In the South East, they bring you sweetened (usually far too sweetened for my tastes) iced tea. This is amazingly universal.

I live in NC and have been probing the border for years.

For “nicer” restaurants, the universal sweet tea boundary seems to be precisely at the NC/VA border.

  • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    As a Canadian (and probably for the rest of the world) this is the weirdest question. Why would someone serve sweetened iced tea before serving just tea? Why does so much shit come full of sugar?

    • BucketHat@lemm.ee
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      1 year ago

      I read this comment and choked my nestea I’m drinking right now for breakfast. 29g of sugar… It just tastes so good, I’m addicted. Plz send help!

      I had an iced cap from Timmies for the first time in 7 years and I don’t recall it being so sweet. But you are right, everything is fully loaded with sugar nowadays

      • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        There was a time when my day started with a French vanilla and a glazed sour cream donut every day. I haven’t really eaten much fast food in the last decade but I had that combo again on vacation this year and it was like chasing a bloc of sugar with pure syrup. How did I do it?

    • Crashumbc@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      Americans in general don’t drink “tea” they drink coffee. Could be left over from revolution when tea became a symbol of British oppression.

      • Mr_Blott@feddit.uk
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        1 year ago

        In my experience they don’t drink coffee either, rather than over-roasted bitter tarmac

        • Leviathan@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          I’m watching my spending and figured I’d buy the “fruity light roast” from the grocery store and it tastes like what I imagine drinking an ashtray would taste like.

          • Urbanfox@lemmy.world
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            1 year ago

            From someone who once drank an ashtray on a pub bet, I’ve definitely drank some worse coffees.

      • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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        1 year ago

        We don’t drink tea in the same way as the British, but sweet tea is an extremely common drink in the south-east us. It’s almost certainly the top drink after soda and water.

    • Cethin@lemmy.zip
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      1 year ago

      I’m pretty certain it’s because it’s so damn hot a humid in the SE US. Sweat tea is a good way to cool down and get some sugar for energy. I’d guess it mostly replaced Switchel, and it’s now pretty much the standard tea drink. If you’re outside, you almost certainly don’t want hot tea.