Southern Style Sweet Fruit Tea Three Ways

By
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Diana Rattray
Southern-cuisine expert and cookbook author Diana Rattray has created more than 5,000 recipes and articles in her 20 years as a food writer.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Editorial Process
Updated on 08/8/21
Tested by
Carrie Parente
Carrie Parente
Tested by Carrie Parente
on 03/17/21
Carrie is a freelance food stylist and culinary producer who loves having a table full of guests.
Learn about The Spruce Eats' Recipe Testing Panel
Southern Style Sweet Fruit Tea Three Ways

The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram
Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 5 mins
Steep and Chill: 5 hrs
Total: 5 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 16 to 32 servings
Yield: 2 gallons

Southerners love their iced tea, and these three fruit teas are fresh and delicious alternatives. Treat your family and guests to these delicious drinks.

The basic fruit iced tea makes a big batch of two 1-gallon jugs, perfect for a family gathering or tailgating event. The pineapple tea and orange mint tea can be scaled up quite easily for a crowd.

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"I am a tea girl, a coffee girl, a seltzer girl, and a mocktail girl...you get the hint. This fun drink is perfect for quenching the thirst of your BBQ guests, kids at the pool party, and even a lazy Sunday. It makes a lot, so be sure you have a large enough container." —Carrie Parente

Southern Style Sweet Fruit Tea Tester Image
A Note From Our Recipe Tester

Ingredients

  • 18 to 24 tea bags

  • 1 1/2 quarts water

  • 2 cups granulated sugar

  • 48 ounces pineapple juice

  • 12 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate

  • 12 ounces frozen lemonade concentrate

  • Lemon, for garnish, optional

  • Mint leaves, for garnish, optional

Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Southern Style Sweet Fruit Tea ingredients

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  2. Place 18 to 24 tea bags in bowl or pitcher. Pour 1 1/2 quarts of boiling water over tea bags.

    tea bags and water in a bowl

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  3. Add 2 cups of sugar, stirring to dissolve. Let tea bags steep in sugar water for several hours or overnight.

    add sugar to the tea in the bowl

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  4. Squeeze tea bags to wring out extra flavor before discarding.

    squeeze the liquid from the tea bags and discard

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  5. Pour tea into a large bowl or pot. Add cans of pineapple juice, frozen orange juice, and lemonade.

    Add the cans of pineapple juice, frozen orange juice, and lemonade to a pitcher with tea

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  6. Stir until the concentrate has thawed.

    mix the tea and other ingredients together in a pitcher

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  7. Pour equal amounts into 2 (1-gallon) jugs.

    add tea mixture to two containers

    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

  8. Add cold water to each jug to fill and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 2 hours. Shake well before serving. Garnish as desired.

    Southern Style Sweet Fruit Tea Three Ways in two containers
    The Spruce / Preethi Venkatram

Tips

  • This recipe makes 2 gallons of fruit tea. If you don't want to make such a big batch or don't have enough space or large-enough containers to hold it all, it's easy to cut this recipe exactly in half to yield 1 gallon.
  • If you like things less sweet, feel free to add half the amount of sugar in the beginning. You can always add more sugar to taste after stirring in the pineapple juice, frozen concentrates and water. Be sure to stir until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Variations

Pineapple Iced Tea

4 quarts boiling water

16 tea bags

2 cups granulated sugar

4 cups pineapple juice

Fresh pineapple ring halves, lemon wedges, or mint leaves, for garnish


Bring the 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the 16 tea bags to the water and then remove the pan from the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags (squeeze them to extract the extra flavor) and add the 2 cups of sugar and 4 cups of pineapple juice. Stir until sugar dissolves. Chill before serving.


Orange Mint Tea

1 quart of water

3 tea bags

3 tablespoons fresh mint leaves

3 tablespoons granulated sugar

4 cups orange juice

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Fresh orange or lemon wedges and mint leaves, for garnish


Bring the 1 quart of water to a boil in a large saucepan over high heat. Add the 3 tea bags, 3 tablespoons of fresh mint leaves, and 3 tablespoons of sugar and then remove from the heat. Let stand for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags, squeezing them to extract all of the flavor. Pour the tea into a large pitcher with the 4 cups of orange juice and 2 tablespoons of fresh lemon juice, and stir to blend. Chill before serving.