Luxurious Sweet Tea: Summer in a Glass

So I love sweet tea, and I particularly enjoy McDonald's sweet tea (about the only thing I like from there). But as with almost any foodstuff, replicating it at home can be more trouble than its worth. Coincidentally, I stumbled upon a curious recipe on the NPR website, which I made, and then altered (which I almost always inevitably do), but hot-dog-diggity, the stuff ended up tasting darned-near close to the Mickey D's version. "Recipe?" you're thinking... I know. Sweet tea is hardly a recipe, but the kicker here is a bit of baking soda, which calms the tannins in the tea and gives it a wonderfully smooth mouth-feel, dare I say luxurious. Sweet tea is like mozzarella cheese, its more of a method than a recipe, but find the right one and it is, as Guy Fieri would say, "money!" Here's what I did:










LUXURIOUS SWEET TEA

• 10 regular size tea bags (I used English Breakfast)
• 4 cups boiling water
• 10 cups cold water
• 1 1/4 cups superfine sugar (less stirring involved)
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda

1. In a medium saucepan, boil 4 cups of water, covered. Covering the pot will help the water boil faster and will prevent evaporation.
2. Add the teabags and steep for at least 30 minutes up to one hour (this is CRITICAL!)
3. Pour the tea into a gallon-sized jug and stir in baking soda and sugar. Mix very well.
4. Slowly stir in the cold water (slowly to prevent cloudiness from occurring).
5. Refrigerate and enjoy over ice, if desired.