I'm from Georgia and I think Lipton's the most popular here. Mama always said the pinch of b. soda is to bring out the color ( keep it from being dark & cloudy).
I use the Mr Coffee tea pot to brew the tea but then pour into my gallon jugs. I use 3 family size tea bags per gallon of tea and 2 cups of sugar. We like it sweet. And of course you can't get much more Southern than Mississippi. LOL We don't like the lemon but some of my family does so when they come over I just keep some lemon on hand for them to squeeze what they want into their glass. Oh and we use either Lipton or Luzianne
For my sweet tea, I just bring 3 cups of water to a boil in a 2 or 3 quart pot, turn it off and add 4 family size tea bags or 12 reg. tea bags. Let them seep for half an hour, take the bags out and add enough cold water so its not hot, put it in a glass pitcher and add more cold water, add the sugar to sweeten to your taste. I like my sweet tea dark and sweet!!!