in response to a posting on C&E's Market 314 blog on Friday, June 10, 2005...
topic: a fantastic post on a treasure of the South: Sweet Tea...
"Many have tried to replicate this nectar of the gods (including Arizona Teas and my brother's ex-girlfriend), but I must admit that BTQ's recipe looks to be a winner.>"

firstly: Sweet Tea must surely be capitalized and said with a slightly southern drawl, even when ordering in restaurants, such as Ruby Tuesday's (which has fairly decent Sweet Tea)

secondly: in Shannon's defense (not sure if I should, but I will defend her nonetheless) I am not sure which attempt you are referring to, but her mother does make amazing Sweet Tea...real, sun-brewed, 500g sugar, rich with soothing power and a hint of lemon, Sweet Tea. Shannon tried a couple times and made some pretty good batches when i was in Lynchburg with her and her family, much better than Arizona's version, not quite as good as her mother's or the amazing Waffle House in Georgia. so, not too shabby. i think you were referring to her trying to fix it for us at folkstone once? anyways. a valiant attempt at something very difficult. and the tools she had to work with at our house weren't the best either. anyways. the defense rests. moving on.

thirdly: Arizona's Sweet Tea attempt (subtitled "Southern Style") is acceptable and delicious for a couple reasons. it comes in a really freaking big can, which is cool to drink out of. it is 99 cents. it is sweet. it is good. it is the best sweet tea that you are going to find at a WAWA or 7-Eleven, the only thing better would be Chick Fil-A, Waffle House, or home-brewed real Sweet Tea....but those arent the easiest to procure (no intended, but recognized, double entendre or innuendo in light of alternate definitions of "procure" which could be easily associated with the incredible experience one gets from drinking real Sweet Tea). it also beats the pants off of Lipton's attempt to conjure the southern libation's power.

finally: i would like to support, and will continue to, a company (Arizona Tea), which is attempting to reach out to those who love Sweet Tea. recognizing it as not only a marketable tea option, alongside green, diet and lemon, but in many demographics, being faced with that as an option, all other beverages in the case will fade to the background and there will be no choice to be made. and for the skeptics, one try will make them life-long supporters.

i am sad to report that the most recent Sweet Tea i bought was sold in a bottle. same design, but put in the bottle instead of the can. now, normally, and in all other circumstances, i would rather drink something from a bottle...


Top 5 Mediums from which to consume a beverage:
1: Bavarian Stein (mug)
2: Cold bottle (beer-style, but includes Coke)
3: Glass (wine, short-drink, tall-drink, frosted mug)
4: Aluminium can (must be cold, otherwise superseded by #5)
5: Plastic bottle (the attrocities that these sporting event vendors get away with, serving beer {even if it is crappy} in a plastic bottle just because people might throw a glass bottle on the field. ugh...that is a tirade for another time)



...however in this situation, because the Sweet Tea is now sold in a glass bottle, they feel justified in charging more money for it, even though there is less tea. that is ruining two of the things that convinced me that Arizona's attempt was worth supporting: cheap and a big can. oh well. whatever. if the cans disappear, so shall my business.