maker for making hot water for tea. “They’d put just enough hot water in a pitcher to dissolve the sugar, then fill it up with more water and add the tea bags. They’d let it sit for half an hour or 45 minutes. You can tell it’s right when you it’s that dark amber color. Then they’d cool it and refrigerate. It would be gone in a day and a half.”
His family recipe calls for a gallon of water, 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar and two family-style tea bags. That’s about double the amount of water called for on the Lipton package. “I don’t care for over-brewed, dark sweet teas. And I think the balance for sweet tea is 50 percent tea, 50 percent sugar water. And no lemon! I want tea or I want lemonade. Not a mix between the two.”
At Milton’s Cuisine & Cocktails, chef Derek Dollar says the big Sunday brunch crowd devours sweet tea by the gallon. “Sweet tea is a twoto-one favorite for the Sunday crowd. Especially with the kids.” An industrial tea machine makes the perfect brew.
Milton’s serves Blue Durango tea, which Dollar says is some of the best he’s ever had. But he grew up with Lipton and Luzianne. “In the fridge at home there was a gallon pitcher of sweet tea at all times. I drank a lot of sweet tea when I was younger.” When he drinks iced tea these days, he’s been known to add fruit. Not content with the standard lemon, he might add blueberries, peaches, raspberries or blackberries.