INGREDIENTS:
- 12 individual tea bags, such as Liption or Luzianne
- 1 cup sugar
- Ice
- Fresh mint leaves or lemon slices, optional
DIRECTIONS:
In a small saucepan over medium-high heat, bring 4 cups of water to boil. Remove from heat. Dunk tea bags a few times in water, then leave submerged with strings hanging over side of pot. After 5 minutes, remove bags and discard. Add sugar to tea and stir until completely dissolved.
Pour tea base into pitcher. If using multiple pitchers, divide tea evenly between them. Top off pitchers with water. Add 3 more quarts of water to tea base to make 1 gallon of sweet tea and stir to combine. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Pour sweet tea into ice-filled glasses. Serve with mint or lemon, if using.