BS: The Secret Ingredient

(3/13/06 - OOPS! I accidentally doubled the amount of sugar here! I have corrected the error below.)

I have never made sweetened iced tea (regular black tea) in my life, so I actually went searching for a recipe this week so we could sell tea at our yard sale. Everything kept saying "sweeten to taste," but I needed to have some type of figure to start with! We eventually decided on a ratio of 3/4 cup (healthy) sugar to 1 gallon of tea. But one recipe I found had a secret ingredient which was touted to take away that bitter aftertaste so typical of black tea: one pinch of baking soda. We experimented on ourselves first - and it worked! This is the best iced tea I've ever had! (Our process, should you be so inclined: add 2 quarts boiling water to 4 large iced tea bags (or 8 small tea bags), steep 20 minutes and remove tea bags. Immediately add 3/4 c. healthy sugar and pinch of baking soda, and stir until dissolved. This makes a concentrate. When ready, add 2 more quarts cold water to make a full gallon and serve over ice, if desired. Refreshing!