Iced tea, or more specifically SWEET tea, has been called "The House Wine of the South."And it is rightly so that there is a month designated to celebrate it. Join me in raising a big ol' glass in salute, this eighth anniversary of National Iced Tea Month.
(Yes, I'm going to share a sweet tea recipe with you, just hang on a minute!)
First, I need to clarify a few things. In the South, when somebody offers you tea, as in "would you like some tea?," here is what they're offering you: an iced tea beverage that has been sweetened with sugar. If the tea is for some reason unsweetened, then the offeror will let you know that fact beforehand and will offer you some sort of sweetener. A good Southern host will have some Sweet Tea already made, though, if he or she is expecting guests and plans to offer them tea to drink. If the offeror is offering hot tea or herb tea, then the offeror will say so.
In a Southern restaurant, if you order "iced tea" to drink, you'll most likely receive sweet tea. You need to specify that you want UNsweet tea. You also need to specify if you want hot tea or herb tea. If you just say "ICED TEA," then expect to receive sweet iced tea.
At least, that's the way it used to be.
Now with The Great Influx of "Halfbackers," - that is, people who have migrated South (initially all the way down to Florida and then halfway back to Tennessee) - true Southerners are becoming a dying breed.If you go into a Southern restaurant these days and order "Iced Tea," there's a distinct possibility that you might just receive unsweet tea (that is, if the server can understand your True Southern Accent *grumble*). So, better insure yourself and order "Sweet Tea."
At least some people down here still know how to make it. (Yes, I promise I'm including a recipe. Just indulge me a little longer.)
Up North, however... they have no clue. Let me relate a true story to you about sweet tea. This really happened to me.
Several years ago, I had the (dis)pleasure of taking a bidness (that's Southern for "business," for the Yankees among us) trip up North. I went to a restaurant in Wisconsin and ordered sweet tea. The waitress looked at me funny and said, "There's sugar on the table."
Do what?
A real Southerner knows that sweet tea is pre-sweetened. One does not sweeten his sweet tea himself. To attempt to put sugar into unsweet tea is an exercise in futility. The sugar merely sinks to the bottom, no matter how furiously one stirs the tea. (Artificial sweeteners are a different matter entirely and one that I shall not address here.) One ends up with unsweetened tea at the top and a mess of syrup at the bottom. In other words, it ain't really sweet tea as we in the South know it.
It was at that point that I realized that Northerners do not know the subtle nuances and delights of real Sweet Tea. I knew that if I ever wanted tea in the North, I'd have to order "iced dea" and sweeten it myself... or just settle for that other magic Southern elixir, Co-Cola.
Anyway, let me share with you my Top-Secret Classified Recipe for Sweet Tea:3 Family-size tea bags (Lipton or Luzianne)
1 quart water
2 2/3 cups sugar
Put tea bags and water into a saucepan and heat to almost boiling. DO NOT BOIL THE TEA.
Put sugar into a gallon jug or pitcher.
Pour hot tea into the sugar. Stir until sugar is dissolved.
Add cold water to make one gallon.
Serve in glasses filled with ice.
Happy Iced Tea Month, y'all! May your tea be sweet and may you never run out of ice!
Some of our Texas traditions set us apart from true Southerners (I'm sure you and I would never agree on what constitutes good barbecue ;-), but we're right there with you on the tea. I also can't stand it when people serve iced tea and expect you to add the sugar---it's not nearly the same. Got a big ol' pitcher of sweet tea sitting in my fridge right now :-)
ReplyDeleteHooray for Iced Tea Month! Yours is the traditional recipe but now that we've got a few sprigs of mint available I like to add that in one of those little tea ball thingies. When it gets hot outside I could live on tea and water. Glad to celebrate it!
ReplyDeleteA while back I was an over-the-road truck driver for a couple years (as opposed to a "local route" driver), and I got that "there's sugar on the table" comment a couple times myself, to which I usually responded with a low grumble of "Yankee!". I found Splenda is a good sweetener to use in such cases, as it will dissolve in the cold iced tea.
ReplyDeleteBut unfortunately, I also found that some southern restaurants could not be trusted with sweet tea, they must have left it sitting around until it got funky, and there is nothing worse than having to chase a bite of country fried steak and mashed taters with funky tea, so I found myself just ordering unsweet tea, unless it was a restaurant whose tea I knew I could trust. Now that's sad.
I've never seen family size tea bags, but Seattle is more of a coffee town. Is a family size bag the size of two regular? Sweet Tea is yummy-especially with extra fresh lemon wedges.
ReplyDeleteI was raised in the south... southern California that is! My mom taught us to drink sun tea, unsweetened, because she was diabetic. I still like my tea unsweet because of that.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I am very surprised to learn I make southern tea! I now live in Oregon and you can't count on "sun" tea :). One day out of desperation, I threw some tea bags in a pan of water and brought it just to the brink of boiling. Then I added it to the rest of a gallon of water. It was the best tea I have ever had! I have made it the same way for years now and won't go back to sun tea.
Now I can tell my friends it is the southern method I use. And yes, when I have company, I always make a gallon jar of sweet tea. What idiot doesn't know the sugar won't melt? For pity sake, just how hard is it to be gracious to a guest? And in food service... why, aren't they there to serve a good thing? To try to 'sweet' unsweet tea is futile.
With the family size tea bags, you can substitute 3 regular tea bags.
ReplyDeleteFor a quick, smaller batch, I heat 16 ounces of water in a Pyrex measuring cup for 3 minutes, and then put one Lusianne family-size tea bag in it (dunk it with a spoon, since it won't sink in microwaved water). While it's steeping (three minutes), I put 16 ounces of ice cubes in a bigger Pyrex cup that will hold a quart, and pour between 1/4 and 1/2 cup of sugar on top of the ice. When the steep is finished, I pour the still-hot tea SLOWLY over the ice, and then stir. The sugar and most of the ice will dissolve. Add just a bit of water to make it a quart, and then pour this over ice in glasses. Good tea ready in about 7 minutes, and enough for one person for the day. :)
ReplyDeleteI make my tea just like you do! I love love my tea : )
ReplyDelete