Our sweet Southern-style iced tea gives lemonade a run for its money as the official hot-weather drink.

This recipe was featured as part of both our Mother’s Day Picnic menu and our Picnic Recipes photo gallery.

  • Yield: 4 to 6 drinks
  • Difficulty: Easy
  • Total: 15 mins, plus cooling time 
  • Active: 5 mins 

Ingredients (8)

For the tea:

  • 8 cups (2 quarts) water
  • 8 green tea bags
  • 1 bunch fresh mint
  • 1 1/2 cups superfine or granulated sugar

To serve:

  • 1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice (from about 4 medium limes)
  • Ice
  • 6 fresh mint sprigs, for garnish (optional)
  • 1 medium lime, cut into sixths, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

For the tea:

  1. Place the water in a medium pot and bring to a simmer over high heat. Remove from heat, add the tea bags and mint, cover, and let steep for 10 minutes.
  2. Once the tea has steeped, discard the tea bags, add the sugar, and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved. Let cool to room temperature, then place in the refrigerator to cool completely, about 2 hours.

To serve:

  1. Once the tea is cold, remove the mint and stir in the lime juice. Taste and adjust with more lime juice or sugar as desired. Serve over ice with a sprig of mint and a wedge of lime (if using).