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It is a simple process that starts with your tea kettle. Get it full to the fill line and put it on a small burner on your stove on HIGH.
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While your water heats to boiling, pour some sugar in the bottom of your pitcher. Make sure your container is room temperature. I broke a glass pitcher once thinking I could pour boiling water into it minutes after it came out of the fridge. It shattered.
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Keep pouring sugar in, this IS sweet tea. Use the entire amount, or more or less depending on your taste. Just skip this part for unsweetened tea.
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It is important to get the sugar in the pitcher before the water and tea because you want to make a simple syrup
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so the sugar completely dissolves and spreads throughout your entire batch of tea instead of settling on the bottom.
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Once your sugar is ready, it's time to get your teabags prepared. My mom taught me to rip off the paper tops and tie all the teabags in a knot at the top.
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So, your sugar is in the pitcher, the bags are tied, but NOT in the pitcher and your teakettle is boiling. Get a wooden spoon, pour the boiling water into the pitcher and stir, stir, stir! You want the sugar to dissolve and mix while the water is still hot.
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Here is the little trick: get the water and sugar mix spinning, pull the spoon out and drop your teabags in. They will spin enough to dunk under the water and start brewing without the force of water breaking open the bags and spilling tea.
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Let it brew 15-20 minutes for a light tea and longer for a stronger tea. Pull the tea out and toss those teabags in the compost!
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The last step is to add a little bit of cold water to dilute the tea and cool it down before going into the fridge. You just want to add a couple cups or your tea will get too weak. Alternatively, you can just fill glasses with ice, pour the warm tea over and serve immediately.
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Enjoy!
