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1
Bring 1 litre of water to a full boil. Remove from the heat, add the tea bags, and steep for 5 minutes. The liquor will be very dark — far stronger than tea intended to be drunk hot. Remove and discard the bags without squeezing them; squeezing releases bitter compounds and promotes cloudiness.
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2
While the tea is still hot, add all the sugar and stir until every grain is dissolved. This is where the dish lives or dies: sugar added to cold tea will not dissolve completely, producing a gritty, unevenly sweet drink that is categorically different from sweet tea. The liquid should be visibly clear and uniformly glossy — no granules on the bottom, no swirl of undissolved sugar.
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3
Pour the hot sweet concentrate into a large pitcher. Add the remaining 3 litres of cold water and stir to combine. Allow the pitcher to stand at room temperature until it is no longer warm to the touch before transferring it to the refrigerator. Cooling too rapidly causes tannin precipitation and a cloudy tea.
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4
Refrigerate until thoroughly cold. The finished tea should be dark amber and completely clear. Cloudiness is a defect: discard and re-brew, this time cooling more gradually.
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5
Fill each glass generously with ice — more ice than liquid — then pour the cold tea over. The sweetness should be pronounced; the tea's tannin bitterness should remain detectable beneath the sugar. As the ice melts, the drink dilutes: this gradual lightening is the intended flavour arc, not a flaw.