Sweet tea

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A glass of sweet tea
A glass of sweet tea

Sweet tea is a form of iced tea in which sugar or some other form of sweetener is added to the hot water before brewing, while brewing the tea, or post-brewing, but before the beverage is chilled and served. This variation of tea enjoys most of its popularity in the Southern United States.

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[edit] Sweet tea and the American South

Sweet tea has long been a staple beverage in the American South; most family-style and fast food restaurants in the region offer the customer a choice of sweet tea or unsweetened iced tea. It is a signature drink of the region, to the point where the Southern use of the word "tea" is largely used to refer specifically to cold, sweet tea and not to hot or unsweet varieties. Its widespread use is probably due to its light taste, ease of preparation and low cost.

An important part of the tradition of sweet tea in the South is the fact that it can be made in large quantities, easily several gallons, for not a large amount of time or money involved. It is usually consumed in daily as a staple soft drink or for a group situation or at family meals, helping to tie it directly back into the culture from which it comes.

Iced tea is normally served unsweetened throughout the rest of the United States, though it is moderately common to add a small amount of sweetener to the already cold tea. Much pre-bottled and pre-canned tea, though, comes with sweetener (sugar, honey, some artificial sweetener, or a combination) mixed in.

It is important to note that though sweet tea (as a moderately watered, sugar pre-added, iced drink) is stereotypically a South-Eastern United States tradition, but many tea cultures occasionally add sweeteners to their tea.

[edit] Making Southern-style sweet tea and its healthiness

The recipe for sweet tea varies from household to household. In fact, the amount of tea, the time steeped, whether or not the tea is boiled in the pot, and the amount of sugar can strongly vary each and every time a particular person makes tea.

A typical recipe involves bringing water to a boil, and then adding tea to steep. This tea is almost always dustings/fannings of Orange Pekoe bought specifically in cheap tea-bag form as an "iced tea" blend. The amount varies, of course, but in general it would be about a half or a third of what would be expected if someone was making more traditional hot tea.

After it steeps (or in some cases, boils, though continued boiling of the tea tends to make it bitter) for whatever time is deemed necessary, it is then mixed with sugar in water to fill the pitcher. A lot of Southerners put about a cup of sugar to the half gallon. Some add more or less depending on taste, or might use artificial sweetener to some degree (half and half sugar with Splenda, for instance). Sugar in this case is almost always refined, granulated sugar. It is only rarely unrefined sugar or honey. Southerners almost never add milk or creamer of any sort to their tea. Some prefer to leave the tea in the pot, with or without the bags, so that it can be diluted or sweetened by the glass. This accommodates different tea drinkers that take sugar or artificial sweetener, from the same pot. It also prevents souring of the tea for a longer period of time than adding sugar to a diluted pitcher of brewed tea.

The end result is a tea in which the sweet factor overpowers the tea-taste factor and its characteristic bitterness. To this, lemons or lemonade might be added. In some cases, slightly sweetened tea with mint is served. Other fruit juices are occasionally added (making "tea punch").

Restaurants, and tea-making devices, tend to run hot water through tea in much the same way as a standard coffee maker would with coffee, and then add sugar and additional water to the restaurant's recipe.

Black tea, according to Lipton, has about 30-40 mg of caffeine per 8 oz. Considering that sweet tea is usually watered down to about half strength, it would be reasonable to say that it has only about 50 mg or less of caffeine per 16 oz glass.

Black tea, from which traditional Southern-style sweet tea is invariably made, does not have the same health benefits of green tea, but still contains a fair amount of anti-oxidants and other healthy chemicals. However, the sugar content generally outweighs the benefits considering the diluted strength of the tea versus the large amount of calories consumed per glass.

[edit] History

The oldest known recipe for sweet ice tea was published in 1879 in a community cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia, by Marion Cabell Tyree. This recipe calls for green tea. In fact, most sweet tea consumed during this period was green tea. However, during World War II, the major sources of green tea were cut off from the United States, leaving them with tea almost exclusively from British-controlled India which produces black tea. Americans came out of the war drinking nearly 99 percent black tea.

As an April Fool's Day joke Georgia State Representatives, John Noel, and four co-sponsors, introduced House Bill 819:

  • (a) As used in this Code section, the term 'sweet tea' means iced tea which is sweetened with sugar at the time that it is brewed.
  • (b) Any food service establishment which serves iced tea must serve sweet tea. Such an establishment may serve unsweetened tea but in such case must also serve sweet tea.
  • (c) Any person who violates this Code section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor of a high and aggravated nature.

[edit] Chinese sweet tea

There is also a Chinese sweet tea - an herbal tea which is made from the leaves of Chinese Blackberry (Rubus suavissimus). These leaves contain a natural sweetener, called rubusoside, which is 200 times as sweet as cane sugar. The tea has long been used to alleviate kidney symptoms, and a recent Japanese study also indicates that it has anti-inflammatory effects and helps against allergies.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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