Sweet Tea Plays A Bigger Role In BBQ Than Just Being A Delicious Beverage

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When your fingers are sticky with brisket fat and you've got a dribble of barbecue sauce dripping down your face, nothing hits quite like a swig of ice-cold sweet tea. Sweet tea is a Southern staple for good reason, but simply drinking this classic beverage isn't the only way to pair it with a barbecue spread. According to Melissa Cookston, champion barbecue chef, judge on Netflix's "Barbecue Showdown," and author of her third cookbook, "Fanning The Flames," sweet tea is also your ticket to unbelievably delicious barbecue sauce.

"It doesn't just sweeten it; it adds incredible depth," Cookston told The Takeout, adding, "The tannins in the tea provide a perfect counterpoint to the smoke and spice and help round out the depth of the sauce." Tannins are found in wine, tea, apples, cinnamon, almonds, cocoa, and many more foods — these polyphenols are responsible for that grippy, drying sensation and astringent or bitter taste.

In barbecue sauce, the tannins in black tea balance bold flavors and add complexity. Sweet tea introduces sugar to the sauce in a more interesting way than just plain old white or brown sugar, and the earthy, caramelized notes play well with other common barbecue sauce ingredients such as tomato puree, honey, and maple syrup.

According to Melissa Cookston, orange pekoe black tea is a solid choice for homemade iced tea that's destined for barbecue sauce, though most neutral-tasting black teas will work well here. "Sweeten it and make sure the sugar is dissolved, then reduce by half as a good base before adding in your other ingredients," she instructed.

Cooking down the sweet tea first is key — after simmering, the flavors will intensify and the texture will thicken. "It doesn't really work if you just add it in, unless you're trying to make a thin 'mop sauce,'" she cautioned, as the consistency of the tea is just too liquidy — stirring it in toward the end of the cooking process will result in a watery sauce.

Cookston also shared an idea for homemade BBQ sauce that eschews brewed tea in favor of something boozier. "I also make a BBQ sauce from reduced sweet tea vodka and BBQ spices, which is delicious on pork chops and smoked chicken," she said.