My favorite beverage has to be sweet tea, I grew up loving it, make pitchers of it all the time, and now my son even loves it.  But, let me clarify, I don't really like hot tea that much, and unsweetened iced tea is a joke.  I can remember visiting my grandmother every year, and going next door to visit my great-grandmother, and her letting me spoon in as much sugar as I wanted into my tea.  I was spooning sugar into already cold tea, so it never dissolved, sat at the bottom and I usually added somewhere around 6 tablespoons!  Great memories!  So I thought I would share my perfected sweet tea recipe with you guys, so you can experience true Southern sweet tea, made just the way I like it, cold and oh so sweet!

Once again, I am linking up to Tuesday at the Table over at A Quilter's Table, make sure to jump over there and visit everyone's great recipes and blogs!  For an extra treat, click on the photo below, which will take you to the Southern Living website, where you will learn how to deep fry sweet tea!  It actually seems like it would taste pretty darn good!

This recipe is for a full two quart pitcher.  Easily 8-12 servings.

Ingredients:
4 single serve black tea bags (decaf or regular)
1 cup sugar
water

Directions:
In a medium sauce pan boil around 4-6 cups of water.  The amount of water does not need to be an exact amount.  Once the water comes to a roiling boil, drop in the four tea bags, stir, and remove from heat.  Let the tea bags steep for 10-12 minutes and no longer.  Remove tea bags and discard.  In a two quart pitcher, add 1 cup of sugar, and carefully pour the tea into the pitcher.  Stir until the sugar is well dissolved into the tea.  Add cold water to fill the pitcher.  Stir well.  Serve over ice.

If you have access to fresh mint leaves, add a few to the glass and crush slightly.  Enjoy!