Sweet Tea

Known as the "Champagne of the South", sweet tea is a signature drink of the South and is served at mostly every restaurant in the region. The popularity of the drink originates from the end of the Civil War when poverty was prevalent and the ingredients for sweet tea - water, tea leaves, and sugar - were inexpensive. Not only is sweet tea is traditional summertime drink, it is a year round staple.

The first recipe for sweet tea was published in 1879 in Housekeeping in Old West Virginia by Marion Cabell Tyree. Since then, the importance of sweet tea as a part of the Southern diet has been evident. In 2003, House Bill 819 was written trying to make a law that every restaurant serving iced tea must also serve sweet tea in the state of Georgia. The bill proposal was intended to be humorous, but it shows the significance of sweet tea's impact on Southern identity. Recently, even McDonald's has added sweet tea as a dollar menu item nationwide. To be served in more than 13,000 franchises in the U.S., sweet tea must be a pretty big deal.