[HPFGU-OTChatter] Re: Texan tea

[Jennifer Boggess Ramon]

At 9:50 AM -0500 5/13/02, Amanda wrote:
>
>Hot tea is consumed by New Agers, little old Southern ladies, and people in
>Chinese restaurants who are trying to impress the waitstaff.

And proper Southern Belles, thank you very much!  How else are you 
going to show off that you have proper tea china and silver, 
including those darling little sugar tongs with that spike on the end 
to clean the loose leaves out of the end of the spout?  Besides, an 
afternoon tea is a perfect excuse to haul out the devilled egg plate 
and make watercress and cucumber sandwiches sans crust.

>Iced tea is not
>served or consumed from mugs, it belongs in tall glasses beaded with
>condensation, visions of which shimmer in front of the eyes like a mirage
>after working in the yard for a couple hours in the 95+ weather.

Also good for showing off specialized silver, plus the good crystal 
pitcher . . .

You can tell where in the South someone was raised by whether they 
sweeten the iced tea before they chill it, or when it's poured in the 
glass.  The presence or absence of mint can also signify.

>[Condensation does not happen in west Texas, by the way, which is why they
>can run those cheap evaporative coolers. In east Texas, condensation happens
>so much you can't put anything even slightly cool down onto a wooden surface
>for more than a few seconds. Where I live, it varies.]

I remember one particularly dry day during the last drought when I 
happened to be in Austin.  I picked my glass up, and it wasn't wet. 
This had never, to my recollection, ever happened to me before.

>In any case, hot tea drunk from mugs is not something that would occur to
>most Texans of the ilk who made this list.

Certainly not!  We have proper bone china cups and saucers for that!  ;)

-- 
  - Boggles, aka J. C. B. Ramon			boggles at earthlink.net
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