Whisky and Sweet Tea Recipe
How to a delicious and refreshing Whisky and Sweet Tea.
Okay cocktail, whisky, and sweet tea enthusiasts. Today do we have a good one. I’m going to show you the absolute BEST Whisky and Sweet tea to make. Both with ease and flavor. However, I’m also going to show you how you can use this Whisky and Sweet Tea recipe as a base for your own recipe.
That way you’ll be able to make everything from Whisky and Sweet Tea with lemon and mint to Whisky and Sweet tea with peaches and rosemary. If that wasn’t enough, I’ll also be showing you an advanced version of this recipe where we pre-batch the entire thing and self carbonate the cocktail at home. If you want to skip all that and bounce on over to the Whisky and Sweet Tea basic recipe, do so here…
Now if you want to learn more about that self carbonated and other variations. Keep on scrolling.
Whisky and Sweet Tea Ingredients
First and foremost let’s discuss those ingredients in a little more detail. Because it might just be 2 ingredients, but making it from scratch means sweeting it ourselves. Nothing to shudder at, making it at home from scratch is actually easier then buying it, especially when it comes to making this in bulk. Trust me.
Sweet Tea
Firstly we have the sweet tea. Now you can buy big bottles of pre-made sweet tea but honestly, they’re made to be drank straight and when you mix those pre-mixed sweet teas with whisky the balance is completely off. Not to mention they cost more and are filled with all sorts of nonsense.
The simplest sweet tea will just be black tea, water and sugar. If you’re feeling flush, lemon. Which I always recommend in a Whisky and Sweet Tea due to the lemon working like a bridge between the strong whisky and sweet tea.
Whisky
Then we have the whisky. Cheap? Expensive? Single malt? Blended? Personally, I recommend with going with anything in your budget that’s meant to be mixed. Usually with that we’re talking blended Scotch that is in the middle shelf region. Nothing to expensive as it will go to waste and nothing to cheap as it’ll ruin the Whisky and Sweet Tea sit back and relax experience.
Read this article to better understand Scotch whisky and you’ll have a better understanding of what to shop for.
Whisky and Sweet Tea Punch
Something else to touch on is making a big batch of this for parties, celebrations, entertaining, or just to keep yourself from making it from scratch every time you want one.
The whisky and sweet tea recipe listed at the bottom of this article will last around 3 days in the fridge with the amount of scotch and sugar. So it’s perfect for a night where you’re planning on having a few drinks.
And if you have a house or better yet a garden party coming up, this will be perfect. Honestly, Scotch whisky mixed perfectly with sweet tea on a summers day with a BBQ and summer music… Nothing compares. So, so refreshing.
So to do that, just multiple the ingredients by however much you need. The recipe below makes for about 14 ounces or just over 400ml of Whisky and Sweet Tea. So if you need a litre, multiple it by 3 and you’ll have more then enough.
Another way to think of it is that the below recipe is perfect for 2 people. So you can work out from that how much you will need to multiple it for your specific needs.
Whisky and Sweet Tea Variations
Once you’ve perfected that below recipe. You’ll want to work on making it more suited to you, or just more fun. Here are some tips on what to do to achieve that;
The Sugar
First is the sugar. Swap out the sugar for 4 ounces of any sugar syrup you want. So if you want a raspberry iced tea swap it for raspberry flavored syrup. Sweet Peach Tea? Swap it for peach syrup. A few of my favorites (other then the 2 just mentioned) are; Hibiscus, Cherry, Honey, Apricot, Elderflower, and Rhubarb. Feel free to use the free flavor pairing guide for more inspiration.
The Spirit
Scotch works perfect but if you’re not into scotch, use gin or vodka for lighter options, or rum for something more tropical.
Added Juice
Added just is a great way to infuse more flavor. For this, just half the amount of water you add and make it up with a juice of your choice. Some juices that I find work really well are; Cucumber, Pineapple, Guava, and Grapefruit. But do have a play around and see what flavor combos you stumble across. Maybe add a juice and flavored syrup - Pineapple and Apricot works well together for Sweet Tea.
Added fruits, herbs, and ingredients
Finally and possibly the easiest method is to just chuck in some tasty ingredients. Such as peach slices, mint, rosemary, or pineapple chunks. When adding these I always go with 1 citrus (usually lemon) 1 other fruit (such as peach) 1 herb (mint works great) and one berry (such as raspberry).
And with that, you’re ready to take on the Whisky and Sweet Tea recipe. However, there is one variation I want to talk about for those who are really into cocktail making and want to try something more advanced…
Carbonated Whisky Iced Tea
The sun is finally starting to show it’s face which means it’s time to whip out the old soda siphon and get fizzicle.
Hard seltzer are taking off, low calorie drinks are all the range, iced tea is an absolute classic and the scotch and soda is in desperate need of a switch up.
So to kickstart this spritz season, we are going in strong with a full carbonated cocktail. Last year I did the carbonated and clarified cosmo, both here on Smartblend and on Youtube here, This year to kickstart spritz season, I’m going in with this here carbonated scotch iced tea. Super simple to recreate, the only thing(s) you will need that you may not already have is a soda siphon and citric acid. Luckily both of those things can be picked up easily enough and cheap enough through amazon.
The soda siphon I use is this exact one which can be found on Amazon.co.uk. For Americans, the same soda siphon can be purchased from amazon.com here.
If you want to one up me, there are a lot of better and more aesthetically pleasing soda siphons like this traditional one from amazon.co.uk or this one from amazon.com that you can purchase.
As for the citric acid, you can get that from basically any homebrewing shop but if you’re putting in an amazon order for a new soda siphon, you might as well get it here if you’re shopping in the UK or here if you’re shopping in the USA. Not only will it arrive along side your soda siphon, but you will get more bang for your buck.
Lastly, you will need some Co2 cartridges that A) will carbonate your cocktail, and B) will fit your soda siphon.
For the above soda siphon recommendation, you want these ones for UK shopping and these ones for USA shopping.
Pre-batching
One thing I love about this and other fully carbonated cocktails is the fact that you can make this in bulk. Once carbonated, leave it in the fridge and just keep coming back to pour a glass out.
With the citric acid and the alcohol content, this mix will keep shelf stable for a good long time, so you could theoretically mix up a few bottles still, and carbonate them every time your soda siphon runs dry.
Serving you alcoholic iced tea
Serve your carbonated and alcoholic iced tea in a tall glass over ice - it’ll keep it cold and nicely carbonated.
Garnish wise I keep it clean, it just doesn’t need it, if you really enjoy a good physical garnish feel free to stick a lemon wedge in there but overall, it doesn’t need it.
I personally served mine over large ice balls (ice ball moulds UK found here, ice ball moulds US found here) so it doesn’t dilute but still keeps the cocktail chilled, secondly just because it looks cool, but once again, this isn’t necessary. Feel free just to fill a tall glass with regular store bought ice and pour out your alcoholic iced tea.
Now all the equipment and serving is sorted, it’s time to whip up a fully carbonated scotch iced tea.
Scotch Iced Tea Highball Recipe
Ingredients
250ml Scotch (I like Auchentoshan Three Wood Single Malt but its completely up to you)
500ml Boiled water
3 Tea bags
1tsp Citric Acid
50ml Honey optional
Method
In a heatproof container, combine the 500ml of water from a kettle with 3 teabags and steep for 5 minutes.
Lift out the tea bags and mix in the citric acid, Scottish whisky and optionally, the honey.
Pour the mix into a soda siphon and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
After an hour charge the soda siphon with 2 Co2 cartridges, shaking the soda siphon between each one.
Put the soda siphon in the fridge for a further hour.
With a towel at the ready, lift your soda siphon upside down with the spout facing up, cover with a towel and slowly press the release to get rid of the Co2. Once all the co2 is out, slowly unscrew the cap.
Doing it this way ensures the majority of Co2 is left trapped in the cocktail. However, you need to be careful when unscrewing the top, 2 fast and the build up of gas could blow the top of and cover you in iced tea. So just be patient with it, small screw till you hear it hissing, wait, screw it back, repeat until you have the lid off.
With this technique, you can carbonate just about any cocktail you could imagine.
Quick side note: If you’re new to Smartblend, don’t check out the product category here. That’s where I review and recommend drink products such as and similar to soda siphons. I say don’t check it out because you’re house will be filled with gadgets and gizmos for making and serving cocktails.
Alcoholic Iced Tea Video Recipe
Whisky and Sweet Tea Recipe
Now we’ve go through the advanced version, and the tips and tricks for perfecting your own signature Whisky and Sweet Tea, it’s time to get mixing up the basic…
Whisky and Sweet Tea
Ingredients
Instructions
- Combine the black tea with boiling water and allow to infuse for 5 minutes.
- Strain the tea and combine with the sugar. Stir till the sugar dissolves then add the lemon and scotch.
- Stir again and taste/adjust the sugar to your liking.
- Split between 2 glasses filled with ice and enjoy.
Notes
Scroll up for the full list of tips, tricks, and variations you could make from this basic recipe.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
148.06Fat
0.07 gSat. Fat
0.01 gCarbs
11.79 gFiber
0.09 gNet carbs
11.7 gSugar
0.77 gProtein
0.1 gSodium
6.17 mgCholesterol
0 mgThe nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.
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