Southern Spiked Sweet Tea
What’s better than an Arnold Palmer on a hot summer night? A spiked version of it. This southern spiked sweet tea recipe is perfect for those summer BBQs and hot summer nights. You can make your own sweet tea or go the quick-n-easy route by purchasing it premade. If you live in the south, I highly recommend proceeding to your nearest Bojangles to purchase a gallon of their famous sweet tea so you can get down to business and get your tea on!
Servings
-8
servingsIngredients
7 cups water
6 bags of regular Lipton tea
1 and 1/2 cups sugar
1 and 1/4 cup lemon juice (freshly squeezed)
1 cup golden rum (ex. Bacardi 151)
Fresh sprigs of mint (optional garnish)
Lemon slices (optional garnish)
Directions
- In a medium sized saucepan bring 3 and 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Remove from heat, add tea bags and cover
- Wait 5 minutes for tea bags to steep (while covered) and then remove the tea bags (use a tea bag squeezer if you have one)
- Add sugar and stir until dissolved. Allow to cool for 15 minutes
- Add remaining 3 and 1/2 cups of water to a glass pitcher and add cooled tea mixture
- Add rum and lemon juice and stir well. Refrigerate for 1-2 hours or until mixture is thoroughly cooled
- Serve over ice. Garnish with lemon slices and/or mint sprigs
Notes
- Quick method: You can purchase a gallon of premade sweetened ice tea (use 7 cups for the above recipe). However, making your own tea allows you to adjust the level of sweetness. If you have a premade version that you love than I would definitely use that instead and skip making your own!
- Definitely use freshly squeezed lemon juice (the bottled version doesn’t taste the same).
- While I prefer rum for this recipe, you can substitute vodka or bourbon