The Simple Ingredient You Should Always Add To Sweet Tea

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Nearly every Southerner will tell you that when it comes to tea, the sweeter the better. Sweet tea is a staple in Southern living, and it's best when it's homemade. Everyone has a slightly different sweet tea recipe, but the one common denominator is sugar, sugar, and more sugar. So, when we came across the trend of adding salt to sweet tea, we asked Bala Sarda, the founder of VAHDAM, purveyor of premium tea and coffee, how this simple ingredient can elevate the flavor of your favorite sweet tea recipe.

"There's no harm in using it," Sarda says. "It's the same principle behind why a pinch of salt is essential in baking — it does not make the cake taste salty; rather it makes it taste richer with chocolate or vanilla." Just as in baking, adding a pinch of salt to other foods, such as watermelon, often enhances the sweetness of that food. Science has proven that the receptor cells on our taste buds react favorably to the marriage of salt and sweet. The science aside, adding salt to sweet foods actually increases our ability to detect the sweetness in food — and it's no different with sweet tea. Sarda adds, "This isn't a new trick; it's a principle chefs and food scientists have used for decades."

But before we discuss adding salt to sweet tea, let's note what makes sweet tea different from classic iced tea (hint: it's not just the sugar). Sweet tea is prepared by brewing black tea, such as this Republic of Tea Earl Grey, and adding white table sugar to the brew while it's still hot. The addition of sugar to hot tea allows it to dissolve evenly. Black tea tends to be bitter due to the presence of tannin, and dissolved sugar ensures less bitterness and uniform sweetness.

Adding a pinch of salt during the process could be a game changer. "The primary reason is to reduce perceived bitterness and enhance sweetness without adding more sugar," Sarda explains. This concept of softening the bitterness is also why your sweet tea could use a pinch of baking soda, which doesn't make for a sweeter tea, but it does reduce the bitterness of the tannins.

Lest you worry about the effects of salt in your sweet tea, don't fear. Salt won't create an aftertaste, nor will it give your tea a savory profile. We all know that salted caramel is sweeter than the regular stuff, but you can also taste the salt. Because sweet tea calls for heat during preparation, you'll only notice the enhancement salt brings. "Its effect — primary would be a noticeable reduction in bitterness and astringency (that dry, puckering feeling)," explains Sarda. "It's secondary effect — a rounder, fuller, and more balanced sweetness. The flavor profile becomes smoother and less sharp."