A taste of the south

Southern Living, Apr 2000

Life's too short not to enjoy, and it's too hot not to have sweet tea.

You know you're in the South when you see iced tea on the breakfast menu. And when the waitress says, "Tell me, hon, would you like that sweet or unsweet""

The New York Times reporter Rick Bragg says, "In the vernacular of the South of not so long ago, there was no such thing as sweet iced tea. There was just tea, always sweetened in a jug or pitcher with cane sugar, always poured over ice."

Speaking of vernacular, is it ice tea or iced tea? Gary Doc, an iced tea man who's married to a soft drink lover, writes, "The only time I heard anyone say iced tea was on the Lipton Tea commercials."

For lack of consensus we'll dodge the "d" issue, as long as it's fresh, cold, and sweet.

Some say the drink made its debut at the 1904 World's Fair, but food historian John Egerton traces its roots to 1868, the start of commercial ice manufacturing. The moment some thirsty sipper poured freshly brewed hot tea over chipped ice, "Shazam! The greatest thirst quencher in all history explodes like a clap of thunder on the dark surface of Southern consciousness,:' Egerton writes.

Tea evangelist Jay Grelen has sought to spread the word through Sweet Tea Sip-Offs in Mobile. His only male winner, Jamie Price, is quick to spill the secrets of his success: "It's just good ol' sweet tea, strong and sweet, just like my grandmother made it."

And how much sugar does it take? "A mere sprinkle of sweetness won't do. It has to be more like a thundershower of sugar," writes columnist Rob Kasper. "A good glass of real ice tea, the stuff with a sugar edge, doesn't just pick a person up. It throws him back into the ring, and gets him ready to take some more licks. "

Here's our best version of the hearfighting elixir.

Southern Sweetened Tea

6 cups water

4 family-size tea bags

1 to 1 3/4 cups sugar

BRING 6 cups water to a boil in a saucepan; add tea bags. Boil 1 minute; remove from heat. Cover and steep 10 minutes. Remove tea bags, squeezing gently.

ADD sugar, stirring until dissolved. Pour into a 1 -gallon pitcher, and add enough water to fill pitcher. Serve over ice. Yield: I gallon.

Prep: 2 min., Cook: 5 min., Steep: 10 min. 0