Does Baking Soda Belong In Iced Tea?

Americans didn't ditch tea after tossing it overboard into Boston Harbor. According to Tea Association of the U.S.A. Inc., 159 million Americans still drink tea every day. Of the 3.9 billion gallons of tea Americans drank in 2021, three-quarters of that was iced. Most of the tea is enjoyed in the Northeast or the South, but, only the latter elevates tea into a pillar of their culture.

In the South, it's sweet tea or bust. To be clear, sweet tea is a clearly defined thing, with a deep-rooted process, per Southern Living. Deviate from those four steps and it's not legit. Especially if you think adding sugar to your glass of iced tea is similar. That's called sweetened tea and you've outed yourself as a Yankee.

Sweet tea is such a pillar of Southerness, The Atlantic proposes that before Mcdonald's made its popular iced sweet tea a national offering, the map of where that menu item was offered defined where the South began better than state lines.

So, we'll turn south for the ultimate iced tea tactics. Southern Living has suggestions for each component of iced tea, in this case, it's legit sweet tea. Black tea is the correct type of tea. Save green and herbal for something else. Within black tea, orange pekoe is a good variety that's well suited for iced applications. The amount of sugar is up to you but it should be granulated cane sugar. Sugar syrups might water down the tea. Filtered or spring water, for the brew and the ice, won't adulterate the tea with unwanted flavor.

Once you have those in hand, it's a recipe with four steps. Bring the water to a full boil for the best flavor. Pour this over the bags in a clear container. Once it's steeped long enough to become almost opaque, remove the bags. While still warm, add the sugar, and stir to dissolve. Finally, add cool water to start the chilling process, before refrigeration. Once it's fully cooled, pour over ice and enjoy within a few days. Should it last longer than a few days, it's easy to tell if your iced tea has gone bad.

Contrary to what you may think, great iced tea is crystal clear, according to Perfect Daily Grind. If you live in a place that has mineral-rich hard water, that can create a more cloudy tea. In this case, a water softener with the correct filtration is the solution. But, that's a big commitment for iced tea. If you don't want to buy filtered water or invest in a water-softening system, there are a few other techniques to achieve perfectly clear iced tea.

Southern Living suggests adding an extra pre-cooling step to the process. Allowing the brewed tea to cool to room temperature before adding the cold water can deter the tannins and caffeine from combining. That linkage can muddy the tea.

Still not crystal clear? There's one more trick up Southern Living's sleeve. Baking soda. Add this to the long list of unexpected ways to cook with baking soda. They suggest that a sprinkling of this baking staple will clear things up. If baking soda-spiked tea sounds odd, it's too tiny an amount to alter the flavor. Their recipe uses a mere ⅛ teaspoon for a two-quart batch of tea. Baking soda also offsets some of the tea's natural acidity, which can make for a smoother drinking glass of tea.