How do you make your tea at home? (West: cost, vs.)

[TexasReb]

Ok y'all, here is my own usual Texas Poll of the Week, as conceived and considered and that a billion Chinese and a lot of Texans don't care about one way or another!

ANYWAY, question is, how do y'all make your tea at home when it comes to sweet/unsweet? This one is really intended for native Texans...but with the qualifications that will be mentioned on the poll!

[westhou]

I'm a native Texan and I have to have my tea sweetened. I don't know anyone who can drink it without it being sweetened.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by westhou

I'm a native Texan and I have to have my tea sweetened. I don't know anyone who can drink it without it being sweetened.

Actually, I honestly (afeared this might cost me my native Texan credentials) prefer it "unsweetened". BUT...I am considered the "red-headed step child" in this realm among my immediate family, kinfolk, and friends. EVERYONE I know brews it sweetened. That is to say, boils it up on the stove, pours it in the pitcher and adds a cup (or more) of sugar while still HOT!

On the ol' related tangent...I am interested in homebrew recipes as well!

[westhou]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Actually, I honestly (afeared this might cost me my native Texan credentials) prefer it "unsweetened". BUT...I am considered the "red-headed step child" in this realm among my immediate family, kinfolk, and friends. EVERYONE I know brews it sweetened. That is to say, boils it up on the stove, pours it in the pitcher and adds a cup (or more) of sugar while still HOT!

On the ol' related tangent...I am interested in homebrew recipes as well!

For me unsweetened tea taste like dirty water. although I never add sugar to my coffee. I feel that adding sugar kills the rich flavor.

do you at least add lemon to your tea? I think I could handle unsweetened tea if I added lemon to it.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by westhou

do you at least add lemon to your tea? I think I could handle unsweetened tea if I added lemon to it.

Ohhh yeah (on the lemon part...and I even grow fresh mint in my garden to add sometime!).

*groans and sinks down my head* Don't gimme too hard a time, WestH...I catch enough hell from my own kinfolk for not preferring sweet tea. But hey? In the fer-what-its-worth department, my momma was a believer in that we kids had to learn how to keep a pitcher of tea in the icebox. So whether I like it or not, the "brew" we had to make was "sweet" in the classic Texas/Southern tradition.

I gotta soft spot for it though, my friend! If called upon today, I could still (knock on the dinnertable) make that stuff blindfolded...just gimme the pot, the teabags, the gas stove, and the sugar!

[Cathy4017]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Ohhh yeah (on the lemon part...and I even grow fresh mint in my garden to add sometime!).....

Oh, me too!! I love spearmint and peppermint in my freshly brewed tea.

I can't stand sugar-sweetened tea. We never had it at home (not being southerners, I guess...), not with the sugar added during brewing! It was always added to your own glass at the table if at all.

Give me one big iced glass of medium-strength tea, a couple sprigs of mint, and a packet of Splenda, TYVM...! Or....no Splenda at all.

[TexasReb]

Originally Posted by Cathy4017

Oh, me too!! I love spearmint and peppermint in my freshly brewed tea.

I can't stand sugar-sweetened tea. We never had it at home (not being southerners, I guess...), not with the sugar added during brewing! It was always added to your own glass at the table if at all.

Give me one big iced glass of medium-strength tea, a couple sprigs of mint, and a packet of Splenda, TYVM...! Or....no Splenda at all.

Hey Cathy! Where you been hidin' lately? *hugs*

Gotta git ready to eat supper and hit the sack before long, so better sign off. But glad to see you around and about the place! LOL

And remember, if nothin' else, we both seem to agree on cornbread and grits! LOL

[FarNorthDallas]

But, I think, TexasReb, we were talking on the other thread about tea sweetened while brewing vs. adding sugar or sweet and low to tea once it's in your glass, right?

In Georgia, Mississippi, et al, the sugar is already there and there is no unsweet option.

[westhou]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Ohhh yeah (on the lemon part...and I even grow fresh mint in my garden to add sometime!).

*groans and sinks down my head* Don't gimme too hard a time, WestH...I catch enough hell from my own kinfolk for not preferring sweet tea. But hey? In the fer-what-its-worth department, my momma was a believer in that we kids had to learn how to keep a pitcher of tea in the icebox. So whether I like it or not, the "brew" we had to make was "sweet" in the classic Texas/Southern tradition.

I gotta soft spot for it though, my friend! If called upon today, I could still (knock on the dinnertable) make that stuff blindfolded...just gimme the pot, the teabags, the gas stove, and the sugar!

that sounds pretty good

[kacvb1974]

Originally Posted by TexasReb

Actually, I honestly (afeared this might cost me my native Texan credentials) prefer it "unsweetened". BUT...I am considered the "red-headed step child" in this realm among my immediate family, kinfolk, and friends. EVERYONE I know brews it sweetened. That is to say, boils it up on the stove, pours it in the pitcher and adds a cup (or more) of sugar while still HOT!

Add my family to the red-headed stepchild list. My poor father, a native North Texan for generations, is the only one of 8 siblings who HATES sweet tea. So when I was growing up he only made unsweetened and that's all I'm accustomed to. We got such good-natured hell at all family reunions, Christmases, etc. ('Cause to my kin, not drinking sweetened tea was practically as evil as being a vegetarian or not attending a Baptist church!) So whenever we were at my grandparents' dinner table, my father and I had many close calls with full on spit takes...we'd completely forget the tea was pre-sweetened to nearly diabetic shock levels. We'd exchange a look on the way to the kitchen sink...because it was either sweet tea or water from the tap. Offering additional beverages for "finicky" people was just not an option.

As an adult, I joke that I am still cavity-free because of my dad's refusal to serve sweet tea, lol. But we didn't win any brownie points with the family.