Why no sweat tea north of the Mason Dixon Line

reply to post by TravelerintheDark


Just remember to use y'all instead of you all and you should be able to fool most of of the people.

Hey Ant4

We can get sweet tea pretty much anywhere in Indy. And I'm very picky about my tea. I have three places that I like to buy it from....sorry....McD's isn't one of them. I get at least a gallon a week.

What I want to know is why can I never find fountain coke and styrofoam cups down south? It's all fountain pepsi and paper or plastic cups. Seriously. Huh? Huh?

Rush

When I travel North I see people ordering something called 'pop'. I believe it to be a carbonated beverage aka coke or Pepsi.

I have the problem of finding sweet tea in much of Florida due to the Yankees that have relocated into the area.

Sweet tea is tea that has been prepared with sugar in the pitcher after it has been brewed.

The opposite of sweet tea is unsweetened tea that is served in a glass over ice and must be sweetened with artificial or real sweetener.

Making the perfect pitcher of sweet tea is an art. Generally I swish my finger in the tea and that gives it the perfect sweetness, just kidding, I use sugar too.

Oh yes I almost forgot. There isn't a shortage in shine in the south. It is for medicinal purposes only. Most southern families have a jar or two in the back of the cupboard.

reply to post by hsur2112


Rush. Just your luck I guess. Try Mom and Pop stores for your styro cups. Coke or Pepsi that is up to the store. But Mop and Pop stores are probable your best bet.

Speaking of food and drinks.............

Depending on where you go to, some places like McDonalds or Burger King taste better than what you home Mickey D's or Burger Kings do. I kno this for a fact, there's a McDonalds/Pilot Truck Stop right off of I-65 just south of Elizabethtown, Kentucky that is actually pretty durn good. I mean it's like they actually want you to stop there again. The burgers were put together very good. It almost looked like a professional chef made the burgers. The ones around here though are a completely different story though. You stop at a burger joint here, it's like they just don't care how it looks as long as they get money from it.

Next time I'm going south on I-65 out of E-Town, I'll be sure to stop at that McDonalds. There's also a BP Station just outside of Lexington that I make a stop each time. That's due to the price of gas being twenty cents cheaper than what they are here in West Virginia. All because they don't have the gas tax like we do here.

For the best food and drinks though, it has to be the Mom 'n Pop places. Just about every single places like that have at least a little something for everbody. We've got places here that are wayyyyyyy better than the chain restaurants. I don't really know how many places here that are like that though. I know of at least ten places here that are a great place to grab a bite to eat. The thing is, most Mom 'n Pops places are hard to find unless you know what you want.

"Us" Northerners are sweet enough without all that sugar! That syrupy sweet tea ya'll like is practically gagging to us, and certainly not refreshing by any means

I say the same thing in reverse when I visit the South..."why can't I get a normal glass of unsweetened Iced Tea?"

Either way, It's just a matter of preference. Can we all agee one one thing? North or South..... tea needs to be made fresh daily. Day out tea taste sour.

After reading this thread, and after what my dear MrD told me about a tv show he watched last night, I wonder. Does this fondness for sweet tea have any thing to do with some remote, poor Appalachians fondness for MtDew?

He said that is the drink of choice for those residents, to the extant of weaning babies from milk straight to MtDew in a bottle or cup.

I remember when MtDew was introduced. The commercials made it out to be a "hillbilly" drink. Where did the green color come from, though?

reply to post by jensouth31


Yes Jen agreed 100% you have to ask but most places atleast in my neck of the woods have unsweet available.

reply to post by desert


As gimme said earlier Mt. Dew was another name for moonshine, and a whole lot of mountain folk "hillbillies" made shine. So that I believe is why they made it out to be the "hillbillie drink" As far as the color yellow number five is all I can tell you Thanks all for playing along.

[edit on 14-2-2009 by Ant4AU]

reply to post by Ant4AU


hahaha!!! I can so relate to this post. Being a truck driver I go all across the U.S. and you'd be totally amazed and shocked at how many restraunts don't serve "sweet" tea. Or, if they do, they insist on putting LEMON in it! ewww If I wanted lemonaid I"d have asked for lemonaid

reply to post by Ant4AU

Hey, Ant! Your reply makes sense to me. Thanks!

If there's any advice I would give to travelers, it is this: eat the local food over national fast food when you travel. If you have to eat at a national fast food chain, try to find an item that caters to local tastes. And don't be embarrassed about ordering or asking about an item...they already know you're not a local by the way you talk or dress. Just enjoy the experience and the 99% of the time locals are happy to share their cuisine with you.

Oh, my idea that northerners don't have the sweet tea in their culture might come from the fact that sugar was a southern crop. They could use lots of sugar, whereas their northern neighbors might have to use it more sparingly, having to import it.
By the time one gets to CA, the tea is sweetened artificially, just as one might expect from a land of botox and boob jobs. Don't, don't, for the love of God, people, drink artificially sweetened tea. It's an abomination. I grew up with homemade lemonade made with cups of white sugar; I avoid the stuff sold in stores.

reply to post by desert


Yea artificial sweeteners just don't do it. Leaves a nasty aftertaste. Sweet and low more like sweet and blow Yes some good ole ice cold lemonade on hot summer day, nothing more refreshing to me.

reply to post by Ant4AU


ANt, I am surprised that people still make moonshine man. I remember seeing a show about it on the History Channel where some county in eith North Carolina or Virginia still has a problem with the illegal stills. Oh well, another mans nasty booze is another mans treasure I guess.

reply to post by gimmefootball400


Nasty? I am sorry there Gimme I do not share your view on this one. Id you can get ahold to some well made shine. Um...Um...Um, Or maybe I am just proving myself an alchey either way the well mad stuff is good every now and again. You no clears the sinuses

When I first moved to New York from the south I ordered iced tea in a restaurant. The waiter brought me a pot of hot tea and a glass of ice. They didn't know what it was!

I understand there are actually places in New York where you can get iced tea now (don't know about sweet tea)--I guess because of the influx of southerners.

I find in general that because people move around so much you can find people from all over most anywhere in the country now. The Yankees and the Rebs meet and mix more often.

reply to post by Ant4AU


And most places in my neck of the woods have white sugar

This is a fun thread

reply to post by jensouth31


White sugar across the Mason Dixon. I thought they stopped that during the war Welcome back Jen.

Sugar....ahh we smuggle that across the line for when you Southerners come to visit

Do you all like variations of tea? Earl Grey makes a fine batch of Iced Tea.

I like my tea "sweat" free....but sweet tea....well what self-respectin' southerner doesn't like sweet tea? :w:

Now I admit it..........

I drink tea, and mean a lot of tea when I can. I do drink tea of the unsweetened variety whenever I feel like it. I guess that's what I get for living in the "Southern Most of the Northern States and the Northern Most of the Southern States."

reply to post by jensouth31



It's just about red diamond and nestle round these here parts.