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.
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]
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…
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
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.
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!
