Clash of Cultures: Tea... Iced or Hot?

Europeans don't drink Iced Tea (for the most part). I don't know if many people outside of the Southern United States really drink iced tea. But people, I am on a crusade.

I grew up drinking iced tea. I grew up watching my mom make sun tea in the summer, outside, in a big jar, and on the stove on rainy days by boiling it, steeping it, and pouring it over ice.  We drank it EVERY NIGHT at dinner (an action that still causes grumblings from my brother Fred who claims that drinking that much caffeinated tea at his young age stunted his growth. The guy is nearly 6 feet tall...quit your yappin' Fred) and it was served at every function, fancy or casual, that we attended. It was the most requested drink at the restaurant where I waitressed in college, and it was served at my wedding. It is a main staple of beverage life in Texas. It is expected to be present, as an option, at every eating establishment, every grocery store, every gas station, and, when I was growing up,  in every home. And it can be found in ours right now. And it will be... until the end of time.

I'm bringing my culture of iced tea to Poland and I am servin' it up! I will not fear condemnation from the locals for "what I have done to tea (gasp, grumble, gasp)!" I will not fear grimaces and smirks and downright spitting out of tea if that is what results. I will stand strong in the name of my culture... my Southern culture...my Texas culture!

If the East gave them HOT tea, then the Southwest can give them ICED tea, dang it. Big ol' full to the brim pitchers of delicious, condensation forming on the outside, ice cube clinking on the inside, iced tea.

And, on the days when I want to really blow their mind's... I'll serve it...full of sugar!

 

P.S. I do not allow my young children to drink iced tea. My father was caught doing so, without my permission. I would NEVER give iced tea to a child, everyone knows caffeine stunts their growth!