Making Iced Tea for a Crowd
This gallon sweet tea recipe is perfect when you need enough iced tea for a family, larger group or when you want to have plenty to drink throughout the week.
With just three basic ingredients (tea, water and sugar) sweet tea is easy to make by the gallon and extremely budget friendly.
I can’t imagine a summer backyard party without iced tea, and this recipe is my go-to.
Now, you may be thinking, “Why do I need a recipe for iced tea? Isn’t it simple?”
And the answer is, yes it’s simple to brew up a large batch of tea, but like all good recipes, the devil is in the details.
With my gallon sweet tea recipe, I show you how to make tea that’s not bitter, isn’t cloudy, and doesn’t have sugar settled on the bottom.
Why You’ll Love this Recipe
Only 3 ingredients. Tea, sugar and water is all you need to brew iced tea. And there’s no need to use expensive, high-quality tea. Tea bags like Lipton or Luzianne will do.
No sugar at the bottom. The key to sweet tea without sugar settled on the bottom of the pitcher is to make simple syrup first. This quick extra step is well worth the 2 minutes it takes.
Make it sweetened or unsweetened. If you’re making gallons of tea for a large group or event, it’s a good idea to provide unsweetened iced tea, as well.
Scalable for a crowd. Make as many gallons as you need by simply multiplying the recipe. This one-gallon homemade lemonade recipe is also great for groups of all sizes.
Making iced tea for a crowd? Save gallon milk jugs and download the printable labels below. The pdf includes labels for sweet tea and unsweetened iced tea.
Ingredients
- tea bags
- water
- sugar
Tea Bags – For big batch sweet tea I like to use family size iced tea bags. Readily available brands like Lipton and Luzianne make them.
Each family size tea bag is equivalent to 4 regular size tea bags so they’re simply more convenient to use, especially if you’re making multiple gallons of sweet tea.
Sugar – White granulated cane sugar is the sweetener of choice for classic iced tea.
Water – Iced tea is simply water infused with tea bags, and so the quality of the water is super important!
If you don’t have good tap water or filtered water available, I suggest using bottled water or get a Brita water filter pitcher.
How to Make One Gallon Iced Tea
This recipe has nearly a gallon of water, divided between steeping the tea, making the simple syrup and adding to the concentrated tea.
- In a heat-proof gallon pitcher or container, steep the tea bags by pouring 2 quarts (8 cups) boiling water over them. Set a timer for 3-4 minutes and remove tea bags promptly. Do not squeeze the tea bags.
- While the tea is steeping, make the simple syrup. Bring 1 1/2 cups water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Pour simple syrup into pitcher with brewed tea and stir to combine.
- Add remaining 6 cups cold water to the sweet tea and cool in the refrigerator. Replace some of the cold water with ice cubes for faster cooling. Once cold, serve over ice added to cups.
Detailed recipe, measurements and instructions are in recipe card at bottom of post.
Recipe Notes
How to keep iced tea from turning cloudy.
Tea leaf sediment is the root cause of cloudy iced tea.
#1 Tip to avoid cloudy iced tea: DO NOT SQUEEZE THE TEA BAGS. For tea that comes out translucent and stays that way every time, avoid squeezing the tea bags, no matter how tempting.
How to avoid bitter iced tea.
Brew the tea no longer than 4 minutes. Black tea that’s steeped too long starts to take on a bitter flavor as tannins are released. For this reason, do not brew black tea any longer than 4 minutes.
Check out my guide for how to brew black tea perfectly.
Want stronger tea? Add more tea, NOT more time!
How to stop sugar from settling to the bottom of the pitcher.
Simple syrup is simply liquid sugar that’s already dissolved and is the ideal way to sweeten drinks, especially cold ones.
You have two options when making sweet tea. Stir granulated sugar into the hot tea after removing the tea bags, or make simple syrup first.
If you stir the sugar into hot tea that’s no longer boiling, it may not all dissolve.
Why I prefer sweetening gallon iced tea with simple syrup: Simple syrup ensures every granule of sugar is pre-dissolved so the pitcher of tea is sweetened evenly throughout. It only takes 2 minutes to make and can be done while you’re steeping the tea.
For a summery twist, try out this strawberry syrup recipe or this one for raspberry syrup for drinks.
How Much Sugar for a Gallon of Sweet Tea
At a minimum, use 1 cup sugar per gallon of sweet tea, but do not exceed 2 cups.
This gallon sweet tea recipe falls in the middle at 1 1/2 cups sugar which I think is ideal. That works out to about 4.5 teaspoons per cup of tea.
More Iced Tea Recipes
- Homemade Raspberry Iced Tea
- Homemade Strawberry Iced Tea
- Starbucks Iced Black Tea Lemonade Copycat Recipe
Want to save this recipe to make later?
Pin it to your Pinterest board!
Gallon Sweet Tea
It only takes 3 ingredients to make this homemade sweet tea recipe which yields a gallon of perfectly brewed iced tea. Whether you sweeten it, make it unsweetened or some of each, this gallon tea recipe is perfect for summer backyard parties or anytime you need enough for a crowd.
Ingredients
- 4 family-size iced tea bags (or 16 regular size)
- 1 gallon water, divided
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
Instructions
- In a heat-proof gallon pitcher or container, steep the tea bags by pouring 2 quarts (8 cups) boiling water over them. Set a timer for 3-4 minutes and remove tea bags promptly. Do not squeeze the tea bags.
- While the tea is steeping, make the simple syrup. Bring 1 1/2 cups water and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat.
- Pour simple syrup into pitcher with brewed tea and stir to combine.
- Add remaining 6 cups cold water to the sweet tea and cool in the refrigerator. Replace some of the cold water with ice cubes for faster cooling, if desired. Once cold, serve over ice added to cups.
Notes
- To make unsweetened iced tea, leave out the sugar (simple syrup) and add 7 1/2 cups cold water in the last step instead of 6 cups.
- Do not steep tea longer than 4 minutes. Follow brewing time recommendations on tea bag package.
- For crisp, translucent sweet tea that isn't cloudy, do not squeeze the tea bags into the tea after steeping.
- For evenly sweetened iced tea without sugar settling on the bottom, dissolve the sugar before adding it to the tea by making simple syrup.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield: 16 Serving Size: 1 cupAmount Per Serving: Calories: 68Carbohydrates: 18gSugar: 18g