Nobody’s mentioned it but chili always seems better the second day.
And as for the thread getting hijacked…it doesn’t take someone from overseas to do it. The farther North you go it used to seem the rarer ice tea got.
Of course, I’m over 50 and the national restaurant chains seem to be making ice tea a little more ubiquitous.
Here’s something from only one generation ago:
The scene–An old Vermont Inn. At the table–A Southern visitor.
Visitor: I’d like some iced tea with the order.
Owner: Sorry. We don’t make it.
Visitor: Do you serve hot tea?
Owner: Yep!
Visitor: Well, you just brew the hot tea and pour it into a glass full of ice.
Owner: Didn’t say we didn’t know how. Said we don’t make it.
Yeah… but no. I’ve tried natto, raw horsemeat, vegemite, sting ray, keystone lite, various insects, and something involving urine of some hoofed animal and nothing is quite as repulsive as plain grits - they have less taste than water or air. In fact, the only thing that would make them more terrifying is if they were alive and moving. If you add things to grits then they are quite edible but then you’re eating whatever you added with a tasteless base. I don’t understand how something so similar to polenta be so… bland.
Oh and I’ve first tried grits for breakfast here… in California. So I think you should be able to get them pretty much in any state now.
I’ll take a WAG and say that some of the tannins are breaking down overnight so you have slightly less bitterness and astringency. This would be percieved as an increased sweetening which makes it taste better.
Try a taste test between day old and fresh brewed iced tea and see if you can detect less bitterness.
It definitely does taste sweeter the next day, so that may be true. Could that also account for the ‘tea’ taste being stronger in addition to the increased sweetness?