I'm A Little Tea Pot

There are so many different ways to make iced tea.  There is the plain ole unsweetened tea. Black tea, green tea, and all kinds of different flavored teas.  There is the Suthern Sweet Tea that will put you into a diabetic coma, without being a diabetic.  There is the warm tea, without ice. Tea with lots of ice.  Vodka that tastes just like tea. (YUM!)

Then there is the tea my mom and grandmom used to make.  

Grandmom would make pitchers and pitchers all in one day and store them in the fridge downstairs. She would boil the tea on the stove, let it steep, then mix some sugar, a glug-glug of orange juice and a glug of lemon juice.  It was SO yummy!  My second stop at Grandmoms house was the kitchen for a glass, ice and her tea.

Mom's recipe was very similar but tasted different somehow.  I don't know if the type of tea bags made a difference, the length of steeping or the fact that Mom would make it one pitcher at a time. 

I tried to learn how Mom made it.  I remember her tea pot sitting on the stove with the tea steeping. I remember her pouring it into the pitcher, mixing in more water to fill the gallon, a couple scoops of sugar.  Then the "glug-glug" of OJ and lemon juice.  I watched her when she was making it, I tried making it with her watching.  But I never mastered it.  

Mom's Tea Pot

How much is a "glug" anyway?

Lately, I've been craving Mom's Iced Tea. I've taken my normally sweet tea and added a shot of OJ and a twist of lemon juice.  Still not Mom's but is close enough to satisfy my craving.

What is your favorite flavor of iced tea? Anyone like OJ and lemon juice in their sweet tea?