I couldn’t help it. After learning the other day about the Strange Maps Blog, I felt certain there must be something else there that might be worthwhile to mention regarding Civil War “memory.” Well, this isn’t exactly Civil War “memory,” but the Tea as a North/South Litmus Test sure as heck has something to do with Southern preference when it comes to sweet tea! And, I’m sorry, but putting sugar in cold tea just isn’t the same thing as tea sweetened immediately following brewing. I can’t tell you how many times this past summer when I was in New England, when I asked waitresses if a restaurant had sweet tea, the waitresses looked at me funny and indicated that there were packets of sugar in the little container on the tables.
That said, take a look at the map below. Not only is Northern preference for unsweetened tea invading Virginia, it appears this hideous practice has a strong foothold in Northern Virginia… and even into the Shenandoah Valley! Egad!
That’s it! This incursion is justification for the immediate release of the “sugar reserves” from the “sugar arsenals” in the Southern portions of the Commonwealth. They must at once be rushed to the Northern reaches of the Commonwealth to fight back those urges to serve unsweetened tea!
Yet another hat-tip to Strange Maps… and eightoverfive where the alarming representation in a map hit the Web! (You really have to go to this ”link“ at eightoverfive… the interactive map is REALLY COOL!)
Oh, and on another note, I personally like to put sugar in my cornbread mix as well… and in some areas of the deep South, I have found that the resulting pan of cornbread is most CERTAINLY NOT REAL Southern cornbread. Looks like there are some mixed signals in the South when it comes to appropriate and inappropriate uses of sugar.
Nick Kurtz
November 19, 2008
This makes perfect sense. When I’m in my travels I can tell if I’m in a Southern state based on how the server responds when I ask for sweet tea. I even was turned down in Richmond, Virginia! Sweet tea is making an appearance in Colorado now too, must be coming up thru Texas.
caswain01
November 20, 2008
Yankee – someone who does not like sweet tea or understand that “RC Cola and Moon Pie” is a well balanced meal.
Damn Yankee – someone exhibiting the above traits who refuses to leave!
cenantua
November 20, 2008
Nick… Alas, Richmond has fallen! (and the South is moving to the West!?… Colorado!?)
Craig… I can handle a moon pie, but the RC Cola thing, I just never liked that much. I wonder, is “goobers in co’coler’ a Southern thing too? I did enjoy that growing up. On another note, I also used to like Yoohoos, but lost my taste for it… or they don’t make it like the used to. Let’s see, what other things can we think of that might be truly examples of “Southron eating?” I do know that I’ve only seen “cracklins” in South Carolina’s Shoney breakfast bars…
caswain01
November 20, 2008
Sounds like you need to just buy one of those Paula Dean books….
My Yankee wife insists that cornbread dressing is a Southern thing. In fact, cornbread ANYTHING is Southern according to her family.
Sausage gravy over biscuits. Buttermilk biscuits that is. Grits of course, on the side.
BBQ sauce was a Southern thing. It was our first attempt at “rising again” but got out of control. After inflicting the Yankees with acid reflux, the dreaded Northerners did what they do best, and re engineered it to a milder form. Now they sell it back to us.
Oh, and Dr. Pepper.
cenantua
November 20, 2008
Certainly, I would think that just about anything with cornmeal is more popular in the South.
Sausage gravy on biscuits… now that’s an interesting one. I had a conversation with a friend once and he made the connection of being interested in Confederate things and Southern things, and tied them both to his interest in sausage gravy and biscuits. I said that I would bet that folks in western Maryland in 1861 may have enjoyed that same dish just as much at their homes… and many of them wore blue.
I like grits, but I never have been interested in the dish in which one combines them with shrimp.
You know, the South might as well be known as cornering the market when it comes to carbonated soda. Coca-Cola in Georgia, Pepsi in North Carolina, and Dr. Pepper in … wasn’t it Texas? From whence did RC Cola originate?
caswain01
November 21, 2008
Royal Crown Cola came from Columbus Georgia if I recall.
Robert Moore
November 21, 2008
Craig, Yup, you are correct… http://www.rccolainternational.com/about_history.aspx
caswain01
November 21, 2008
I see a trend here. How many cities with Confederate operated manufacturing facilities later were the sites of carbonated beverage brand introduction?
Could it be that the shops where depot jackets and bronze Napoleons were produced made great facilities for soda water production?
All you have to do is add in some UFO linkage, perhaps a Big Foot sighting, along with a mob angle linking into the JFK assassination…. and well you’ve got a book to sell on that Art Bell show!
cenantua
November 21, 2008
Shhh… don’t give away our secrets…