When did iced tea with sugar become "sweet tea?" I had not heard the term until recently, when a song on the radio they play (to my disgust) at work used the term. Today a co-worker brought in a container of polluted water labeled, "Sweet Tea," so the term must have caught on when I wasn't looking. Has it been around a while, but I haven't?

If you were around in 1897, you'd have heard it.

(Link)

Well, that explains it. My Southern relatives always just called it plain old tea, and it automatically had sugar in it. One never had to ask for it to be added. I guess when it escaped the South it had to have a specific name.

The polluted water my co-worker was drinking was Arizona brand. Headquarters: New York. 'Nuff said.

Funny, I've noticed the phrase "sweet tea" lately, too, though I hadn't heard it before. I thought it was a southern phrase the came north.

Do they use it in other English speaking countries?

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Do they use it in other English speaking countries?

Not in England. Here , tea is almost always served hot. Milk and/or sugar are added according to the tastes of the drinker. Iced tea is almost unknown.

In Britain we have 'hot sweet tea' which is generally administered by kindly female relatives as an antidote to any shocking or unpleasant experience.

But we don't drink iced tea. Here, tea which is cold is tea which has gone wrong.

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But we don't drink iced tea. Here, tea which is cold is tea which has gone wrong.

Let's see: Tea gone wrong, British subjects gone wrong back in the late 1700s - it all fits!

Could it be that the Boston Tea Party was in fact an early culinary experiment in brewing the dismal beverage that is cold iced tea? (I suspect it was...)

oh. em. gee.

http://www.twoifbytea.com/index.php

Do you think the adage "be careful what you wish for" should be updated to "be careful what you joke about"?

Must be an advert by the "Tea Party" political movement. They were first calling themselves "Tea Baggers," but then learned that the term has a naughty meaning. http://www.urbandictionary.com...p?term=tea%20bagging

Hahaha! Thanks for the link When I first saw it, I thought you'd linked me up to the Tea Party, in case I didn't know who they were, then I realised you'd actually linked me to the 'naughty' word (although I've yet to click on it - but I have seen John Waters' 'Pecker', so I have some idea as to the meaning )

I notice Mr Limbaugh refers to his beverage as 'sweet tea' but also, simply as 'tea'.

(It all seems a bit ironic to me, selling tea as patriotic, particularly against a backdrop of the American Revolution, but I suppose Rush Limbaugh is one of those Americans who doesn't do irony - at least, not intentionally.)

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It all seems a bit ironic to me, selling tea as patriotic, particularly against a backdrop of the American Revolution,

Alphabet, the large majority of Americans do not consider it patriotic and are not silly "tea baggers." Unfortunately, the media is making a mountain out of a molehill, which isn't surprising.

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http://www.twoifbytea.com/index.php

I was quite amused by the description of one beverage as being made of "traditional black tea". Green tea is "traditional" in America; it was only because of the last world war that it was replaced by black tea because of problems importing from China, so they had to use black tea from India.

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Originally posted by Kalleh:

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It all seems a bit ironic to me, selling tea as patriotic, particularly against a backdrop of the American Revolution,

Alphabet, the large majority of Americans do not consider it patriotic and are not silly "tea baggers." Unfortunately, the media is making a mountain out of a molehill, which isn't surprising.

Ah, don't worry, I've seen enough criticism and satire of Sarah Palin and her ilk to realise that the tea brigade is not representative of Americans as a whole. It's just Limbaugh's particular marketing campaign which I find risible.

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Originally posted by arnie:

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http://www.twoifbytea.com/index.php

I was quite amused by the description of one beverage as being made of "traditional black tea". Green tea is "traditional" in America; it was only because of the last world war that it was replaced by black tea because of problems importing from China, so they had to use black tea from India.

I thought that too. That and the anacronistic implication that the drink would have been enjoyed by Paul Revere when apparently, it didn't become popular until after the American Civil War. (But then, those tea buggers are notorious for their rather loose grasp on history, aren't they )