Unsweetened Iced tea sucks.

[Asmodeus]

I can't drink unsweetened ice tea. Sweetened iced tea is the only way to drink it..and no you can't add sugar to iced unsweetened tea. Come on yan...err..northerners..wise up!

[Silo]

I agree with you on unsweetened ice tea, Asmodeus. I love sweetened ice tea though, my fav!

[David B]

Actually, all iced tea sucks. Same with hot tea, while we're at it. Bleagh.

[divemaster]

Well, here's a vote for cold unsweetened iced tea. No sugar, no chemical sweetener, no lemon, no mint, no "hint-of-raspberry" or such. Crisp and refreshing. I go through a pitcher every couple of days.

I've lived almost all of my life in the South, and this is the way I've always had it.

[RTFirefly]

My Floridian wife (her family's been there for generations) converted me to sweet tea a long time ago.

And no, you can't make tea sweet by stirring sugar into cold unsweetened tea. The sugar all sinks to the bottom; you get most of a glass of unsweet, and about an inch worth of stuff that's too sweet for consumption by anyone whose age is in double digits.

[Ellen Cherry]

And no, you can't make tea sweet by stirring sugar into cold unsweetened tea. The sugar all sinks to the bottom; you get most of a glass of unsweet, and about an inch worth of stuff that's too sweet for consumption by anyone whose age is in double digits.

Is this right?? I seem to remember from my chemistry classes eons years ago that a liquid can only take so much solid into solution, and no more. Hot or cold -- though now that I think about it, it seems that heat increased how much you could get into solution. However, if it were more, it would come out of solution once it cooled. The reason I remember is that putting sugar into iced tea was used as an illustration.

Ye scientists? Can ye explain?

(A linguistic aside: Usually in the South, you hear it referred to as "ice tea" though "iced tea" is correct: tea that has been iced.)

Here in Kentucky we seem to be split on the sweet vs. unsweet issue. Most restaurants serve it unsweetened and you have to add it yourself. Go further South and it comes sugared. Personally, I like it with lemon only, or maybe a sprig of fresh mint. Julip, anyone?

[vandal]

Hell yes. Unsweetened iced tea blows. It's undrinkable. I have to add 8 packets of regular sugar to it before I can even think about taking a sip.

[Missy2U]

Stop on by - I'll share a glass with ya!

Sugar, lemon, flavorings, blech! And don't get me started on flavored "Coffee"!

[Necros]

Thank goodness for people like divemaster and Missy2U. They're keeping the world safe for those who like the taste of tea, as opposed to the taste of sugar.

[tiggeril]

I'm with you, Asmodeus et. al. Unsweetened tea tastes like it came from the rain gutter. I'm also a fan of raspberry iced tea (made with real raspberries, though.)

<tangent>
I love these conversations... I feel like I'm back in study hall. Without being told to shut up every five minutes. And the spitball fights. And the homework.
</tangent>

[Sue Duhnym]

Sweetened iced tea makes me do spit-takes. Blech!

You Southerners are all a bunch of heathens.

[ReservoirDog]

Call me ignorant, but how do you make sweetened tea if you can't add sugar to unsweetened tea?

[Ellen Cherry]

I was assuming he meant you had to add the sugar when the tea's still hot ... hence my diversion into the whole "how much sugar will go into solution" thing.

Or, you could always sweeten your tea with honey. Or stevia.

[AndYrAStar]

Ewwww... I only drink tea when I'm forced to. I'll go for days without drinking anything before I'll finally make tea. Except the fake tea mix stuff that comes in a can.. mmmm. Good stuff. I usually drink way too much and give myself a bellyache.

[Odieman]

The last time I went to the states I forgot about your unusual attitude towards iced tea. It was a hot day and I decided I wanted a glass, so I ordered some with luch. I took one sip and I just about spit it across the restaurant. In Canada if you ask for iced tea it comes with lemon and sugar so it was quite a shock to drink a tub of cold, STRONG tea. In a couple of restaurants I asked for chips with my hamburger and I got strange looks. I realized why when they brought the burger garnished with a bag of potato chips instead of french fries. I guess the British influence is stronger up here than I realized.
Keith

[jayron 32]

First off, I must add to the debate: Unsweetened iced tea is like drink a glass of wet dust... I'd rather drink my own enema than have to choke down unsweetened iced tea. I never understood drinking something that makes you MORE thirsty (as this invariably does).

now, as the resident chemist here, to answer this minor hijack question:

Is this right?? I seem to remember from my chemistry classes eons years ago that a liquid can only take so much
solid into solution, and no more. Hot or cold -- though now that I think about it, it seems that heat increased how
much you could get into solution. However, if it were more, it would come out of solution once it cooled. The reason
I remember is that putting sugar into iced tea was used as an illustration.

Well, please remember that life is no where near as simple as things were made out to be in High School Chemistry class. It is true that solubility curves (which relate solubility to temperature) work fairly well for ionic substances (salts, like sodium chloride), some things should be kept in mind:

1) The absolute amount of an ionic substance that can be dissolved in water is dependant on the temperature of the water, so long as the water is kept at a constant temperature throughout the experiment. It is possible to get more into solution (creating a supersaturated solution) by dissolving the substance and then cooling the solution down.

2) Sugar is not an ionic substance, and so behaves differently with regards to dissolution.

3) Dissolving is not one process, but several. The energy barrier for getting sugar into solution may be very high (and thus adding sugar to cold water doesn't get you very far) but the energy for keeping sugar dissolved in water may is very low. These are not neccearily the same process. If you have a solution of sugar and water, and boil it to remove some of the water, for instance, you never get back crystaline sugar, like you will with salt. You merely create thicker and thicker sugar solutions, until the sugar itself chars (carmelizes). If you heat all of the water off of a salt solution, you get crystaline salt. If you keep heating a sugar solution until all of the water stops coming off, you get pure carbon, not your original sugar.

Now, I've gone way off track, but I wanted to emphasize that dissolving sugar in water is not as cut-and-dry of a process as was taught in High School Chemistry.

[Pizzle Boy]

I like sugar

[obfusciatrist]

I'm with David B on this one.

All tea pretty much sucks. Same with coffee.

[Ellen Cherry]

Thanks for the explanation, jayron 32, thought I didn't mean to hijack! (That seems to be frowned upon 'round here. Since it was brought up, I thought it relevent to ask the question.)

And ... hey! I took chemistry in college, too! :: takes a swig of unsweetened, lemony tea, sticks out tongue and flounces off ::

[Spoke]

I have to make a confession here which is tantamaount to treason: I am from Georgia, and yet I prefer unsweetened tea. Lord knows I never got a taste of unsweetened tea growing up. It was all sweetened to the point of syrupiness. As I got older, I just started putting less and less sugar in my tea until I realized that I really enjoyed that pure tea flavor, unadulterated except for an accent of lemon juice.

Where do I turn in my Southerner card?

(And can I keep it if I write an essay on my love for pecan pie?)

[JavaMaven1]

I have to make a confession here which is tantamaount to treason: I am from Georgia, and yet I prefer unsweetened tea. Lord knows I never got a taste of unsweetened tea growing up. It was all sweetened to the point of syrupiness. As I got older, I just started putting less and less sugar in my tea until I realized that I really enjoyed that pure tea flavor, unadulterated except for an accent of lemon juice.

Where do I turn in my Southerner card?

(And can I keep it if I write an essay on my love for pecan pie?)

I have to agree with spoke. Ok, I'm an L.A. girl, but dad's side is from the South, so I've had my exposure to sweet tea--and it's faaaaaar too sweet. I just prefer a plain ol' glass of tea, with a little wedge of lemon floating in it. That's all.

Oh--by the way, it seems that whenever I order iced tea around here, all I get is this fruity flavored crap. I'm so tired of mango tea or passionfruit tea. Just give me a glass of your basic Lipton tea over ice. Thank you.

That essay is due on Monday, spoke. Better get to work on it.

[HomeSlice]

Lord, I was in the north last summer, and i asked for sweet tea..."huh?" said the waitress, "we only have egular tea, and rasberry tea"...so i figured that rasberry tea has to be better than regular tea...i was very wrong.

[singing]on the 8th day, God made sweet tea[/singing]

[Spoke]

One more thing on which we agree, JavaMaven1. It's in the cards...

I also agree that the "flavored" teas have to go. We get a few restaurants around here trying to cater to tourists by serving peach-flavored tea. Blechhhhh!

Even worse is that damn tea they're dispensing from soda machines these days. It's getting so you have to check to be sure a restaurant actually brewed their own tea before you can feel safe in ordering it.

OK, off to work on my pecan pie essay. Looks like JavaMaven1 may decide to punish me if I don't get it in on time....

[Biotop]

Iced unsweetened tea is my drink of choice. There are literally a hundred varieties of bottled drink on the market, and with the exception of bottled water (and even some of those are sweetened, they are all oversweet. What's left for the rest of us is cold unsweetened tea. Leave it alone, for God's sake, you folks have plenty of sweet drinks to choose.

[JavaMaven1]

One more thing on which we agree, JavaMaven1. It's in the cards...

I also agree that the "flavored" teas have to go. We get a few restaurants around here trying to cater to tourists by serving peach-flavored tea. Blechhhhh!

OK, off to work on my pecan pie essay. Looks like JavaMaven1 may decide to punish me if I don't get it in on time....

I've been one of those poor souls harassed by peach tea. That is an experience I'd like to forget quickly.

I'm serious 'bout this pecan pie essay. At the end of this coming week, we're going to be working on pies. I need some inspiration. <cracking whip>

[TVeblen]

Now, now, can't we all get along better than this..group hug? ::yeouch!! Okay, guess we can't...

I like both kinds, but it depends on the quality of the tea. I can choke down the powdered stuff if dying of thirst but it's tough.

Iced tea--the real McCoy--is made with good tea, brewed fresh. (That includes sun tea.) My at-home favorite is a big jar of suntea, with sprigs of crushed mint inside and a dollop of simple syrup added. (That's basically some sugar dissolved in hot water; solving the "grittiness" problem.)

It's great straight, with fresh lemon floating, some fresh crush raspberries tossed in...but there has to be plenty of ice! It's brewed strong so the ice frosts it down and the meltage dilutes it.

But I'm a huge iced tea fan from childhood. Most soft drinks are way too sweet and/or chemical-ish for me.

Iced tea rules!

Swigging a glass even as we speak,
Veb

[Sycorax]

Another unsweetened iced tea drinker here. Second only to water for quenching the thirst! Was raised on it. But these days, I find that in most restaurants it's just too weak -- colored water. I'm wondering if some of the folks who don't like unsweetened just haven't had a strong brew. I used to think unsweetened was a southern thing (I grew up in D.C., which USED to be a southern city).
But travelling through N.C., S.C., & Ga., whenever I asked for plain iced tea (we always called it "plain" meaning tea, water, and ice), the waitress always asked "sweetened or unsweetened?" So now I have to ask for "unsweetened."
And the fruity-herbal-whatever flavored teas - yuck! I agree - there are plenty of sweet drinks out there - give me some plain ol' (strong) iced tea!

[purrplebear]

I will drink sweetened iced tea, but it's not my favorite. But, all I can get at my MIL's so, I've learned to drink it.

Nothing beats a tall, cold glass of unsweetened, fresh brewed iced tea. Occasionally with a slice of lemon, though I much prefer lime, or fresh mint sprig when I can get it. And, it should be brewed extra strong to stand up under the melting ice cubes. Fresh brewed is an absolute must. Powdered, nasty pretend, wannabe, imitation tea is OUT. I can taste it in one small sip, and often can even smell it before tasting. YECCCCCCHHHHHHHH!

[dragonlady]

I must start by saying that I have no use for any beverage that doesn't contain white sugar and caffiene. However, diabetes is running rampant amoungst the middle aged females in my family. So I've started drinking unsweetened tea. I hate all the fake sugar crap and at least I can choke this down, preventing dehydration. Barely, and under protest.

[Spoke]

Uh, JavaMaven1, can I get an extension on that essay?

Oh yeah, and if you need some help with your pie homework, you just let me know. I'll be standing by with some whipped cream.

[JavaMaven1]

Uh, JavaMaven1, can I get an extension on that essay?

Oh yeah, and if you need some help with your pie homework, you just let me know. I'll be standing by with some whipped cream.

Well, there's some strawberry-blackberry shortcakes here in desperate need of whipped cream. Maybe that might help? You'll have to wait until Monday for pie.

[Spoke]

Standing by with whipped cream. Will dispense as needed.

[JavaMaven1]

Standing by with whipped cream. Will dispense as needed.

The only thing I have to say to that is....

Whooo-hoooo

[shimmery]

Here's one for ya ... I'm a NORTHERNER who likes SWEETENED ice tea! Whoa! Maybe it's because I'm still a kid (sort of, not really -- 14?) But otherwise I can't stand tea or (especially) coffee, except tea with milk when I'm really nervous (I got that from my English aunt).
-julie

[kanicbird]

I have been on Atkins for years and absolutly love the stuff. I have a mr. coffee iced tea 3 qt maker and use it more then every other day, but not quite every day.
I grew up on liptons iced tea mix and now find it horrid.
I have also made iced green tea, which looks like piss as my friends commented, now I add some regular tea to get the color normal.
I sometimes add a drop of lemon juice but usally not.

I think unsweetened I T is an acquired taste

[DoctorJ]

My at-home favorite is a big jar of suntea, with sprigs of crushed mint inside and a dollop of simple syrup added.

This is exactly how I make it. I also use about 1 1/2 times the tea bags you're supposed to.

Kentucky is sort of a border state between the North and the South (wedged as it is between Ohio and Tennessee), so iced tea around here is a toss-up. Lately, it seems that it's nearly always unsweetened. This is fine by me, preferring a good strong glass of unsweetened with a touch of lemon and sugar. My girlfriend prefers the Diabetic Coma variety, though, and is rather sanctimonious about it.

As if my preference for unsweetened tea weren't enough of a Southern no-no, I also prefer my cornbread yellow and sweetened. Truth be told, I'd rather have a good yeast roll. I might as well be a freakin' New Englander, for God's sake.

The best iced tea I ever had was last week in Key West, at a place called Caribe Soul. It was some sort of hibiscus tea, with all sorts of other spices. It was great. Tamara even drank it willingly without a single comment about the evil of unsweetened tea.

Dr. J

[T-Bone]

I love unsweetened tea. Being from the South, I had to teach others to love it also. I held seminars. Courses. I had tea tastings. I like my pancake syrup on pancakes. If you need any information on unsweetened tea, just let me know.

T-Bone

[kinoons]

Tea, Coffee = YECH!

with sugar,without sugar, baileys, cream, hot, cold, it dosent matter how you make it, they are all completely and totally terrible!

[chief]

definitely agree with that!
i think that the only reason its there is for people who can't ingest sugar

[tygre]

I've been one of those poor souls harassed by peach tea. That is an experience I'd like to forget quickly.

Had to go to Florida for work last year, and at the hotel they put us up at there was nothing to drink but weak, lukewarm coffee or peach iced tea. Bleagh. The food sucked too, come to think of it.

I've got family in the South and can choke down sweet tea if I have to, but unsweetened is the way it's meant to be!

--tygre

[Mr. Feely]

Biotop: try looking for Tejava in the bottled drink section. It's quite good, and is unsweetened. You'll probably need to hurry, though, before they bow to market pressure and dump a whole bunch of sugar in it.

I go for unsweetened iced tea. I can drink either, but I just can't bring myself to dump 10 packets of sugar in a glass to reach the same level of sweetness as bottled iced tea. I drink my hot tea black (brown?) with no sugar as well, so maybe that has something to do with it.

[pldennison]

Egads . . . if I want something sweet or with a bunch of sugar in it, I'll drink some damned soda or Kool-Aid or something. Iced tea remains unsweetened, thank you very much, with maybe a lemon wedge in it; hot tea also does not get sugar, although it may sometimes get a couple of mint leaves while it steeps.

Frigging barbarians.

[Fiona Firehair]

Tea should be drunk in its proper context.

Midafternoon (winter): Hot with cream and sugar
Midafternoon (summer): Cold and unsweetened with mint/lemon
At a Chinese Restaurant: Hot and unsweetened

Mornings: Black Coffee
After dinner: Coffee with cream and sugar.
Midnight-3AM: Coffee with rum or whiskey and cream.

Why drink it only one way?

[Asmodeus]

We are talking Iced tes here..

[Dumbguy]

What are you people talking about? You don't drink tea (or coffee) for the flavor. You drink them because the human body can't survive more than 7 or 8 hours without caffeine.

[Zumba The Cat]

I have spent most of my life in North Carolina so I love Iced tea. I enjoy it sweet or unsweeted.


However, all fake tea should be banned!! When I say fake tea I am talking about any tea purchased in a bottle or made from a mix. I won't go to any restaurant that serves it.

It isn't that hard to make tea!!

(sorry, fake tea is a pet peeve of mine)

[Silver Fire]

Actually, all iced tea sucks. Same with hot tea, while we're at it. Bleagh.

I'll have to agree with David here. Tea is gross. Along with flavored/"sparkling" water. Ick. I'm a Mountain Dew kind of girl.