Sweet tea

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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 especially sweet variation of tea enjoys most of its popularity in the Southern United States, though bottled iced teas labeled "Southern Style" or "Extra-sweet Southern Style" appear in refrigerated cases throughout the country.

1 Sweet tea and the American South
2 Sweet tea elsewhere
3 History
4 See also
5 References

[edit] Sweet tea and the American South

Sweet tea has long been a staple beverage in the American South. It is almost universally made with black tea, sweetened with large amounts of cane sugar, and served over ice. Most restaurants in the region, including fast-food and other national chains, 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 unsweetened 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, quickly and inexpensively. It is usually consumed daily as a staple soft drink. Because it is relatively cheap, some restaurants place a pitcher of sweet tea on the table for the entire dinner party to share, and keep refilling it for free. Even when served in individual glasses, sweet tea refills are sometimes provided free. While home cooks usually use tea bags to steep the tea, restaurants often make large quantities of sweet tea using large drip brew machines similar to those used for coffee.

[edit] Sweet tea elsewhere

While iced tea is usually served sweetened throughout the Southern United States, in the rest of the United States iced tea is usually served unsweetened. It is moderately common to add a small amount of sweetener to the already cold tea. Much bottled and canned tea is sold, usually sweetened with a natural sweetener such as cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup or with an artificial sweetener.

In the mid-2000's, McDonald's Restaurants began a major marketing campaign for sweet tea, making it available throughout the U.S. and selling it for approximately two-thirds the price of the chain's other large-size cold beverage offerings. The sweet tea caloric information is not available on the popularly distributed nutrition info sheet. According to the company's website, McDonald's sweet tea has 230 calories.

Although sweet tea (as a moderately watered, sugar pre-added, iced drink) is stereotypically a South-Eastern United States tradition, it is common in many cultures to add sweeteners to their tea.

[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 preponderantly black tea.^{[citation needed]}