Unsweetened Iced Tea

[thebadmamajama]

Here in the midwest you get plain old iced tea.; You add your own sugar if you want.

That's the iced tea I know and love. I can't eat sugar so it's really important that wherever I go I have to stress UNsweetened. Nonsense.

You lose the joy of the bitterness of tea when it's sweet. Yuck.

 

[LocktownDog]

I'm not real picky about iced tea. But let me tell ya ... when I order a lemonade, that does not mean I want it pink or with raspberry flavoring or strawberry chunks. I want it sour enough to scrunch up this face and scare the kid in the next booth.

Richard

 

[Chanfan]

I must admit, having become diabetic, unsweetended iced tea is now a blessing. But it is difficult to find in bottles, true. Fortunately, it's easy to get in espresso joints, where it's become my default no-carb drink.

 

[Doh!]

I used to frequent a Japanese restaurant that would serve some sort of liquid sweetener if one ordered the iced tea. No problem dissolving.

It may have been corn syrup. Whatever it was, it was good.

 

[BeBopBaby]

Just plain old unsweetened iced tea for me. I like it with a slice of lemon. I'm not a big fan of sickly sweet iced tea.

Although the greek restaurant by me serves my new obession - a homemade spiced iced tea that tastes similar to chai. I think it has a mixture of nutmeg, cloves, cinammon, and something citrus-y in it. I keep trying to bribe the owner into giving me the recipe, but no luck.

 

[griffer]

Here, here, sir!

I am constantly frustrated, and so is my wife, but she has had some luck in finding unsweetened tea recently.

Of course, my Grandfather's best friend, may he rest in peace, always declared that there was no way he was going to pay for what was essentially tap water with dirt in it. Wendel alwasy said that with a twinkle in his eye and then picked up the whole tab.



(As for sweetening cold drinks the answer is a super saturated sugar solution, simple syrup- easy to make, lasts forever. I am so happy that my local independant coffe shop started putting it out to go with the ice brewed coffee. Yes, cold brewed coffee with coffee ice cubes.)

 

[dhermann1]

My grandmother and my mother were serious iced tea fanatics, and I am to a lesser degree. Their big issue was WEAK iced tea. Either they take hot tea and dump ice into it (which they also do with coffee) basically resulting in weak brown tinted water, or there's so much ice in it that it's flavorless. My method for getting sugar dissolved in iced tea, is just a lot of stirring. It will eventually dissolve. You may get a large sediment of undissolved sugar at the bottom, but then you just make sure the straw doesn't get too close to the bottom of the glass. lol
The real solution is to make your own iced tea in advance, as strong and as sweet as you like it, and keep it always available in the fridge. We don't HAVE to buy drinks in cans and bottles ALL the time, right? I just really hate, on principle, paying money for air and water, which is what half of American shopping carts seem to be full of nowadays.

 

[be_lovely]

OK, I have to say something here..... I grew up on Sweet tea my entire life, and when my grandmother died, no one would ever be able to make it the same, maybe it was the glass pitcher she made it in, or the way she made it, but all I know is that it has never been the same since. Now, I will, however, say that when I was living in North Carolina, they had some decent tea down there, and what I discovered is that it had alot to do with the brand tea bags. So, now I will let you in on my little secret on how I make what is CLOSE to my grandmthers tea.... (It is sweet tea, but without sugar)
OK secret to great tea is : boil about 2 cups of water, and a 1/2 c of Splenda together, then put in 3 "Luzianne Teabags", brand specific, then let it seep for about 20 minutes, take a 1 gal pitcher, put ice in it first, about an inch or so, then pour the tea mixture on the ice, and add cold water to top off. Leave tea bags in the pitcher to soak, and then for some excitement, you can add sliced fruit to the pitcher, and the more it soaks, the better the tea tastes. Oranges, peaches, lemons, even surprisingly cantalope, and honeydew make a great addition to a good tea. Hope you all can find a lil enjoyment out of my lil recipe for a nice summer treat. OH and dont forget, MINT LEAVES are good too!!!!

 

[Twitch]

I think the sweetened iced tea in bottles and cans is probably an automatic response by manufacturers whose statistics show that a majority of consumers prefer some level of sweetening in their tea.

The arrived at some standard level of sweetness by taste testing no doubt. Sodas have a predetermined amount of sweetening too. If you like a cola less sweet you buy Coke. If you like it a bit sweeter you buy Pepsi. I imagine there is some variance amongest the bottles and cans of tea also.

 

[Micawber]

I'm not an iced tea fan I'm afraid but there again being British I've been brought up on tea served hot with milk

How to make a perfect cup of tea.

 

[ohairas]

I know Lipton used to make an unsweetened in a bottle? I haven't looked for it in quite a while because, my rant, I need DECAF. Try finding that bottled up.. not...
Or in a restaurant... I usually just ask for water. And restaurants usually don't carry diet/decaf sodas.
I can't have caffeine, period.

Not only is this frustrating, but do the companies really think the stores have the room for all of these zillions of different flavors of stuff? Not just drinks.. but like, Pringles chips. How many friggin kinds do we need? UGH.

Nikki