Don't serve sweet tea In Georgia? If you don't you might go to jail
 

There is a new law that is close to being passed in Georgia that requires restaurants to serve sweet tea if they serve unsweetened tea. What does everyone think about it? I think it is just plain stupid. People could get up to a year in jail for not serving sweet tea. Crazy!

http://www.wsbtv.com/news/2064712/detail.html

It's always nice to know that your tax dollars are being put to work effectively :p

I wouldn't be suprized it passed. Ah my good ole home state. Too bad I hate any form of tea. lol

Serving only unsweetened tea in Georgia?
Must be because too many "damnyankees" have moved to Atlanta!:D

That is hilarious. They couldn't seriously put someone in jail for that! LOL.

I live in northern VA, and my parents live much further south in VA. Very few restaurants up here serve sweetened tea, and so when my parents come to visit me and attempt to order it at a restaurant, they're always disappointed. My mom is like, "This is STILL the south!!! Why don't they serve sweetened tea?!?!" I try to explain to her that this area isn't typically "southern," even if it is still Virginia.

Exactly! :D

If they don't serve sweet tea, then I don't dine there. Plain and simple.

:eek: Restaurants there don't serve sweet tea?! :p

Send 'em to jail? Hell...just shoot them!!!! :) I can't stand when I'm served unsweet tea and they say "you can just add sugar." Um, hello....sugar doesn't dissolve in cold liquid. But I still think it's funny. Only in Georgia.

I totally agree! I may go somewhere once, but once I know they don't serve sweet tea, it's taken off of the list of dining possibilities.

what is sweet tea? just unsweet tea with sugar already? Here is Houston, they only serve unsweetened tea. I think Chik-fil-a is the only place that asks you if you want your tea sweetened. The Cheesecake Factory has sweetened tea but with flavors like rasberry-mango. I wish all places served, or atleast gave you the option of sweetened tea:)

I, too, am wondering what Sweet Tea is?

1) I know what tea is (hot water + tea bag)
2) I know what cold tea is (the above, but it has lost its heat)
3) And I when I hear the term, "iced tea", I think of Snapple, Nestea, etc.

So what is Sweet Tea?
Do they make 1), add sugar while it's still hot [so that the sugar dissolves] and then cool it down and drink it?

Please help me, a mere Canadian, out of my ignorance.

Yes! You are correct! :)

this makes me think of a song. it is not very well known but it so awesome. its called 'sweet tea'. it is like a southern rap song.
some of the words are '....nothing like a phat cup fillin up, sweet tea and ice, coolin on my porch on a summer's night, makes memories nice....':)

Yes, but it must also be served in a glass (not teacup) and with lots of ice. Mmmm.

Most peopel make it and have it tin their fridge in a pitcher, but it only keeps well for about 48 hours, then it gets that "Old" taste. Unfortunately, you have a hard tiem findign sweet tea in this part of Texas, but it is always such a nice plesant suprise and treat to find out a place serves it.

Now what UI dotn get is the places who dont even serve iced tea. WTF is up withthat????

LUV me some Bill Millers. Its a BBQ place (the food is not all that) but they have a drive through and serve sweet tea. "Um, I'd like a large sweet tea, half ice to go please." And thers one on EVERY corner in this town. Mmmmm.

Please excuse the Yankee...
 

So much sugar do you have to add before you have actual "sweet tea?" I think I'm going to try to make this, since I might be moving to Georgia when I graduate. I might as well start to learn the ways of the land now :D

Well, you make it to suit what YOU think tastes good... When I was growing up, my momma (who is from Indiana) kept making her tea sweeter and sweeter every year until now it is just as good as any Southern sweet tea.

When I make tea, I usually use three tea bags and 2 cups of sugar.

And I agree with everyone who won't eat at a restaurant because they don't serve sweet tea... but don't y'all also sometimes choose where to eat on who has the best tea? I will often go for Chick-fil-a or Bojangles just because their sweet tea is the best!

HOW can people drink iced tea UNSWEETENED :eek: ?


Edited to say: I'm sure that everyone has an opinion, but I think Luzianne is the only tea that makes GOOD sweet tea.

Yes! My roommate and I went out tonight and that actually happened. She was really wanting a good sweet tea with her dinner, so we went to one of the home cooking restaurants around here.

My personal recommendation for tea...

I use 2 Tetley family size tea bags and between a cup and a half to two cups of sugar. I haven't made any in a while because I usually can't drink it all before it goes "sour" in the fridge, which is about 2 days, as lifesaver stated previously.

It's either sweet tea or unsweetened for me - none of that horrible "ice tea with sugar added afterwards" stuff! blech.

I also use super-fine sugar - for some reason, it dissolves faster.

honeychile

i still have to add like three equals to my sweet tea

The legislator said that he went to a Cracker Barrel rest. that didn't serve sweet tea...that's never happened to any one I've gone to...unless they started within the last month.

On a related note, I stay away from PepsiCo owned companies and/or where I know I can't get a coke with my burger, etc. unless I'm really despearate or realllllly want a Taco Bell item, which isn't too often.

Sweetening the tea before you brew it is unnatural. So, too, if you do it afterward. Tea should not be sweetened. It should be made by the following:

Put four-seven tea bags in a large glass jar.

Cover jar so no bugs or anything get in it.

Leave jar in sun all day long.

Put jar in refrigarator untill chilled.

Serve over ice.

And oula, you have sun tea.

There's a bbq joint where I'm from that's called "Big Bob Gibson's" Their sweet tea is notorious. I take my cues from them...moderately dark but verrrrry sweet. And they use Red Diamond tea. I tried Bojangles for the first time this weekend when I was in NC at a conference and I gotta say: it's pretty good. I'm not a fan of Milo's (for you Alabama folks) because it's too weak for my tastes. And McAlister's is not sweet enuf. I'm picky but once I find a good one, I stick w/ it. But....having said that...when I'm in the North, I will drink unsweet, sans any sort of sweetening agent. Just give me a lemon and I'm fine.

OKAY_ to make SWEET TEA-

Take either 3 of the family size tea bags, or 6 of the regular size tea bags and brew them with hot water (we actualy use our coffee maker, but they do tea makers now). IN a GALLON pitcher pour 1 1/2 cups of sugar. As the tea brews empty the hot brewed tea water to the pitcher, leaving the bags and refilling with water until you have filled the pitcher up.
The hot liquid dissolves the sugar, but every good woman knows you must use a wooden spoon and stir to make sure that it gets thoroughly distributed.

This, my friends from up north, is sweet tea!

I'm the same way! I hate Pepsi, and I'll drive out of my way to visit a fast food place that offers Coke.

As for a Cracker Barrel not serving sweet tea -- WHAT??? Cracker Barrel is suppose to be a "country-style" restaurant. What the heck is country about unsweetened tea? It's like trying to serve cream of wheat down here instead of grits. :)

chick-fil-a = best sweet tea.

The Sonny's Barbeque in our town used to make GREAT sweet tea. The ownership's changed, but it's still the best in town, despote the fact that it isn't as good. I've also found that Chili's as a chain seems to have a pretty high quality of sweet tea.

I guess I'm too Midwestern too understand the "sweet tea" deal. I like my tea straight, no sugar, no lemon. I love it even BETTER when it's Sun Tea like in the good ole' days of Summer.

I miss sweet tea!
 

When I lived in VA Beach I loved the sweet tea at Hardee's. Big Huge 32oz tea for 99cents. Gotta love it. Hardee's has new ownership now (Carl's Jr) so I don't know if they still serve it. From what I heard there's no more peach shakes. :( And that's just WRONG! Those shakes were great. The straw would get so much peach stuck in it that I swear I was going to pop a vain from sucking so hard!

I remember when my dad and I drove 'cross country back to CA I went through major withdrawl from the tea. As soon as we crossed out of KY we could not get sweet tea any more. Even at Bob Evans! The waitresses would look at me like a freak and point to the sweet 'n low. I was putting 4-5 in each glass! :eek:

As far as commercial iced tea, I like the Lipton Sweetended No Lemon. I think that's as close to sweet tea as they'll ever get.

You can always tell the people that are not from the south because they will order tea in a restaurant, then gag when they get it because they don't realize it's sweet til they drink it.

My mom was born and raised up in Jersey, and she knows the value of a nice glass of sweet tea. She even used to make it the way Optimist Prime said, letting it seep in the sun all day. This was before she got her Mr. Coffee iced tea maker, which has worked out pretty well for the past few years. In my experience in FL, where most tea is unsweet, bar-b-q places such as Woody's and Sonny's have really good sweet tea. A place called Dustin's B-B-Q is the BEST I've ever had though!

So we "damn yankees" know and love sweet tea too!

A little off topic, but...

I was talking to one of my favorite lil ole Southern ladies today, and I asked her how she makes mint juleps. I won't quote her exactly (because it's a "family recipe"!), but she said to start by making the syrup used in sweet tea, then add the mint....

When I saw this thread, I LOL at the coincidence!