On Sweet Tea--Liquid Manna From Heaven

I love days when the sun is shinning, the temperature is hovering at the low triple digits, and I've got nothing more important to do than drink an ice cold glass of sweet tea.

Several years ago my husband and I were stationed on the East Coast, just outside of the Nation's Capital. The first time we walked into a restaurant and were offered a choice between sweet tea and unsweetened tea, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.

Needless to say, things have never been the same.

When we moved to California it was depressing to realize the ease and availability of our favorite liquid refreshment (the kind without an alcoholic kick) wasn't what we'd gotten used to.

To this day, the only place in town offering sweet tea is McDonalds, and their version is more like an infusion of liquid sugar than a beverage the human stomach can actually digest.

Have Sweet Tea. Will  Travel.

My answer to this? I brew my own at home. Believe it or not, there is a science and an art to the creation of a perfect pitcher of sweet tea.

Not too much sugar so you're thrown into a diabetic coma after your first sip, and not too little so you're confused into believing you're drinking plain tea.

Believe me, there is a difference between 'sweet tea' and tea with sugar.

Huge difference.

As long as I've got my tea maker, assorted tea bags, and my choice of sweetener, I'll be just fine no matter where we're stationed.

What's your favorite sit-in-the sun beverage?

R.S.