Sweet Tea.  If you live in the Southern United States, this drink is more popular and sought after as water.  It is a staple.  The oldest recipe for dates back to a cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia in 1879.  Sweet tea is typically brewed with a lower carb and calorie content that most fruit juices and sugary soda’s.

In the south, since Sweet Tea is more commonly referred to “Tea” and they refer to this cold sweat tea and not what the rest of the United States is accompanied to Hot or Not Sweet or Plain varieties.

Drinking Sweet Tea is one of the oldest and most iconic Southern traditions.  Southerners, have a taste for sugar that is stronger than most of the versions you find up North.  It is suggested, that the reason for this was due to preserving food.  In the deep, rural south they grew Cane.  They milled it and then put it into jars.  Once the cane sugar crystalized – they were eager to stir it into their tea’s.

The South also has a fascination with ice.  I think it comes from the climate as it often very humid.  When ice houses were built, this ice was a luxury – and when you were served iced tea and the picture of tea had ice in it – you know it was a gesture of hospitality.

Here is the version I like the best of this Sweet Southern Classic:

[gmc_recipe 1844]