Hello,
I recently discovered that most common teas are derived from the green tea /camellia plant and depending on how said leaf is processed, that many tea styles could be created (whether the leaf is fermented or oxidized, or even charred perhaps?), but as of recent I've become curious about how this leaf is processed that makes it uniquely Southern Iced Tea (if it even is uniquely processed or what specific genus of camellia is used for Southern style).
Or to ask in another way, what qualities or process making is behind the Southern Iced Tea style that makes this camelia leaf taste tangy, citrusy, refreshing as well as tasting good together with darker molassy ingredients like brown sugar/piloncillo/jaggery? I wanted to make a more authentic Southern Iced Tea from scratch rather than just buying Lipton with some baking soda.
I'm still new to all of this but I would greatly appreciate any and all information as well as any botanical explanations (like if the camelia that southerners grow is a unique species to their Southern style).
How to make authentic Southern Iced Tea from scratch?
There are two schools for Southern iced tea, based on whether appearance is the most important thing or not.
If it is, then the tea to go with is one that remains clear when cold. Under British standards this is usually treated as poor-quality tea, but as iced tea is often served in glass, having clear tea, clear ice, etc. is seen as important for presentation by some folks.
Being able to do this was how the Luzianne brand carved a niche for itself against Lipton teas before Lipton started selling iced-tea tea that wasn't cloudy when cold.
The classic tea, however, is Ceylon tea, primarily the Uva and Kandy teas that Lipton used to use in their blends.
Normally there isn't brown sugar used. Some sweet tea will taste like there was brown sugar involved because it is boiled with the sugar which partially caramelizes. If the teabags are old or stored somewhere humid, this is more popular, I think, because it coaxes flavor out of tea that has already faded. Someone might balance out the boiling by aerating the tea to cool it before putting it in the fridge.
Generally, though, the tea isn't boiled, the sugar is just dissolved into the brewing tea because that allows more sugar to be absorbed than adding it to already-brewed tea. The goal is to make almost a syrupy tea, because the ice will start to melt almost immediately in the summer heat, diluting the tea concentrate. Tea made to a normal sweetness and strength will taste watery, unless it is being drunk somewhere where the ice won't melt (air conditioned room, etc.)
While there is/was American-grown tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation, it was never really common, that tea farm was used as a test farm originally. Tea didn't receive farm subsidies in the U.S., so the labor costs of picking it were usually too high to compete even in poorer parts of the country. Also until relatively recently there was not a single tea that all the U.S. considered a standard like Lipton -- green tea, oolong, and various kinds of black tea were all popular, making it hard to achieve an economy of scale.
If it is, then the tea to go with is one that remains clear when cold. Under British standards this is usually treated as poor-quality tea, but as iced tea is often served in glass, having clear tea, clear ice, etc. is seen as important for presentation by some folks.
Being able to do this was how the Luzianne brand carved a niche for itself against Lipton teas before Lipton started selling iced-tea tea that wasn't cloudy when cold.
The classic tea, however, is Ceylon tea, primarily the Uva and Kandy teas that Lipton used to use in their blends.
Normally there isn't brown sugar used. Some sweet tea will taste like there was brown sugar involved because it is boiled with the sugar which partially caramelizes. If the teabags are old or stored somewhere humid, this is more popular, I think, because it coaxes flavor out of tea that has already faded. Someone might balance out the boiling by aerating the tea to cool it before putting it in the fridge.
Generally, though, the tea isn't boiled, the sugar is just dissolved into the brewing tea because that allows more sugar to be absorbed than adding it to already-brewed tea. The goal is to make almost a syrupy tea, because the ice will start to melt almost immediately in the summer heat, diluting the tea concentrate. Tea made to a normal sweetness and strength will taste watery, unless it is being drunk somewhere where the ice won't melt (air conditioned room, etc.)
While there is/was American-grown tea from the Charleston Tea Plantation, it was never really common, that tea farm was used as a test farm originally. Tea didn't receive farm subsidies in the U.S., so the labor costs of picking it were usually too high to compete even in poorer parts of the country. Also until relatively recently there was not a single tea that all the U.S. considered a standard like Lipton -- green tea, oolong, and various kinds of black tea were all popular, making it hard to achieve an economy of scale.
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shushi_boi
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- Joined: Wed May 03, 2023 1:06 am
Thank you for the informative and articulate response! In terms of the more modern popular black tea that Lipton, Arizona, Luizanne used to make their Southern Iced Tea, the Ceylon Uva/Kandy style tea that you've mentioned, is that more like black tea or dark tea? Or more specifically which of these tea styles more closely resembles modern southern iced tea in terms of how the camellia leaf is processed? Lui Bao, Pu-erh, Yunnan, Jin Jun Mei, Darjeeling, Lapsang Souchong? Is southern iced/black tea just oxidized camellia leaf, or is it aged/smoked as well? You've mentioned that it is caramelized with sugar when boiled and then coaxed when stored with humidity, so I was curious to know if the leaves were also aged for a specific duration of time as well.
It is not really processed like any of the listed teas. It is not fermented after oxidation like with Liu Bao or Pu-erh, and special care is taken to prevent any smoked, roasted, or burnt notes in the tea. However, it is also more oxidized than modern Darjeeling, while not being quite as oxidized as classic Chinese red-teas. It traditionally uses a high plucking standard of two-leaves-and-a-bud, but it is not an all-buds tea.shushi_boi wrote: ↑Thu May 04, 2023 7:01 pmThank you for the informative and articulate response! In terms of the more modern popular black tea that Lipton, Arizona, Luizanne used to make their Southern Iced Tea, the Ceylon Uva/Kandy style tea that you've mentioned, is that more like black tea or dark tea? Or more specifically which of these tea styles more closely resembles modern southern iced tea in terms of how the camellia leaf is processed? Lui Bao, Pu-erh, Yunnan, Jin Jun Mei, Darjeeling, Lapsang Souchong? Is southern iced/black tea just oxidized camellia leaf, or is it aged/smoked as well? You've mentioned that it is caramelized with sugar when boiled and then coaxed when stored with humidity, so I was curious to know if the leaves were also aged for a specific duration of time as well.
The tea is not aged intentionally, but may be aged accidentally.
I will also point out that the average Southern tea-drinker would be surprised by all of this.
The normal way to make the tea is just to purchase packet-tea from a trusted brand, without knowing too many of the details over what makes it taste the way it does.If someone is trying to save extra money, they may go for the low-cost tea, which is usually grown in Argentina.