The best tea is the way you make it. This is how I make the best southern sweet iced tea.
1 gallon glass jar
Add sweetener. I use about 1 1/4 cup regular white sugar
Fill jar with water leaving enough room for the tea bag(s)
Add tea bag(s). We love Lipton. Since I use the gallon size bag I drape the corner over the edge and screw the lid on which keeps the bag from going to the bottom which makes for easy removal.
Brew time depends on the time of year and how strong you like your tea. We like ours a little strong. Today’s tea took about 3 hours. The key to good tea is patience.
When removing tea bag(s) DO NOT SQUEEZE OR PRESS THE BAG(S). Squeezing the bag(s) makes the finished tea bitter. Boiling tea bags too hard and or too long also makes the tea bitter.
Being in the south we prefer our tea extra sweet so I put the sugar in then add the water and the tea bag then set it in the sun. If you are strange and don’t want your tea sweet just leave out the sugar.