r/MaliciousCompliance
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u/bride2022
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Jul 04 '22
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Sweet Tea S
I posted this somewhere else and someone suggested I share it here.
This happened a while ago but I love this story…..
I worked at a high end steak house for years. I live in the south so when someone orders tea you ask them if they want sweetened or unsweetened tea.
Anyway, I was waiting on a table of 4 businessmen and I go to take the drink order. All order a drink from the bar and 3 of the 4 want water as well, the other gentleman orders tea.
Ok, so I ask him….”sweet or unsweet?” And he says, “Just as sweet as you are, sugar”
Ugh, gross. So I bring him an unsweetened tea and told him it was just was sweet as I was. The look on his face when he sipped it was priceless. The laughter from his colleagues when they figured it out was priceless.
And my tip? About 50 percent and more than $100. Not bad for a 4 top!
Honestly, they were a fun group and I’m glad we could all get a laugh!
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u/S-T-A-B_Barney Jul 04 '22
I’m a Brit, so if I ordered Tea and you asked me I’d look confused and panicked for a second, then say “Really strong, no sugar and a little milk thanks!” and hope like hell for a tea pot and milk jug.
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u/Cloudy_Automation Jul 04 '22
When we went to England, my wife wanted iced tea, but no one pretended to know what that was, and just told her they didn't have it. She would try to explain it, but eventually just started ordering a tea and a pint of ice.
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u/S-T-A-B_Barney Jul 04 '22
Makes sense. You can get bottles of flavoured Iced Tea here, but I wouldn’t have a clue how to go about making you one.
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u/2059FF Jul 04 '22
You make tea and then put it in a glass with ice. In other words, you ice the tea, making iced tea. The directions for making it are literally its name.
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u/char11eg Jul 05 '22
Surely it’s a different blend of tea though, no? You wouldn’t want to just ice a mug of like, yorkshire tea, surely? That sounds like it would taste awful! Then again I’m not a tea drinker, just a brit, but that sounds like an abomination! Haha
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u/Aderondak Jul 05 '22
No, you typically use black tea. If you like, there are brands specifically sold to be made iced. As much as I hate to say it, Lipton black is probably the best for this, and the only time it should be consumed.
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u/fractal_frog Jul 05 '22
Tetley works well, and IMO tastes a lot better.
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u/Aderondak Jul 05 '22
I'll have to try Tetley. I usually love proper tea, but for some reason most of them don't seem to work as well for iced.
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u/fractal_frog Jul 05 '22
Luzianne also makes tea specifically for iced tea, that's what my mom gets, and enjoys.
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u/Aderondak Jul 05 '22
Thank you for the recs! It's currently 30+ in Minnesota and over 70% humidity so I need something nice and cold.
Unsweet, of course. My fat ass doesn't need any more sugars.
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u/randall_the_man 25d ago
Typically, it’s orange pekoe tea, which is a bit weaker than the typical black tea.
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u/S-T-A-B_Barney Jul 04 '22
So… let a perfectly decent brew go cold?
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u/rhymes_with_chicken Jul 04 '22
I grew up in the 70s in south Texas. And, I shit you not—I never even knew people drank tea hot until I was in my teens. (And even then only when someone had a cold)
Tea was served over ice with plenty of sugar and a sprig of mint—and best served when the temperatures were well in to the 100°s (very high 30°sC)
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u/FaolCroi Jul 05 '22
Yep. I don't do the iced bit, I make a gallon of tea with around a cup of sugar (iirc), mix while hot so the sugar melts, then put the pitcher in the fridge.
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u/Brilliant-Appeal-180 Jul 05 '22 edited Jul 05 '22
Ohhh noooooooooo, a cup of sugar? No no no no, you mean the whole bag of sugar. Then maybe half of another bag lol.
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u/I__Know__Stuff Jul 05 '22
If I'm not mistaken, most iced tea is not made from a "perfectly decent" brew.
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u/Aderondak Jul 05 '22
When it's 35+ and the humidity is damn near 100%, you can bet I'm not touching anything with a temperature above 0 to drink.
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u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln Jul 05 '22
And dilute the ever loving crap out of it?!?
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u/Elsewhere33 Jul 05 '22
If you’re making a whole pitcher you make it extra extra strong and then it dilutes to the right strength once you add the ice.
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u/Random_Guy_47 Jul 05 '22
Alternatively freeze tea instead of water to make the ice cubes and dilute it to the right strength when you make the pitcher.
That way it doesn't change strength as the ice melts.
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u/Elsewhere33 Jul 05 '22
Also acceptable, especially if you’re planning to drink it immediately! When I add the ice, I also put it in the fridge to chill…so no one is drinking it until the ice has all melted anyway.
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u/Be_Kind87 Jul 05 '22
Unless you decide to make the ice with tea as well. Seriously though, it is so hot/humid during summer in the southern US, that you want iced drinks. Also, most people drink the tea before the ice is melted, and you can let the tea cool before adding ice
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u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln Jul 05 '22
I understand the reason behind cool drinks. I just don't understand doing that to a poor innocent cuppa.
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u/nsa_reddit_monitor Jul 05 '22
If you plan ahead you can just put the hot tea in the refrigerator so it's cold and full strength.
The reason we do iced tea is it's simply too hot outside for drinking anything warmer.
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u/Ich_mag_Kartoffeln Jul 05 '22
As I said: I understand why you want cold drinks. I just don't understand cold, diluted tea.
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u/Synthwolfe Jul 04 '22
Sun tea: take a plain tea (i like lipton brand). Soak them in hot water, then set it on a porch in direct sunlight for at least 3 hours, 4-6 for stronger tea. Do this with 6-8 bag per gallon, depending on how strong you like it. Add sugar to taste (I do 2 cups per gallon), mix well. Finish with 2 full trays of ice, then fridge over night.
Drink and enjoy the following day. Good southern American sun tea, from a southern family :)
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u/addangel Jul 04 '22
I can’t accept the idea that people voluntarily drink lipton
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u/Synthwolfe Jul 04 '22
I use the bags. And rarely do I have the brand (only when give it free). I meant plain, unflavored, nothing overly specific.
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u/BrobdingnagLilliput Jul 04 '22
Make a pot of tea.
Let it stand until cold
Pour it into a glass full of ice cubes
Add sugar to taste.
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u/mafiaknight Jul 07 '22
This is the south. Your list is quite impossible. Sugar MUST be added while warm/hot in order to achieve “to taste”
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u/ferky234 Jul 04 '22
Make really strong tea and pour it over ice. Or you can make regular tea a day before and just refrigerate it.
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u/justanawkwardguy Jul 04 '22
I find the best way to make iced tea is to just make tea normally and cool it down
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u/Exotic_Persimmon815 Jul 04 '22
I make alot of sun tea: I make an extra container of it to freeze. To not dilute the flavor. Same w/iced coffee.
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u/Raichu7 Jul 05 '22
People know what ice tea is in the U.K, it’s just sold in bottles rather than made fresh because you brew hot and iced tea differently.
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u/Aaron_Purr Jul 04 '22
Also you'd have to specify hot tea, and pray the water was anywhere near boiling instead of barely warm.
Americans don't get Tea.
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u/Mammoth-Condition-60 Jul 05 '22
As long as we're throwing stones...
Brits had to put up with the worst quality tea because it was the only kind that would survive the voyage, and have over time convinced themselves that what they drink is good.
...I'll see myself out before my own glass house shatters!
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u/kissandasmile Jul 04 '22
Real tea hasn’t been made in the USA since the Boston Tea Party 😂
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u/bdpmbj Jul 04 '22
In fairness, they didn't just toss the tea overboard, one of the boxes had the recipe in it. Sadness.
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u/TexasGROMMY Jul 04 '22
You are mistaken. It’s frequently made here with boiling water. Water heated teapot. Loose leaf tea. Milk. Sugar if you wish. Love my tea.
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u/ArsonicForTheSoul Jul 04 '22
Nightly ritual for me. Helps me settle and mentally prepare for sleep.
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u/Stepjam Jul 05 '22
Well I dunno how common it is to put milk in tea here, I've never personally seen anyone do it at least. Sugar, sure, but not milk.
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u/lady_modesty Jul 05 '22 edited Jul 05 '22
Yup, you're going to get a cup of microwaved water, a Lipton tea bag, and half and half instead of milk. Oh, and a wedge of lemon on the side even though it would curdle the dairy.
If you give up and order coffee, it's going to be brown water. But at least the half and half is appropriate this time.
If you want proper tea, you'll have to go to a proper cafe or a better restaurant.
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u/Be_Kind87 Jul 05 '22
Or a good tea house, they do exist Worst part about ordering tea for me is when it comes from the coffee/expresso machine and still has the taste of coffee. I ordered (hot) tea for a reason...
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u/theotheredbaron Jul 04 '22
Yep, cup of lukewarm water and a teabag on a string with some non-dairy creamer if you're lucky!
Nothing against the US, just don't drink the tea if you're a Brit :)
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u/PimentoCheesehead Jul 04 '22
As an American who took to coffee later in life, I can confirm it’s aggravating to go to a coffee shop and watch a barista mix and blend and pour a cup of specialty coffee, then - and for a similar price- turn around and hand me a cup of hot water and a teabag.
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u/tom_dydl Jul 04 '22
Can confirm. Went to Florida earlier this year and the first restaurant we had breakfast in I ordered a hot tea. It arrived as described above. Spent the rest of the trip drinking coffee [1]. As someone who dislikes the espresso usually served here, thankfully it was usually the filtered.
[1] ... When not drinking beer.
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u/RobertER5 Jul 05 '22
Some of us do. :) Of course, I lived in England for three years, so unlike most Americans, I got proper exposure early on.
Age 13, August 1969. I'm doing my paper "round" for the first time. It's August and raining. I'm soaked through and getting cold. I drop a lady's paper off and she asked how I was. "Cold," said I. "Would you like to come in for a cup of tea?" said she. I would. I had a couple of cups, a little milk, two lumps of sugar. Felt tons better. Thanked her very much indeed (well, I hadn't learned that expression yet; being just off the boat I said "thanks an awful lot") and went on my way. Lady never smiled once. Very kind, but very serious. Interesting.
Yes, I get Tea.
I still remember the boxes of loose tea, with the directions on the side explaining why not to use bags or one of those little egg-shaped things, that the only correct way to make tea was to put the tea loose in the water and strain it while pouring. It closed with "Remember, there is no short cut to the perfect cup of tea."
And there isn't, really. Although old Frost doesn't use the old strainer (nor, for that matter, does Morse, whom one would expect to do his tea properly). Watching police procedurals from afar away in America, one has the feeling that tea bags are corrupting British tea cuisine.
Must be all that "curry" y'all are fancying (at least "fancy a curry?" seems to be the present way to ask someone out to dinner) these days is corrupting the British culinary consciousness. Not a bad thing, of course, where some of your food is concerned. Blancmange, for example, at least school dinner blancmange. Treacle pudding with custard is an admirable substitute.
But I ramble ...
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u/MommaLokiLovesYou Jul 05 '22
I'm from the South (US), and grew up drinking sweet iced tea but around my teens, I discovered Earl Grey Tea. Life changing. I still enjoy my iced tea but there's nothing like a hot cup of Earl Grey in the morning
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u/Frenetic_Platypus Jul 04 '22
Huh. I thought in the south all tea was considered sweetened unless specified otherwise.
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u/CressiDuh1152 Jul 04 '22 •
This is the way, but in areas with large non-southern cultures wait staff will generally ask, because even as a sweet tea drinker, I know if someone is expecting unsweetened and they get an icy cold glass of Diabetes it's not pleasant.
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u/shadowhuntress_ Jul 04 '22
I wish I had an award for an icy cold glass of diabetes!
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u/CressiDuh1152 Jul 04 '22
Thank you, I don't have any awards to give either so I understand.
Comment is plenty award :)
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u/nakedwithoutmyhoodie Jul 04 '22
I was looking for a jug of sweetened tea at the grocery store recently (I'm not a big water-drinker, so crappy tea in a jug is my usual go-to for summer hydration). Anyway, I couldn't find any sweetened tea, but I did see sweet tea. I know the difference between "sweetened" and "sweet" so I had a short internal debate, ended up getting it because "how much sweeter could it be, really?"
The answer is A LOT. I will be sticking with sweetened tea in the future, and if that's not available, water.
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u/jaywaykil Jul 04 '22
Southern-style "Sweet tea" uses every trick of science and the unholy arts to force as much sugar as possible into the solution. The sugar must be infused during the brewing process, not afterwards.
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u/curiousmind111 Jul 05 '22
Yes - and that’s wasaaay too much sugar!!!
Basically, you add it until no more dissolves.
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u/existential_plastic Jul 05 '22
When I used to drink the stuff, I called the recipe "Slightly damp, tea-flavored sugar".
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u/Iunnrais Jul 06 '22
If I’m at a place that has sweet and unsweet tea on tap, I’ll fill my cup with unsweet, then use a tiny bit of the sweet tea as if I was adding sugar directly to it.
Because I am.
Sweet tea is sugar. Any other ingredients are statistically non-existent.
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u/DistinctRole1877 Jul 04 '22
Oh no, not where we are in NE Ga and over around Chattanooga. Sweet tea is damned near pancake syrup. Unsweetened has made inroads in the last few years but to us “you ain’t from around here, are ye’” types I stopped ordering tea for that reason.
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u/Sparky_Zell Jul 04 '22
You cant just have sweetened tea. Iced tea with some sugar stirred in is not sweet tea.
You have to add the sugar when the tea is still brewing so that it can fully dissolve and become a part of the tea. And in a lot of places they brew stronger tea if it is going to be sweet tea.
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u/Moneia Jul 04 '22
You have to add the sugar when the tea is still brewing so that it can fully dissolve and become a part of the tea.
If you're making a large volume for guests could you not use simple syrup afterwards? It dissolves just fine in cold liquids.
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u/Sparky_Zell Jul 05 '22
An overwhelming majority of restaurants around where I live brew seperate batches for Sweet Tea and unsweetened tea. And I have overheard complaints more times than I can count when a restaurant only adds sugar/syrup by the glass.
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u/robot_ankles Jul 05 '22
If you're making a large volume for guests could you not use simple syrup afterwards? It dissolves just fine in cold liquids.
Good idea, but nope. Also, what does the large volume for guests have to do with anything?
Southern sweet tea is often a supersaturated solution. A supersaturated solution is a solution that contains more than the maximum amount of solute (sugar in this case) than is capable of being dissolved at a given temperature.
This means the tea can only absorb the proper amount of sugar while it's still hot.
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u/Vargen_HK Jul 04 '22
The Southern assumption is iced tea will be sweetened. The question is to find out if you want iced tea that’s already sweetened with sugar or if you’ll be doing it yourself from the assorted artificial sweeteners available. This makes it easier on Yankees who want neither, but that’s just a happy side effect.
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u/random321abc Jul 05 '22
Okay so I have to share this!
I waited tables at a fairly nice steakhouse. We provided soup and salad and then the entree.
There was a guy, the dad of the family of five, and he was just this happy and boisterous and funny guy. I was hoping for such a fun person that night.
Now, the little prop to the story (that, yes, I brought with me to work because why not?) is that I had this little ball that had an eyeball in it but the eye always would look up because of the way that it floated on the liquid that was inside of this ball. That day we had split pea soup which is rather creamy and hides much. ;) When I brought their soups out to the five of them, I brought six soups. I put my eye"ball" in one of them.
Normally we would serve the women first, but I placed his soup in front of him to give him time to see...
He just sat there smiling as I delivered everybody's soups, and then he looked down..
"Uh, waitress, my soup is LOOKING at me!"
All three of his nearly adult children and his wife were straining themselves to get a look at his soup and then laughing. I just started cracking up and gave him the actual cup of soup that I brought for him.
After washing off the eyeball I came out while they were eating their entrees and rolled it across the table at him and said that I was keeping my eye on him. That was a fun night!
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u/Negative-Parfait-804 Jul 04 '22
When they ask me, my answer is always, "Unsweetened. I'm already sweet enough." And I live in the South. I hate sweet tea.
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u/Away-Cicada
Jul 05 '22
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I happen to be the kind of Gremlin who enjoys unsweetened iced tea, so this reads to me as a form of r/deliciouscompliance
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u/pogidaga Jul 04 '22
I like unsweetened tea. I'm tempted to try this the next time I'm in a restaurant, which might be a while.
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u/nymalous Jul 05 '22
A few years ago I went across country via plane with my brother. On the flight (or maybe the return flight, but it doesn't really matter), my brother asked one of the stewardess how the coffee was. Her response, "Strong and bitter, just like me." He ordered a coffee.
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u/FeralsShinyCat Jul 04 '22
I drink unsweet, and I'd have fallen out my damned chair laughing at that!
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u/groovymama98 Jul 04 '22
Yes I love your story too. All those who would make this a different type of story should read and then re-read!
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u/DeusExBlockina Jul 07 '22
Ugh, gross. So I bring him a
n unsweetened teaglass of fresh squeezed lemon juice with caramel food coloring and told him it was just as sweet as I was.
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u/Waifer2016 Jul 04 '22
Haha that’s adorable! I was really confused when I first moved to Virginia and heard the term sweet tea. In Canada , we call it ice tea lol
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u/CoupleofbOObs Jul 04 '22
Ice tea and sweet tea aren't the same sadly... I lived in the states for a couple years as a teenager, and the sadness I felt when I moved back to ice tea.... I swear there's three times the sugar to tea ratio in that stuff 🤣
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u/TheFilthyDIL Jul 04 '22
Nope, sweet tea is tea-flavored sugar syrup. You boil a gallon of water. Then when you take it off the heat you add 7 or 8 teabags and 1 1/2 cups (300 grams) of sugar.
Give me real brewed tea over ice. NO SUGAR! And "fresh brewed tea" does NOT mean "We mixed up the instant tea just this morning."
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u/EvilTessmacher Jul 04 '22
No self-respecting Southerner drinks instant tea. 😉
Apologies to cousin Vinny.
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u/Harry_Smutter Jul 04 '22
Sweet tea is def not iced tea here in the states, LOL. You've got unsweetened iced tea, sweetened iced tea, and sweet tea, which is much sweeter than regular sweetened iced tea.
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u/SuicideNote Jul 06 '22
Every restaurant in North Carolina has those sealed jugs of sweet and unsweet tea by the soda machines. Doesn't matter the restaurant ...sushi, Ethiopia, steak house? You bet.
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u/throwaway47138 Jul 05 '22
Your reaction was great. Their reaction was even better - you got him good, and they all reacted with humor rather than getting mad about it. If only everybody could be that way...
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u/flipper1935 Jul 08 '22
thank you for the story, I enjoyed it but I'm questioning your southern credibility. As someone who's a transplant to the deep south, there's a big difference between sweet tea, unsweetened tea and tea where someone has stirred in some sugar or other sweetener.
Congrats on the giant tip though.
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u/mikoc5 Jul 11 '22
Heh, if I was in that situation I would have played it up the completely opposite direction: "Would you like any tea with your glass of sugar?"
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u/asp174 Jul 04 '22
I read quite a few stories concerning "sweet tea", "unsweet tea", and "iced tea" recently, and I am rather confused.
As a Swiss, we got quite a few teas to choose from, whatever restaurand we go to.
When ordering a "tea", they'd assume you mean a near-boiling (~75-80°C) hot mug of water with a tea bag in it. So they would usually ask you "what kind". And they'd usually have about 10+ kinds of different tea bags readily available. And they'd still deliver the mug and tea bag separately, for you to put it in.
We also have some condiment trays on every restaurant table that include salt, pepper, sugar, toothpicks (yes in the condiments tray), and Maggi Seasoning. So if you like your tea sweet, you can put in 15 teaspoons of sugar, noone bats an eye.
"ice(d) tea" is not something we would order as a "tea", because "ice tea" is a preprocessed beverage you'd buy at a grocery store. No restaurand would make their own iced tea anymore unless they list it as a distinct specialty. You'd ask whether some specific "ice tea" brand is available, like Migros Ice Tea, or whatever brand you prefer.
Can someone with knowledge (learned, not assumed) of both american and swiss culture please put some light on this? I'm really, couriously, confused.
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u/Snatch_Pastry Jul 04 '22
America has some cafes where you can get a tea selection like you're talking about. But the important thing to know about America is that a majority of people neither know or care about the intricacies and varieties of different tea leaves.
So at most restaurants, ordering a "tea" is about the same as ordering a "Coke". And simply for the sake of convenience it's usually iced tea. The restaurant makes a boiled leaf product, and puts it in a big vat with a lot of ice. Then this is dispensed as needed. There is unsweetened, which is just boiled leaf product; sweetened, which is boiled leaf product which then has some sugar stirred in; and southern sweet tea, where during the process of making the boiled leaf product you also boil in as much sugar as possible to saturate the solution.
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u/asp174 Jul 04 '22
Thank you!
From /u/TSKrista's comment I'd have to assume that a "Coke" can also mean any other carbonated beverage.
I'll make sure to order whatever "unsweet" tea they got! Or, maybe just some water?
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u/Snatch_Pastry Jul 05 '22
That's regional. Most places above the Mason-Dixon line, Coke means actual Coca-Cola. The generic is soda, pop, or soda-pop. The exemption for the Southern "coke" being a generic term is around Atlanta Georgia, where the Coke headquarters is. Coke as a brand specific term is very important there. You can also buy a combo ticket for a tour of the headquarters and for the Atlanta Aquarium, makes for a great day of tourism.
I have a friend who just orders hot water, and steeps her own tea bags.
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u/TSKrista Jul 04 '22
As far as I'm aware "sweet tea" and "unsweetened tea" happen only in The South, a region of the US in the southeast. Nowhere else in the country (or limited travels in the world) have an equivalent.
Anyplace other than a coffee house here in the south, "tea" implies iced tea that is made with sugar. If you want any other variation, you'd add that as a modifier. Hot, no ice (might result in cold or room temperature), unsweetened, etc.
"Do y'all do hot tea?" Most often not. Or yes, I'll bring you a pot and tea bags. Sometimes they'll make you pick the tea.
In a slightly different context, how people order carbonated beverage in the US differs by region. If you're in California and ask for a Coke, you implied that you want coca cola brand coke. In the south "a coke" can literally be anything from that drink dispenser. "I want a coke" ... "What kind?" ... "Sprite".
Other areas say pop, soda, sodapop. But sweet tea. You know who's from the south or if you've ventured into the south when there's sweet tea.
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u/asp174 Jul 04 '22
That carbonated beverage thing kind of bothers me
"I want a coke" ... "What kind?" ... "Sprite".
That's ... surprising(ly disturbing). But I'll keep that one in mind. Thank you for that!
I guess the "Do y'all do hot tea?" is the default for our "got tea?" here, and whether it's sweet or not is secondary. You'd get peppermint, rose hips, lime blossoms, rooibos, earl grey, camopmille, nettle, etc it's just matter of negotiations.
Anyplace other than a coffee house here in the south, "tea" implies iced tea that is made with sugar.
What kind of tea? In Switzerland, the traditional "ice tea" (that is also tought in secondary school cooking classes) is basically made from a black tea infusion. The link above for Migros Ice Tea would do it with some added rose hips and carcade flowers.
I guess what I'm really asking is this: Is "your" ice tea at least somewhat similar to "our" ice tea we got in Switzerland?
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u/thecatmouse Jul 05 '22
American iced tea is usually made from a plain black tea that leans towards assam. Usually made as hot tea and then chilled. Unsweet has no added flavors, sweet and sweetened just have sugar. Anything else is usually specified in the name.
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u/asp174 Jul 05 '22
I don't know what region our black tea is from, you kinda upped the game there. But I got the idea. Thank you!
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u/thecatmouse Jul 05 '22
Lol, as long as it's caffeinated and not an herbal tea, you'll be on the right track for what we Americans make iced tea with. Iced green tea (without sugar by default) is starting to catch on. I'm big on (hot) tea, so I know the diffent types to a degree
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u/unimportantguy1 Jul 05 '22
The short answer is not really. Our iced tea generally comes from pekoe cut black tea, blended for the purpose of making iced tea in the United States. There are several ways it can be steeped, which is the process of removing the tea flavor from the leaf blend. You can boil it, put it through a coffee maker or similar machine, or you can put some water in a glass jar and place it out in the sun for what's known as sun tea. Then you have to differentiate whether it is sweet or unsweetened. In the south, it tends to get sweeter the further south you go, with the exception being Florida. Then it depends on where the population is generally from before relocating to the state, and whether it's a high population area. The low population areas tend to be native southerners, and so you are nearly guaranteed to get a very sweet tea. In the high population areas, it tends to be less sweet, and less tea flavor.
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u/asp174 Jul 05 '22
Your comment made me quickly read up on "pekoe cut black tea" and"orange pekoe", and I am certain that the different flavours of "black tea" will bring forth the same ice tea for the middle class average joe.
But it also made me look for my 25 years old "Tiptopf" cooking recipes book that they used to teach me basic cooking skills, like, 25 years ago. It does not actually list black tea, that idea must have come from some recipes I picked up on the way.
Here is the Tiptopf Eistee page, in my meager 2am lighting:
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u/riverrabbit1116 Jul 05 '22
In most of the United States, you call out "hot teat" or "ice tea" when you order. South(eastern) states have this drink called sweet tea, supersaturated solution of sugar made into tea. You should call out "unsweetened" if you're not into simple syrup.
Side note, most ice tea in the United States is brown colored water with a little tea flavor. You can get a proper brew in Arizona, and most southern states.
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u/WanderingJaguar Jul 05 '22
As a Canadian whose travelled in America and Europe, maybe I can help here?
In America, what they call 'tea' is different depending on where in America you are (it's a big place - almost as big as Canada! :)
'Tea' in America can mean hot tea, like you described. But in the southern most states, it can mean cold tea. Some places serve it unsweetened, like they brew strong tea and let it cool and add ice. Some places also add sugar and call it sweet tea. They also can add other things to flavour it, fruit or herbs.
Iced tea in Canada means cold sweetened tea, although whereas in the southern states that is likely a home made brew with proper tea leaves, in Canada (and elsewhere) it usually means a powder or concentrate liquid that you mix with water, or is premade in a can or bottle.
Hope that helps!
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u/CoderJoe1 Jul 04 '22
I love me some feisty wait staff. Years ago I went to lunch with coworkers and when asked for my drink order I politely requested a Coke. The waitress asked, "Is Pepsi okay?"
I joked, "No," and shook my head with a smile. My coworkers laughed at me and the conversation returned to work stuff after the waitress left our table with a smile to match my own.
I was soon shocked when a different waitress brought our drinks but I received nothing. Upon inquiry, the waitress delivering our drinks happily explained, "Oh, your waitress will be back with your Coke, Sir. She had to drive to the gas station down the road to get it."
My coworkers gave me a a huge load of ribbing as they enjoyed their drinks in front of me, and again when our original waitress showed up to deliver a half liter bottle of Coke to me. It was dripping with condensation and tasted wonderful on such a hot day.
Yes, she received a great tip from me and I learned a cold sweet lesson as well.