Do they serve sweet tea?

[tltjet]

To all southern tea drinkers. Tell me if this is right or wrong, but I had someone tell me that Real Southern Sweet Tea is not made with sugar but with molasses. Is this true?

 

[SC Minnie]

I love the GRITS merchandise that Cracker Barrel carries- for those not familiar it is Girls Raised In The South.


Larry Gadget you are just a few miles from us! I understand your frustration with the lack of REAL sweet tea that is why I normally just order water not too many places can screw that up. I would rather have a glass of plain water than a glass of fake tea!

I have NEVER heard of tea made with molasses- YUCK- and I have never lived outside the state of SC. Molasses are not that sweet- somebody it pulling a joke on you.

 

[ruvidu]

Maybe someone told you about my grandmother's sweet tea. It was so strong and thick it looked like molasses.
Amen Minnie on the water versus bad tea.

I bet most of these posters have never had a biscuit dragged through a mixture of molasses and butter. Man, I am getting hungry.

 

[Mic]

My kids have sweet tea withdrawal when we go to WDW. I have heard there are restaurants in Orlando that serve sweet tea, but we have yet to find one. Besides, other than a grocery stop on the way in, we usually don't leave the property(captives of the mouse ) Since we drink about a gallon a day at home between 6 of us(and more when we have company), I once took a small pitcher of it with us to WDW in the cooler. It was gone before we arrived! So I did what any good mother would do for her kids...I convinced my husband that purchasing DVC would assure us of having a kitchen to make tea and keep us on-site. Best decision I ever made! Even in the studio, I can make tea in the microwave. For those of you who have never had sweet tea, I doubt you would like it...it seems to be an acquired taste, like grits! When DH and I cruised on the Wonder, I did not even try the tea. I ordered coke with meals, and we took a 6-pack of Dr. Pepper to keep in the ice box in the room. We ended up drinking only 1 Dr. Pepper(DH purchased a beer mug) betwwen the 2 of us on a 4-day cruise. We are taking the kids in Oct., and I doubt I will bring any tea with me. My kids will just have to survive on coke and (horor of horrors) water.

 

[Denine]

You southerners are sure serious about your sweet tea. I only like brewed, strong tea, hot or iced. I add honey to my hot tea and the pink stuff to my iced tea. I'd use sugar except for the calories and it doesn't dissolve.
By the way, I love grits and fresh hot biscuits too!

 

[SC Minnie]

ruvidu-

You reminded me of my Grandmother fixing us a piece of cornbread with melted butter inside topped with molasses. When we were kids we thought we that was next to heaven!

 

[SweetSpot]

ruvidu:

You're right, never had a buscuit dragged through a mixture of molasses and butter, grits or sweet tea for that matter. I beginning to feel as if I'm realy missing something! I have to stop somewhere on our way down and try what I am missing. But then, how many of you have ever had scrapple? We need to find a way to do a food swap.

 

[SueEllen]

Sweetspot wrote:

I have to ask. Last year when we drove to WDW from NJ we were amazed at the number of Cracker Barrel restaurants along 95. I'd never heard of the restaurant before that trip. We never stopped at one but I have to admit I am really curious, other than their sweet tea is the place worth eating at? Cracker Barrel has finally come to New Jersey is it worth the trip?

Oh my is it worth it!!! They have the best country cooking you have ever tasted. We generally plan our "pit stops" when driving around Cracker Barrell locations. It's funny, but we pretty much know the exits that the Cracker Barrell locations are from VA down to FL!

They have an awesome breakfast menu that is served all day long. For lunch and dinner they have everything from soup and sandwich, to burgers, to steaks (which I haven't had there) and seafood. The Country Fried Steak is very good. Basically their meals come with 2 veggies, some with 3. The veggies are some of the best you will find in a restaurant. Oh, and that sweet tea!

As for sweet tea, yes if the tea is NOT brewed, I drink water! I'm a tea or water kind of person! I think I may be making my own tea on the cruise again this October!

PLEASE DCL--Hear our plea! GET REAL BREWED ICED TEA FOR THE SHIPS!!

Sue Ellen (true southerner--even the name says it all!)

 

[Tluvs2talk]

LarryGadget,
The tea we had on our last 3 cruises tasted like fresh brewed tea, I can't say if that has changed since we sailed in January 2002.

tltjet, I have never heard of putting molasses in tea, we use sugar.

SweetSport, Yes Cracker Barrel is well worth a try. They have real good southern food. Chicken fried steak, dumplings, fried okra, sawmill gravy, and grits at breakfast. The food is not as good as my Mom makes, but it's still real good.

 

[ruvidu]

We at one time had a German resturant here in town that served Scrapple. I tried it and liked it. Of course I was raised on pork brains and eggs so I at one time would eat anything. I have got somewhat above my raising.
Now, if you are coming down this way and want to try some grits, here is a rule. DO NOT PUT SUGAR ON THEM. A little salt, some real butter and sawmill gravy if you got it. If they offer cheese to put on the grits, go for it. If you get watery or lumpy grits, send em back.

 

[taswira]

Originally posted by ruvidu
I would like to know if they are offering the grits in their Northern locations.

Is Idaho far enough north? They DO have the grits here, along with the great sweet tea! That breakfast you described sounds like my fave - the "Uncle Herschell's Favorite." But I usually skip the gravy.

 

[TnRobin]

You guys are making me hungry. In all this talk about Cracker Barrel, I have not seen one mention of the best two things on the menu 1) Chicken and Dumplins and 2) Hashbrown Casserole. Add a side of green beans and sour dough bread with a glass of sweet tea. I am in heaven.

 

[poohntigger]

It was very interesting to read all of these posts about sweet tea. All I have ever known was sweet tea. I am a true southern girl! Also truth be known that Cracker Barrel does have some of the best. I am pregnant so I haven't had any in about 3 months not even decaf ( mostly water and juice). Even if I taste it, it doesn't taste good. Hopefully I will have a taste for it after the baby comes. I was addicted to it before. Have you ever noticed that the BBQ places here in the south always seem to have the sweetest tea?

Another southern delicacy is grits. You mention it anywhere up north and they have no idea what you are talking about. I add cheese to mine. Yummy! It is little like Cream of Wheat I guess but the texture is more coarse. It is a favorite at breakfast and with some cajun dishes. This is for those who don't know what they are.

I do enjoy a northern dish though, cornmeal mush. My mother introduced me to it. I think she had it as a child. She slices it, coats it with flour, and then frys it. We then pour syrup on it and eat it like small pancakes. Yum!

Enjoy!

 

[tlt]

We were on the May 18 MAGIC Eastern Caribbean cruise and the tea then was the syrup/concentrate tea (we asked the waiter)...NOT fresh brewed. We did not like it at all. Another couple at our table thought is was great though.

 

[SweetSpot]

I've got to stop reading this thread. I'm on my cruise diet and I don't think one thing mentioned in this thread is allowed. You all are making me so hungry!

 

[ruvidu]

Chicken and Dumplings and Hashbrown Cassarole. Wonder how many fat grams are in that combo? I also like the turnip greens cooked with country ham.

 

[Dave_from_Marietta]

My parents are both Midwesterners, and I lived in the Midwest until the age of 11. Midwesterners are known for drinking their coffee black.

So, when we moved to the South, we learned to love good, brewed iced tea. But I prefer "un-sweet". In Boston if you order coffee at Dunkin Donuts, you have to specify that you want your coffee without cream or sugar... otherwise they'll give it to you with cream and sugar already mixed in. In the South, you have to specify that you want "UN-sweet". All restaurants brew both "Sweet" and "UN-sweet" because of the folks who prefer to use Sweet-N-Low instead of sugar. But if you just ask for "tea", you'll get Sweet Tea.

Our funniest encounter with sweet tea was in Calabash, NC. Calabash is on the Atlantic coast, just north of the SC border. Lots of commercial fishermen are based out of Calabash and there are a lot of great seafood restaurants there. Folks drive up from Myrtle Beach to eat there. Anyway... we ordered UN-sweet but our waitress brought out sweet tea. We pointed out the error and asked her to bring us back some UN-sweet. She took the glasses, poured them half-way out, and then filled the glasses the rest of the way with water. So instead of UN-sweet tea, we had WEAK Sweet Tea. Great service!

Cracker Barrel (<a href="http://www.crackerbarrel.com/"><font color=blue>www.crackerbarrel.com</font></a>) is great, but you may have to wait awhile to be seated if you go there at 6pm on a Saturday night. Fortunately you can spend your time browsing in their gift shop or enjoying their rocking chairs outdoors.

For those driving to the port, they have a search engine (<a href="http://maps.where2getit.com/cracker3/along1.html"><font color=blue>link</font></a>) that will list all locations within 5 miles of your route. There are 14 locations between here and the port.

 

[lUVTOGO]

Originally posted by SweetSpot
I have to ask. Last year when we drove to WDW from NJ we were amazed at the number of Cracker Barrel restaurants along 95. I'd never heard of the restaurant before that trip. We never stopped at one but I have to admit I am really curious, other than their sweet tea is the place worth eating at? Cracker Barrel has finally come to New Jersey is it worth the trip?

Where in Jersey is this Cracker Barrel at SweetSpot? I would surely make a trip just for the hashbrown casserole and I want to buy one of their rockers for sale!!

 

[ruvidu]

Click on the web site in Dave's reply below. The site will list all the Cracker Barrels in each state. The rockers are extremly nice. We have one.

taswira - Thanks for the reply. Now I know.

Russ

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

Thanks goodness Dave, I was beginning to think I was the only one on the boards who prefers "Un-sweet" tea. Blame the English in my ancestry maybe?

Anyway, I endorse the cold brew tea bags. I took them on a camping trip this summer where I was the only one in our group that needed a morning caffeine fix (ok, most of them were 12 years old!) and they made a really decent iced tea!

Deb