Sweet Tea?

[Airb330]

I know iced tea is free, but does X ever brew any "sweet tea", ie tea brewed wit sugar. It tastes a lot better and it'll be frustrating adding 2-3 packets of sugar to every drink I have if it even disintegrates. It's a big thing in the south and wish the north would get with it! Considering the ships leave from southern ports usually, this is a custom I'd like to see. Heck, NCL lets people wear jeans due to 'texan culture', so bring on some sweet tea!

[poetic license]

I for one am eternally grateful that iced tea on ships is not sweetened to the point of diabetic shock as it is at most southern roadhouse restaurants. Why impose that on everyone? Though I like my tea sweetened, I like it only slightly sweet, so I always order it unsweetened and add my own Sweet & Low/Splenda/Equal. I don't use that stuff in anything BUT iced tea. But it dissolves and I can adjust the level of sweetness. And, by the way, so can you.:)

 

Now, please pass the lemon slices and mint sprigs.;)

 

Happy Trails,

[Airb330]

I for one am eternally grateful that iced tea on ships is not sweetened to the point of diabetic shock as it is at most southern roadhouse restaurants. Why impose that on everyone? Though I like my tea sweetened, I like it only slightly sweet, so I always order it unsweetened and add my own Sweet & Low/Splenda/Equal. I don't use that stuff in anything BUT iced tea. But it dissolves and I can adjust the level of sweetness. And, by the way, so can you.:)

 

Now, please pass the lemon slices and mint sprigs.;)

 

Happy Trails,

 

I usually end up using sweetners as well, they dissolve better, but like you never use them otherwise.

 

I just don't see why there isnt the choice of sweet or unsweetened tea as in the south.

[Barry ATL]

Seet tea is something southerners love. The problem for a ship is would people drink enough to make it worth while. Sweet tea is popular in MS, AL, GA, SC, TN, parts of KY, NC, and LA. Unsweetened tea has become more popular as those damn yankees keep moving south of the Mason-Dixon line. :) No, really, sweet tea has become less popular in the states mentioned because of the influx of folks from other parts of the country in recent rears and because of health reasons. Heck, in south Louisiana there are few restaurants that serve sweet tea. In Atlanta some restarants have stopped making sweet tea... although they are in the minority.

 

I guess I am saying that sweet tea might still be popular in GA, but is it worth a cruise ship carrying it? By the way... some restarants have moved to using bag-in-a-box tea that goes on a fountain like Coke products. Lipton is the most popular and I hat the stuff. Too strong and not the right mix of sugar.

 

Airb330, as much as I would love sweet tea to be on the ships, I don't think it is worth while for them... or you might end up with the crappy stuff from the fountain. So, use poetic license's approach... as I do... one pack of sweet-n-low for a large glass.. 1/2 pack for a small glass. :)

[Chick's pal]

The iced tea on the buffet line and in the self-serve beverage stations is not really "brewed" tea anyway, but the instant kind.

 

The iced tea in the dining room IS brewed. But not sweet.

 

When I want self-serve iced tea, I usually brew my own strong hot tea from bags and hot water on the buffet, then pour it over ice. I bring a thermal mug from home, so I can get more than a "cup" at a time. Being an extreme northerner here in Minnesota, I don't know how the southern folks sweeten their tea, but if you make your iced tea on board by the method I've mentioned, you could add your sweetener before your ice!

 

Also note, if you're really a tea lover, they do have a good variety of the Bigelow flavors in bag form.

[trcori]

Or you can do what my hub does, mix your own Arnold Palmers, lemonade and iced tea. I just drink water, to save calories for the Tequila Sunrises ... TR

[Airb330]

The iced tea on the buffet line and in the self-serve beverage stations is not really "brewed" tea anyway' date=' but the instant kind.

 

The iced tea in the dining room IS brewed. But not sweet.

 

When I want self-serve iced tea, I usually brew my own strong hot tea from bags and hot water on the buffet, then pour it over ice. I bring a thermal mug from home, so I can get more than a "cup" at a time. Being an extreme northerner here in Minnesota, I don't know how the southern folks sweeten their tea, but if you make your iced tea on board by the method I've mentioned, you could add your sweetener before your ice!

 

Also note, if you're really a tea lover, they do have a good variety of the Bigelow flavors in bag form.[/quote']

 

That's a good idea. All I can say about instant tea is YUCK! I'd rather have fresh-brewed, unsweetened or sweetened!

[flashdog_1]

Last year I read on the CC boards that someone asked for hot water to make his own tea, double strength, and a glass or two of ice. After he brewed his tea and sweetened it, he asked the waiter to pour it into the ice. Voila. Sweet tea like we get in the south.

[Leela]

If you want to go on a scavenger hunt you can brew your own tea, and then see if one of the bars will put simple syrup in it -- that's a plain super-saturated sugar and water syrup that they use to sweeten fancy fluffy umbrella-style cocktails :) The sugar crystals in the simple syrup are completely dissolved, and it's very sweet, so that would go well into some improvised sweet tea.

 

As for me -- I just use a packet of Splenda. To me it's the best tasting of the fake sugars.

 

Actually, I just usually drink the juice cocktail. There's some orange-passionfruit-based fruit drink in the buffet area that I enjoy very much. Mom & I have been known to add shots of rum to it for afternoon cocktails :)

[scott in maine]

The issue becomes what constitues sweet tea! In the deep south, I've had sweet tea that I found almost undrinkable -- literally made me feel sick -- because of what I considered a significant excess of sugar.

 

That said, most everyone else around me (locals) seemed to be enjoying every gulp.

 

Therefore, any attempt to offer sweetened tea would seem to never satisfy the masses anyway. That's the beauty of tea that has not been previously sweetened to someone else's taste preferences -- it starts off with a clean slate so YOU can make it the way you want it.

[hifred]

We live in Chicago. It is a misconception that sweet tea is only drunk in the South. We love sweet tea. We live in downtown Chicago and in the summer when you order tea there is always a choice of sweetened or unsweetened. I always go for the sweet tea. It is not just a favorite in the south:) We would love it if X brewed sweet tea as well as regular tea.

[Seabee]

S folks from other parts of the country in recent rears :)

 

 

How true...recent rears will defintiely make one shy away from sweet tea!:D

[Lois R]

We live in Chicago. It is a misconception that sweet tea is only drunk in the South. We love sweet tea. We live in downtown Chicago and in the summer when you order tea there is always a choice of sweetened or unsweetened. I always go for the sweet tea. It is not just a favorite in the south:) We would love it if X brewed sweet tea as well as regular tea.

 

Hi:) the BIG Difference is....Sweet Tea is considered

"THE WINE" of the South;)

 

quote by Barry

"Sweet tea is popular in MS, AL, GA, SC, TN, parts of KY, NC, and LA."

 

Barry...I am in Jacksonville, Florida and Sweet Tea is in every

restaurant around here too! Especially since we have BBQ places

on every other corner LOL

[Barry ATL]

quote by Barry

"Sweet tea is popular in MS, AL, GA, SC, TN, parts of KY, NC, and LA."

 

Barry...I am in Jacksonville, Florida and Sweet Tea is in every

restaurant around here too! Especially since we have BBQ places

on every other corner LOL

 

Sorry... I forgot about North Florida. In my mind I have been thinking about Florida in terms of a cruise port. ;) So, in Miami or Ft. Lauderdale there are not many restaurants that offer sweet tea.

 

My apologies to all Floridians for thinking of you as a cruise port.... I just want to go so bad that I seem to forget that people actually live in FL for something other than cruising!

[cruisintwinsmom]

Or you can do what my hub does, mix your own Arnold Palmers, lemonade and iced tea. I just drink water, to save calories for the Tequila Sunrises ... TR

 

I do that, too. Didn't know it had a name. The lemonade adds just enough sweetness to the tea.

[SEPyle]

A great thread and good chuckle! We moved South to Charlotte NC in the early 80's. We flew down to look for a house and after getting settled in the hotel room went to have a snack. It was winter and I decided to order ice tea...afterall, we were away from the snow and in the south! I took a sip and to my shock it tasted like syrup. I asked the waitress and she said: "If you want unsweetened, you have to ask for it!" Cultural shock #1! Cultural shock #2: They brought refills! Back then, up in the North, you got one glass and that was it!

 

My girls have gown up down here and when we travel, they can hardly wait to get home so they can have their sweet tea! Translation for all the rest of the country. When you order you ask for either sweet tea or unsweetended. By the way, if you order unsweetened they bring sugar substitute (if it's not on the table) because if you don't want sweet, they are sure you must be ordering unsweet for health reasons so they bring the sugar replacement!