One of my favorite things about summer in college was driving down south to visit my gram. While spending time with her is a treat in itself, I have fond memories of dinner and talks on the back patio with sweet sun tea. It’s simple to make– there’s only two ingredients!– and absolutely delicious.

Start with a large pitcher that will hold at least a gallon. A glass pitcher works best, but if you don’t have one on hand (I didn’t!), you can use your favorite covered pitcher.

Place 5 bags of black tea in your pitcher. I use a little piece of tape to secure the bags so they don’t just go nuts in the container. Then, pour in 2 cups of sugar.

Fill the pitcher with a gallon of water.

Then, place the pitcher outside in a sunny spot and let it steep for a few hours– I like to leave mine for 6 or so hours just to be sure it’s nice and steeped for some nice, rich flavor. The sunlight will help the sugar truly dissolve– it’ll heat up the water a bit and really help push it towards being nice and sweet without any gritty flavor you’d usually get from an iced sweet tea that didn’t get a chance to sit in the sun a bit.

Once you’ve got a nice, rich amber color, it’s time to pop your pitcher of sun sweet tea into the fridge until it’s chilled– I like to make mine the day before I’d like to serve it, but really, if you’re serving over ice it doesn’t matter too much! For me, it wasn’t a summer holiday without a little bit of sweet sun tea, and even now, I’ll enjoy some on the regular. It’s just simply so perfect– that little touch of summer charm that every family gathering needs.

Cheers and have a great 4th of July, everyone! What’s your go-to summer drink? Let me know in the comments below!