For many, sweet tea is the unofficial drink of the South. It is widely considered to be a staple in the history of soul food and Southern cooking in general. It’s easy to see why it’s such a popular and timeless drink: It tastes great, is refreshing on hot days, and can be enjoyed plain or mixed with drinks to create new delicious concoctions.
One of the easiest twists for classic sweet tea is to make it fruity. While there are tons of fruit options out there, one stands out due to its delightfully tangy taste: cranberries. Specifically, cranberry juice is a super easy way to add more depth of flavor to sweet tea with little to no fuss.
Adding cranberry juice to sweet tea is especially unique due to the way the tartness of the cranberries cuts into the sweetness of the sweet tea. Plus, cranberry juice gives it a luxurious red tint that is intense but inviting. It’s a bold but delicious take on the classic.
Adding cranberry juice to sweet tea
Almost everyone in the South has their own method of making sweet tea, so there’s no precise recipe for making cranberry iced tea. Generally speaking, cranberry juice should be added to a sweet tea recipe of your choice towards the end. It’s best to add it either at the same time as the sugar or other sweeteners or just after the sugar has been combined into the tea. In other words, you won’t be letting the cranberry juice steep along with the tea bags.
As for the type of cranberry juice to get, that’s up to personal preference. Store-bought cranberry juice works just fine, but you could always make some at home if you feel like being extra fancy. Some opt to use sugar-free cranberry juice or cranberry cocktail mix, in which case most recipes will call for half the amount of cranberry juice per quantity of tea being brewed, so if you’re boiling 4 cups of water, use 2 cups of cranberry juice. If you’re working with frozen cranberry juice concentrate, aim for one 12-ounce can per gallon of tea.
Once you’ve added the cranberry juice, you can serve the sweet tea as is, perhaps with some whole cranberries added for garnish. You can also choose to take things another step further; try making a sweet tea soda instead for a bubbly version of the drink. Alternatively, make it alcoholic by mixing the sweet tea with bourbon for a refreshing cocktail.
