What is Southern Sweet Tea?

[What the Heck]

You don't know what you're missing!!

Jinx!

 

[CarolinaBlue]

You dont' know what you are missing. My family is southern to long before the war between the states, and we have always put in just a touch of lemon in the tea. It is amazing. Like someone else said, it's liquid crack!

Well, unfortunately I have tasted it before (in a restaurant somewhere) and it's NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[CarolinaBlue]

I do not do lemon in my tea. If I wanted a lemon flavored drink, I'd make lemonade not tea.

ITA!!

 

[Papa Deuce]

"what is Southern Sweet Tea"?

Diabetes in a glass.

 

[CarolinaBlue]

"what is Southern Sweet Tea"?

Diabetes in a glass.

Funny, we grew up on it and not one person in my family has ever had diabetes.

 

[Papa Deuce]

Funny, we grew up on it and not one person in my family has ever had diabetes.

I love Southern Sweet tea... and, unfortunately, I am diabetic.... but I blame food way more than eating too much sugar.

 

[TLHB70]

yes always lemon with the tea, but a fresh wedge, not added to the tea when made. I bet my grandmother went through a dozen lemons a week just for the family's sweet tea.

Yes, that is how we do it, too.
(BTW, I was born and raised in south Louisiana before we moved due to DH's job. So I am deep south southern. )

Also, I just had to add that NC Cheerwine is yummy!!!!

 

[What the Heck]

yes always lemon with the tea, but a fresh wedge, not added to the tea when made. I bet my grandmother went through a dozen lemons a week just for the family's sweet tea.

Oh absolutely. The lemon has to be fresh.

 

[DVCLiz]

Well, unfortunately I have tasted it before (in a restaurant somewhere) and it's NASTY!!!!!!!!!!!

It's not nasty - but it may not be your cup of tea, so to speak!!!!

 

[Angelhalo]

You don't know what you're missing!!

I guess it must be one of those things like barbecue - the same recipe can be delicious to one person and disgusting to another....

Fortunately I do! I hate lemon in tea. Different strokes for different folks I guess!

 

[WDWBarb]

"what is Southern Sweet Tea"?

Diabetes in a glass.

I have to believe that sugar is at least better for you than high fructose corn syrup (found in almost every other sweet drink).

After reading this thread, I had to go make me a big 'ole batch of sweet tea!! DD gave me a hug for it

 

[sha_lyn]

OK so I figured it all up

if one uses 1 cup of sugar per gallon of tea, that equals 12 grams of sugar per 8oz serving.
One 8oz serving of Coke has 27 grams.
8oz of Pepsi has 28grams.
8oz of dole apple juice has 25 grams

 

[Papa Deuce]

OK so I figured it all up

if one uses 1 cup of sugar per gallon of tea, that equals 12 grams of sugar per 8oz serving.
One 8oz serving of Coke has 27 grams.
8oz of Pepsi has 28grams.
8oz of dole apple juice has 25 grams

And therein lies "MY" problem. I love it so much I EASILY can do 32 ounces in an hour. 64 ounces in 2 hours would not be a problem on a hot day.

 

[Wishing on a star]

The sugar doesn't concern me!!!
There is so much more sugar in any other drink than what I would use in my tea!

But, unfortunately, I do not indulge like I used to because of the other toxins that I listed before.

Anyone who is drinking a gallon of sweet tea is WAY overloaded with fluoride and aluminum!!!

There needs to be a 12 step program for southern sweet tea drinkers!!! Because as some of us are pointing out... it can be a huge addiction!!!

 

[lucyanna girl]

No lemon for me here in Northern Louisiana. I have tried it and don't like it at all.

To each his own.

Penny

 

[Angelhalo]

And therein lies "MY" problem. I love it so much I EASILY can do 32 ounces in an hour. 64 ounces in 2 hours would not be a problem on a hot day.

Good thing we use splenda! I only make a pitcher once every couple of months so I think we're all good on these "toxins" too.....although I really wouldn't be worried as people in my family have drank it in BULK for years and years and years and lived happily into their 90's.

 

[NotUrsula]

Re: flouride in tea, from Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute:

Fluoride

Tea plants accumulate fluoride in their leaves. In general, the oldest tea leaves contain the most fluoride (9). Most high quality teas are made from the bud or the first two to four leaves—the youngest leaves on the plant. Brick tea, a lower quality tea, is made from the oldest tea leaves and is often very high in fluoride. Symptoms of fluoride excess (i.e., dental and skeletal fluorosis) have been observed in Tibetan children and adults who consume large amounts of brick tea (10, 11). Unlike brick tea, fluoride levels in green, oolong, and black teas are generally comparable to those recommended for the prevention of dental caries (cavities). Thus, daily consumption of up to one liter of green, oolong, or black tea would be unlikely to result in fluoride intakes higher than those recommended for dental health (12, 13). The fluoride content of white tea is likely to be less than other teas, since white teas are made from the buds and youngest leaves of the tea plant. The fluoride contents of 17 brands of green, oolong, and black teas is presented in the table below (12). These values do not include the fluoride content of the water used to make the tea. For more information, see the separate article on Fluoride.

Fluoride Content of Teas (12)
Type of Tea / Fluoride (mg/liter)* / Fluoride (mg/8 ounces)
Green 1.2-1.7 0.3-0.4
Oolong 0.6-1.0 0.1-0.2
Black 1.0-1.9 0.2-0.5
Brick tea 2.2-7.3 0.5-1.7

*Fluoride in 1% weight/volume tea prepared by continuous infusion from 5 to 360 minutes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Very few Americans are ever exposed to brick tea; it's a very cheap grade that is mostly only sold in Asia. Buy the good stuff and you really don't have to worry about excess flouride content unless you have some kind of odd sensitivity to it.

I make very good tea, but I don't drink it in any form. One of my chores as a child was to bleach the tea stains out of the china, so I associate tea with bleach; can't stomach it AT ALL. From her childhood, my mother drank hot tea in the same way that a chain smoker goes through cigarettes. The kettle was boiling 24/7, and her cup was never empty. Dad discovered iced tea after coming to the US; I remember that I always had to have 3 gallons ready for him on days when he was scheduled to mow our 1/2 acre lawn in S. Louisiana. He did it with a push mower, and it was always a 3-gallon job.

 

[Crystal0608]

I'm a rare NC girl that doesn't like tea at all. My mama makes 1 gallon a DAY (yes DAY) and uses a full cup of sugar. She brews her in the pot only used for tea brewing (you can see the line on the inside of the pot), and after it starts cooling & steeping but still warm, she removes the tea bags & adds sugar to dissolve. She pours it in a lemonade pitcher (most around here use a clean milk jug- during fall bbqing parties, etc still used) & adds ice & cold water. Her cup is never empty. My kids drink it likes its going out of style when they are at grandmas. I don't think I've ever saw it NOT on a menu around here.

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Re: lemon in the tea...in my almost 4 years in Spartanburg SC I'm not sure I ever was offered lemon, not even at a Waffle House. Could no one have mentioned it b/c it's not part of true southern sweet tea? (might be absolutely positively beyond wrong on that, but I just don't remember it...I swear I'm not a northerner being troll-like...I'm totally neutral, having been born in CA...we just won't mention my mom's family from upstate NY, LOL)

Hey bumbershoot, You lived in Sparkle City? I used to live in Greenville, SC!

The best iced tea(sweet, of course) I ever had away from home was at Happy China, a Chinese restaurant in Greenville!


One of my fondest childhood memories is dinner at my Mammaw and Pappaw's house in Mississippi. She would make the sweet tea in her teapot, and pour the hot, thick, syrupy nectar directly over ice cubes in the glasses. If you started drinking it right away, you would hit a warm sweet spot that was like gold!

 

[Aimeedyan]

I have tried to like sweet tea - and have been served it my whole life - but I just don't. I am not a "sweet" person, I don't drink soda or juice, and I hate the taste of sweetened tea.

I like strong, dark iced tea - sun tea is the best. With nothing added to it.

My DH drinks very very sweet tea, he's a "sugar with a side of tea" kinda guy. We just have 2 pitchers in the fridge at all times =)