If you aren't from the South, you can't possibly understand the controversy surrounding what would seem to most to be a trivial matter, but if you are from the South you know how frustrating the timing of a little sugar can be. Whether to sweeten while it's hot or not, that is the question. My mother did, her mother did, and probably several generations back did. The hot tea melts the sugar and it seems to meld into the flavor of the tea as it cools down. But try to sweeten tea after it has cooled down, or - Heaven forbid! - after the ice has been put into the glass, and you know how utterly frustrating that attempt can be. And the taste? Well, it ain't the same. Pass the sugar, please.
Edited by relms on Jun 20, 2007 at 11:52 AM GMT (Reason: Border correction)
Just another fantastic shot Robert. Always so well done. Beautiful.
I almost attempted a pineapple weed tea shot. We have an abundance of pineapple weed growing around our driveway on our farm, it is a sweet sister to chamomile. My wife thinks I am crazy to drink tea made from driveway weeds.
Thanks, Steve. I hope that you drink your tea unsweetened. As you can tell from the 1/2" or so of sugar in the bottom of the glass, this one might be a little syrupy. This shot was the third or fourth take, so the sugar was starting to accumulate.
Tom Basore wrote:
Just another fantastic shot Robert. Always so well done. Beautiful.
I almost attempted a pineapple weed tea shot. We have an abundance of pineapple weed growing around our driveway on our farm, it is a sweet sister to chamomile. My wife thinks I am crazy to drink tea made from driveway weeds.
Tom,
Several years ago, I had an elderly client who made all these strange looking, greenish concoctions from weeds that she found along the road or in the woods. She was always trying to get me to try some of her nettles tea or other home brew. Actually, some of it wasn't so bad, and I couldn't argue with the results; she lived to be well into her nineties.
Glad you like the photo. Thanks for the kind words, as always.
Fantastic shot!! The lighting is just perfect, the sugar spilling over the side of the glass gives me the impression that the tea is sweetened to excess. The mint leaves gives the shot added color. This is the perfect WA entry.
-Nick
If you can put up with it, here's my personal abbreviated history of Southern iced tea:
When I moved to North Carolina more than thirty years ago, I was frustrated to find that the only beverages served in most restaurants were pre-sweetened (absurdly oversweetened) iced tea and, of course, soft drinks and coffee. Iced coffee was unheard of. The only exception was around Asheville, where unsweetened tea was an option. I therefore went all over the state asking for iced coffee, and teaching waiters the mystery of how to make it (!). After about a decade, the "unsweet" tea option began to spread eastward, and eventually reached even the coast.
With unsweet tea on the menus, we dealt with just the situation that you describe (how to get a modest amount of sucrose to dissolve in near-frozen water). Therefore, my wife and I began to ask for "half and half" tea - a mix of their sweetened and unsweetened stuff. After about ten years of this, and our friends spreading it far and wide, I find that waiters no longer are surprised by the request, even in some pretty out of the way little towns!
I don't know why I felt moved to write this lengthy tome that will probably bore most of you...maybe I just wanted to push the envelope for OT posts!
After all that, I need to repeat: wonderful entry, just great!
I must admit it's something new to me but thanks for the recipe - might try this myself. Great colorful image Robert and I like the sugar spillover. By the way is that a special kind of sugar or is it just the regular kind?
Wow hat looks tasty. Sure did not know about the sweetening techniques. Somehow I like to be able to sweeten it to my own taste as all seems to taste different.
That is a really good shot Robert. Color, Sharpness, motion, got it it all.
Christian
nlamendo wrote:
Fantastic shot!! The lighting is just perfect, the sugar spilling over the side of the glass gives me the impression that the tea is sweetened to excess. The mint leaves gives the shot added color. This is the perfect WA entry.
-Nick
Nick,
I shot this outside in the afternoon after the sea breeze had kicked in, and it kept blowing the sugar away from the glass - so much so that I abandoned the idea of using a blue napkin beneath the glass. It kept getting covered with sugar, and so, knowing that I could not control the wind, I removed the napkin and let it blow.
If you can put up with it, here's my personal abbreviated history of Southern iced tea:
When I moved to North Carolina more than thirty years ago, I was frustrated to find that the only beverages served in most restaurants were pre-sweetened (absurdly oversweetened) iced tea and, of course, soft drinks and coffee. Iced coffee was unheard of. The only exception was around Asheville, where unsweetened tea was an option. I therefore went all over the state asking for iced coffee, and teaching waiters the mystery of how to make it (!). After about a decade, the "unsweet" tea option began to spread eastward, and eventually reached even the coast.
With unsweet tea on the menus, we dealt with just the situation that you describe (how to get a modest amount of sucrose to dissolve in near-frozen water). Therefore, my wife and I began to ask for "half and half" tea - a mix of their sweetened and unsweetened stuff. After about ten years of this, and our friends spreading it far and wide, I find that waiters no longer are surprised by the request, even in some pretty out of the way little towns!
I don't know why I felt moved to write this lengthy tome that will probably bore most of you...maybe I just wanted to push the envelope for OT posts!
After all that, I need to repeat: wonderful entry, just great! ...Show more →
Jess,
Thank you for this very interesting dialog. Jane often uses the half and half technique when she orders coffee - half regular and half decaffeinated.
Medowlark wrote:
Really a nice shot here Robert. It looks most enticing and would sell the stuff to anyone. The sweat on the glass really does it for me.
al
Al, with the near-100% humidity here in the south, the sweat on the glass is the easy part.
Bill Sutherland wrote:
I must admit it's something new to me but thanks for the recipe - might try this myself. Great colorful image Robert and I like the sugar spillover. By the way is that a special kind of sugar or is it just the regular kind?
This is a great picture with excellent detail and very nice composition Robert!
The cascade of sugar really makes a clear connection with the ‘Sweet’ theme, even for those that are not from the South…
Thanks, Jim and John. When I was setting up for this shot, I couldn't help thinking of my Aunt Leila. Right after I finished high school, I lived with her for a few months, and she always had tea on the table for every meal. Always! She never served coffee. She served tea for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Iced tea, winter and summer. Oh, and you can be sure, it was pre-sweetened. No undissolved sugar in her tea glasses. Good stuff!
Good heavens. that's gorgous!! Bravo, Robert! the color, and lighting are perfect as is the misture of color. Today's a hot day here in LA. i could've used one of those!
