JACK ESTES BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT MANAGER – BEVERAGE AND CHEMICALS
Origins of Sweet Tea
Do you ever wonder where good ol’ sweet tea originated? Well take a look around the neighborhood. Tea is second only to water as the most consumed beverage in the world. Sweet tea is a staple here in the south and the oldest known published recipe was in 1878 in Virginia. Popularity soared in 1928 during prohibition. Southern ladies and gentlemen accustomed to a little snort in their beverage turned to sugar as the new order of the day. The amount of sugar varies by locale, but the south is the undisputed champion of all time. The peculiar look you witness when asking for your beverage of choice in a northern environment is just caused by the fact that they just don’t know no better, bless their hearts. Long a staple of fried chicken and potato salad dinners, you just can’t beat the refreshment of a large cool sip on a hot summer day. Sweet tea purists maintain that the only way to prepare a proper sweet tea is to add the mixture of water and sugar while the tea is still hot. It is noted that the farther west you travel in the south, the sweeter the tea but make the recipe your own by delightful experimentation.
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THE PERFORMANCE TABLE
