Introduction
Making the perfect cup of tea does require a few tricks, such as choosing the right kind of tea, the right kind of water, steeping it for the right amount of time and at the right temperature.
Only then will the tea be just right! While taste preferences vary from one person to the other, nothing quite beats the refreshing taste of smooth, aromatic, sweet tea.
However, if you are craving for a taste of sweet tea but don’t want to settle for adding sugar, making a healthy drink unhealthy, then you should be happy to know that there are many ways of making your tea sweet without adding sweeteners such as sugar.
Plus, even if you choose to add sugar occasionally, you can still do it in such a way that you will not need a huge amount and ruin the natural flavor of your tea.
Brewing sweet tea without sugar or honey
Did you know that in ancient times tea was drunk mostly without any additives like sugar? In fact, only in the recent development of tea history has it become a norm to add sugar and milk. In the past, tea was a medicinal drink used to battle fatigue and aches as well as boost energy, among other uses.
Today, however, though tea tastes good by itself, people still add sugar and other sweeteners that can counteract its health benefits. You can, however, resist the urge to put some sugar into your tea but still brew sweet tea without it.
In fact, sugar often distracts from the naturally sweet taste of tea and hence drinking tea without sugar will give you a chance to taste the actual flavor of the tea even though the taste may be a bit bitter. If you are keen on avoiding the bitter taste for a sweeter after taste here is what you can do to make sweet tea without adding sugar:
Add a cinnamon stick to the tea
Cinnamon is a great natural herb. Adding a whole cinnamon stick or cinnamon powder to your water will make it blend perfectly, especially with black tea and give it a nice flavor with a sweet aftertaste. Cinnamon also has numerous health benefits, such as lowering inflammation and boosting your immune system. The lack of sugar will help you combat energy crashes and lower your sugar levels, which in turn can enhance weight loss.
Add ground cocoa shells
Like cinnamon, the cocoa shells will not dissolve in the tea but give it a sweeter flavor as it steeps. You can use an empty tea bag to hold the ground cocoa shells and save you the trouble of sieving.
Add honeysuckle flowers
If you love the sweet taste of botanicals-based drinks, then adding honeysuckle flowers to your tea will help you achieve similar results. Since they contain actual nectar, they will impart this sweet taste to your tea, whether black, herbal, green or white.
Add vanilla pods
Steeping vanilla pods in water together with the tea will result in flavorful tea. Vanilla is a popular basic ingredient for sweet snacks, foods, and sweeteners, especially giving hot black tea a refreshing aroma.
Use strawberry
Strawberries are a great natural sweetener and can give your tea a sweet aftertaste, especially if they are used for cold brews and iced tea.
Opt for naturally sweet tea
Some teas do not need sugar or natural sweeteners because they are already sweet and taste sweet even without a sweetener. Such teas include rooibos tea from South Africa, which has a sweet aroma close to that of caramel, blends of green tea and flowers, and some oolong teas.
As seen above, you really do not need to reach for sugar, honey or other sweeteners when brewing your tea just so that you can get that sweet taste. Instead, by using naturally sweet teas or natural herbs and fruits such as cinnamon, cocoa shells, vanilla and strawberries, among others, you can elevate the taste of your tea and enjoy your flavorful cup while keeping it healthy.
Brewing sweet tea, the Southern style
There is a saying among sweet tea lovers that there is sweet tea, and then there is southern sweet tea. If you are craving sweet tea brewed in the authentic southern style, best believe that it is not a complicated process.
All you need is boiling water, sugar and tea bags. Yes, sugar is unhealthy and you can choose to make your sweet tea without it, but if you are craving southern-style sweet tea, then making an exception once in a while can’t hurt, right?
Choose your teabags wisely. Most Southerners swear by the Luzianne tea brand that is specifically used for iced tea. However, you can still use other brands such as Twinings, Lipton, etc. You, however, need tea bags specifically made for use in cold brews and iced tea. If you cannot find those once, then use about half the amount of regular tea bags.
Next, boil water and remove from the heat, then steep the tea bags into the water for about 15-20 minutes, then remove the tea bags and add plenty of sugar. Stir it in until it dissolves completely, then add a few ice cubes into a glass and splash in the tea serving it with a lemon wedge. For 8 cups of water, you will need about 6 cold brew tea bags or 4 regular tea bugs and about one-and-a-half cups of sugar.
How much sugar to make sweet tea
Making sweet tea varies from one person to another. If you are making sweet tea with sugar, then you may find that while some people like just a bit of sugar, others need it to be overly sweet to enjoy it. The amount of sugar you can use to make sweet tea, therefore, varies with taste preferences, the type of tea and the type of sugar as well.
For example, since black tea has a slightly more bitter taste than green tea and herbal teas, then you might find yourself using more sugar to achieve the sweet taste that you want. However, for most herbal teas such as rooibos, and green tea blends containing herbs and flowers such as mint, strawberry and honeysuckle, among others, then you will need a very tiny amount of sugar if at all.
Some regions such as the UK that add milk to black tea choose to eschew sugar as the milk sweetens the tea. As a given rule of thumb, most people use 1-2 teaspoons of sugar for a cup of tea.
What if you don\’t have sugar at home?
If you are out of regular sugar, you can substitute it with powdered sugar or brown sugar. The concern with powdered sugar is that it contains an amount of corn starch that may not dissolve in your tea, settling at the top. Brown sugar, too, is bulky due to the molasses. If you use either of these sugars to sweeten your tea, start with a single teaspoon and add until you get the taste you want.
How to make diet sweet tea
What is diet sweet tea? Diet sweet tea is a sweet tea that is brewed without sugar and contains zero calories. If you are on a Keto diet especially, getting rid of sugar and carbohydrates or at least cutting down on their intake heavily. However, that does not mean that you have to give up your sweet tea as you can still enjoy sweet tea that is low on sugar and has zero calories, referred to as diet sweet tea.
You can use naturally sweet tea such as rooibos or add natural sweeteners such as strawberries, cinnamon sticks, ground cocoa shells and vanilla pods to get the sweet flavor without the additional calories that sugar, honey and artificial sweeteners provide.
How much stevia to make sweet tea
If you want to sweeten your tea without sugar, you can get other options such as stevia, Splenda or use monk fruit. Splenda is much sweeter than stevia. On the other hand, stevia is approximated to be at least 200 times sweeter than regular sugar and draws its sweetness from the stevia plant\’s natural compounds, steviol glycosides. These two are considered safer and healthier alternatives to sugar. In fact, though Splenda is about 600 times sweeter than sugar, it passes through the body and therefore does not build up body fat.
Because both stevia and Splenda are way sweeter than sugar, adding only a little goes a long way. Splenda, which is sucralose, contains very little or no calories and stevia too has lower calories than sugar. As a result, these two types of sweeteners are great for anyone watching their weight.
What about monk fruit?
Monk fruit, also known as luohan guo, is an herbaceous vine in the gourd family and the fruit extract it produces called mogrosides is said to have a taste approximately 250 times sweeter than that of sucrose.
The fruit extract is produced by removing the fruit\’s skin and seeds then crushing it to get the juice whose unique antioxidants, mogrosides give off an intense sweetness. These are separated from the juice and used to make sweeteners. Sweeteners made with this fruit have zero calories and do not impact blood sugar levels, making them a great alternative to sugar.
How to make green tea sweet without sugar
The health benefits of tea cannot be understated. Of the different types of teas, however, green tea packs some of the most diverse and important health benefits. Green tea also has a great refreshing flavor with fewer calories and smaller amounts of caffeine than black tea making it a great tea to drink regularly.
If you are new to drinking green tea, you might find its taste a bit bitter and hence could find it more palatable by adding a bit of sweetener. However, adding sugar and artificial sweeteners does kind of negate the benefits you are reaping from green tea.
Therefore, it is better to train yourself to drink it sugarless or use alternative sweeteners. To brew sweet green tea, don\’t brew it with boiling water as this will emphasize its astringent taste. Instead, use water that is not too hot or cold brew it to get the most out of its sweet and savory flavors.
Aside from using cooler water, don\’t over steep it and only steep it for 2-3 minutes. For Chinese green teas, steep it for 1 minute for the first infusion, then add 30 seconds for subsequent steeps. To bring out the naturally sweet flavor of green tea, add lemon, or add honey or fruit syrup as these can reduce the bitter taste without making it unhealthy.
How to Make Sweet Tea for Kombucha
If you are making Kombucha, then you need to make the sweet tea that you are going to use for it. Kombucha is a fermented beverage spiked with tea and made from sweet tea, bacteria and yeast. Kombucha is made from SCOBY, a symbiotic colony of yeast and bacteria that is added to sweet tea then left to ferment.
Since the SCOBY will consume most of the sugar, the beverage will be a fermented, fizzy and sweet-sour result that is low in sugar and calories and has numerous health benefits, especially for your gut because it is full of probiotics.
Tea is an essential ingredient for Kombucha – but that does not mean that you use just any tea. When brewing tea for Kombucha, you need to use real leaves tea such as white, black, oolong and green teas avoiding flavored and herbal teas. Also, choose organic tea to avoid killing your SCOBY.
Once you choose your tea, steep it in hot chlorine-free water and if you are brewing 2-3cups of tea, add 2 tea bags or one-and-a-half teaspoons of loose tea. Then add 2-4 tablespoons of white sugar while the water is still hot until it dissolves completely, then let the tea cool completely before adding it to the bottle of your SCOBY.
How to make tea less sweet
If you have gotten your hands on tea that is too sweet and you want to make it less sweet, you can water it down, add ginger, open the bag out and take out some of the sugar or even brew it together with an unflavored black tea bag.
These methods should help reduce the sweet taste of your tea. Enjoy!