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I've always wondered what the difference between "sweet tea" and just regular sweetened ice tea is. I guess there is no difference.

Simple syrup could be used to sweeten the tea at any stage and that would prevent any undissolved sugar crystals.

I've noticed the "sweet tea" being advertised at my local McDonald's for awhile. I'm sure it will be a good seller. Anything that's fried and loaded with sodium and sugar tends to be very popular.

I always thought sweet tea was made in the sun tea tradition. When I was growing up in California my neighbor (who was from Oklahoma) used to always have a big glass picnic tank of sun tea "brewing" in the back yard. She'd dump a about a cup of sugar in when it was sufficiently strong and pour it over a tall glass of ice. I found it fascinating and very exotic.

as a southerner, I say that sweet tea cannot be bottled. it never tastes the same and often tastes downright (how's that for southern...) gross. select restaurants (namely bojangles or local barbeque joints) have successfully made it available in gallon jugs and those usually taste good. but never the brand names such as arizona or nestea or whatever. no good, i say! no good.

I agree that sweet tea cannot be bottled! I'm a southerner, and that is just plain wrong! However, McDonalds' sweet tea is pretty great, as is Chick-Fil-A and Zaxby's. The tea recipe above is just a tad off - use two or three family size tea bags, steep in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Then mix the still hot tea with 1 1/2 cups of sugar til the sugar melts. This makes about one gallon of sweet tea, the way it's supposed to be!

It's not just a southern thing, it's a Canada thing too. As far as I know, everybody north of the border drinks sweetened iced tea.

Ohh, I want to make some, although how many cups is a "few cups of water??"

I actually like the Arizona sweet tea... But I'm from Chicago and have never had "authentic" sweet tea =T

i don't see how this is any different from that ridiculously sweet Nestea stuff you can buy in 2L bottles or from vending machines. Or lipton, snapple, etc. Ugh.

Is McDonald's really serving this sweet tea in a styrofoam cup or is that picture misleading?

I'd figure it's sweetened with HFCS anyhow, which is just wrong wrong WRONG.

I've converted to Stevia in my tea, with a good deal of mint.

Now, I'm relatively new to this whole Southern living thing - I've only been here a year. However, I have certainly developed a taste for sweet tea, and I will tell you that I find McDonald's sweet tea to be nasty. I don't trust bottled sweet tea because all have disappointed except for Red Diamond.

I remember travelling to the US as a kid (from Canada) and being very suprised when an iced tea arrived at the table in a diner. It had no sugar!

Here is a recipe from Ina Garten for an iced tea that she makes sweetened with apple juice.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,,FOOD_9936_27661,00.html

It's true. Canadian iced tea is always served sweet. Instant iced tea powder is half sugar and it's DEEELICIOUS.

We have special things like that up here in Canada... It goes well with Dill Pickle or Ketchup flavoured chips. Mmmmm

I'm originally from Georgia and never realized how region-specific it was until I moved to California. The only way I get it now is to make my own, which is fine with me. I don't like the Arizona bottled stuff (or any bottled sweet tea) but that's because I grew up always having it made the old fashioned way.

How can people drink unsweetened ice tea? When you chill tea, all of the perfume goes out of it, so it just tastes like bitter water. But when you sugar it, you can taste beyond the bitter.

The secret to many local places, garnered from a childhood spent in Alabama: use part brown sugar, not all white. And brewing in the sun (with a few springs of fresh mint) definitely helps, too!

The Arizona Sweet Tea as been out in their big cans for years here in Florida. Some of the best sweet tea I've had is sold by Publix and it is made in the deli

I drink unsweetened tea. I've always enjoyed it that way but then I enjoy black coffee, too... and, warm dark beer. Plus being female and Californian once meant an automatic no sugar allowed in drinks in public (pre-Starbucks).

My bf is from the South and drinks sweet tea so I suppose I will try it someday.

I just posted a sweet tea tutorial on my blog yesterday! :-)

Check it out, sweet tea with a lemonade twist!

Alesha
www.xanga.com/akconklin

Lipton is way better than Luzianne, by the way. And Alton Brown schooled me that loose tea really does make the best iced tea. All that's in the teabag is the leftover bits and pieces of leaves -- the good stuff always goes into the loose tea packages!

Add mint to that tea and forget the lemon. I live in Georgia and have found that there are two different versions of sweet tea. The sickeningly sweet kind that they serve at McDonalds and Waffle House, more sugar than anything (often the tea is burnt), and the kind that they serve at finer restaurants and souther homes, less sweet and often mint is added.

McDonalds is serving their large sweet tea and regular tea in a styrofoam cup. I'm not sure what that's about, given that they discontinued their styrofoam ware years ago because of environmental concerns. Is there a new green way to make a biodegradable styrofoam?

I'm not a fan of sweet tea, preferring mine plain with a little lemon.

I'm Canadian and my old roommate was southern, she thought our iced tea was gross, and tasted completely artificial. After she made me sweet tea the first time I agreed with her. Eversince I get her to bring me home giant boxes of luzianne tea for me, even though we don't live together anymore.

Sweet tea, at least the stuff I've had, is overly sweet. The word supersaturated comes to mind when I hear 'sweet tea'.

Can't stand sweet tea. I'm in Illinois and sweet tea isn't even available in most restaurants.

My iced tea is two Luzianne jumbo bags, and one or two Bigelow Plantation mint bags, steeped in the bottom of a pitcher with a few cups of boiling water for about five minutes. Remove bags, add water to two quarts, serve over ice.

AHHHHHH

Arizona has been selling Sweet Tea for years and years now. It's not exactly new. They aren't just going with some trend or anything.

being canadian i only drink "sweet tea" (better known as iced tea) when going out to eat. when i heard americans never drink it i was shocked, being a huge iced tea lover for years. there's nothing better! i'm sure it's more healthy than pepsi ...bleh!

Bojangles does have the best tea, that's for sure. Although I am a Southerner, I can't stand sun tea--it always tastes rancid to me. Bottled tea or the powdered stuff just taste off.

The funny thing is that McDonald's has been serving tea, as have almost ever other fast food joint around here, for years. The fact that they started a national campaign just made me laugh. I'm pretty sure the people at the local Mickey D's make their tea themselves--the general public in these parts don't take too kindly to the artificial stuff.

My brand of choice is Luzianne. If you want a fool proof way to make 1/2 gallon of decent tea, use your coffee maker. Put 4-8 tea bags in the [cleaned] coffee basket and run it twice using the maximum amount of water both times over the same tea bags. If it looks or tastes too weak, run it through again and add it to the rest. If it's only slightly stronger than you like, fill the rest with cold water. I usually add a cup of sugar after the first run.

I know it sounds gross, but it really does work. My parents have been doing it that way for years and it always works out.

Sweet tea is wonderful, but is one of those things that is best when FRESH. A batch of regular tea (sans ice, obviously) will keep in the fridge but sweet tea doesn't keep too well. Sun tea is a really nice summer treat too, especially because it is not at all picky or something you would need a recipe for.

And no lemon--I don't like it anyway, but lemon is usually reserved for unsweetened tea. A restaurant here will add a maraschino cherry to their sweet tea instead.

My favorite is sweet peach tea.