Sweet Tea

There is nothing like a good glass of Southern sweet tea to make your day right. Sweet Tea isn't served widely in Texas, mostly at BBQ joints who hold on to that Southern tradition. It's a simple recipe: a pitcher of tea, a cup of sugar. The bigger the pitcher, the bigger the cup. Great REALLY creative persons can change up some of the elements in order to customize the tea to suit almost any palate. We deep Southerners are like the hummingbirds, make ours as sweet as candy. Sugar water with a slight taste of acidic tea. Send your dentist into shock.

Of course, as with any delicacy, one can muck to one's content. I will often use two large tea bags and then slip in a small flavored tea bag or two. Something to give the tea a hint of orange, peppermint, or my personal favorite vanilla. And, as any good Southern woman knows, the absolute BEST way to make Sweet Tea is to fill a large jar with water, drop in the assundry tea bags and sugar and let the sun bake down that mix to it's ultimate charming God-brewed goodness. Sun Tea also comes in the non-sweet variety, for those Yanks that have that kind of hankering. It's damn good. Diffused to perfection.

But as a warning to those who don't travel much in the heart of Dixie here's a tip: When you order "Iced Tea" anywhere in LA, MS, AL and GA, it'll be the sugary confection. Ask for non-sweet tea like a good Texan or a better diabetic. Just don't want you to be caught off guard by our Southern charming ways. We're all sugary sweet down here, and the Tea is just representation.

I don't know why Texas doesn't understand this more often. Texas has always been funny that way, Southern but not. More... refined Southern if you will. Broader than chitlins and grits and proud of it. (Being of Southern origin, I will have to publicly admit that I have never gone the chitlins route... MY palate is too um, "refined" for that delicacy. Everyone has their limits.) :-P

Next time you hear a sweet southern drawl call you "sweetie" it's really a calling to our Southern ways... "sweettea." Then go find or make a glass and you'll feel right as rain.


Side note: Besides local BBQ, fast food wonder, Chic-Fil -$$$(ching ching)-A does a damn good sweet tea and even sells it by the gallon. Go Chickin!