How Much Iced Tea for a Party?

Iced Tea Planning Guide

Iced tea plans by the gallon, with one gallon pouring about 16 glasses at 8 ounces. It is a thirst-quencher rather than a sipper, so guests at a summer cookout often go through more than one glass each; plan around a glass and a half per person and round up for a hot day. For a barbecue of 30, that is roughly three gallons. Brewing it is cheap and easy at volume, which makes iced tea one of the best-value crowd drinks you can offer.

Offer both sweet and unsweetened, because this is a drink people have strong, regional opinions about. Sweeten while the tea is still hot so the sugar dissolves fully, and keep a separate unsweetened batch rather than trying to split one, since you cannot un-sweeten tea once it is done. A roughly even split between the two covers most crowds, leaning sweeter in the South and more unsweetened elsewhere. Setting out simple syrup on the side lets unsweetened drinkers add their own without committing the whole batch.

Brew ahead and serve it properly cold. Make the tea the day before and chill it overnight, which avoids the cloudiness that comes from cooling strong tea too fast and frees up your day. Serve from a drink dispenser with a spigot so a crowd can refill without you, and add lemon slices for garnish and a fresh note. Keep it over plenty of ice, and offer lemonade alongside so guests can mix the two into an Arnold Palmer, which is consistently one of the most popular pours at a summer party.