All about the sweetness...

"Sure girls from New York are tough. And girls from Georgia, they are sweet. But those born and bred, feisty Kentucky girls, those are the ones you have to look out for. We have sugar and fire in our blood. We can ride a horse, be a debutante, throw a left hook and tell you the entire UK line-up all while making sweet tea. And if we have an opinion, you get to know it. We're both the pride and downfall of the Bluegrass" ~Ashley Judd




Those famous words got me to thinking one day....why doesn't everyone love sweet tea? I know, in that entire quote I just had to focus on the food component..haha, but who could blame me. What is it about this wonderful beverage that has the majority of Southerners addicted and Northerners scowling in disgust? Well, I have an idea on the subject. Sweet tea is a staple in my family and has always shared a spot at the dinner table with me and my siblings. However, our tea is a little different from the next Southern families. Here is our recipe:
-- 4 bags of Luzianne Decaf tea (in the green box)
-- a pot of water
Heat the pot of water and throw in the tea bags. Then when it looks like it is done and the water is a deep brown remove the tea bags and pour the remaining liquid into a pitcher. Fill the pitcher up with cool water. Fill your glass with ice (my family prefers crushed, since we have that feature on the fridge), then put 1 sweet n low in the glass and fill it to the brim with tea. Enjoy!!

NOW, if you can follow that recipe and you have a good product in the end then you ae either very lucky or have made sweet tea before. Sweet tea is something that is learned preferably by a southerner. Recipes just don't do it justice.

Of course, my families recipe definitely is not a normal one. A normal recipe calls for everything in the above recipe except after you take out the tea bags you pour in 2-4 cups (everyone is a little different, for Becca & Brit it would be 4 cups, for me it would be 2 cups...haha) of sugar. After the sugar has dissolved then you pour it into a pitcher and fill it with cool water. By the way, in this recipe don't put any sweet n low unless you wanna taste something disgusting!

In the southern world, which I proclaim is from Southern Kentucky to Florida's northern state line, sweet tea is as common as drinking out of mason jars, fried food, canning, and front porch swings.