Charlie MV
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sweet tea

I guess it's in my southern genes but I like sweet iced tea. I mean sweet. Did you see the Travolta movie "Michael" and notice how he sweetened his cereal? I'm kinda like that. If you didn't see it it was a cute movie. I laughed till I cried at the cereal scene and the bull battle scene. but sorry, I'm chasing rabbits.

Anyway, I've used Splenda for years but recently it started giving me hives. I KNOW!!! HIVES!!!. Dayum. So no Splenda no mo. I tried sugar and it gives me major league heart burn in tea for some reason. I can eat other stuff with sugar just not sweet tea. I'm tired of giving things up. I no longer drink alcohol, smoke, eat sweets regularly, eat fatty foods etc. We are trying to be healthier and it will suck to have to give up sweet tea.

I tried sweetening it with honey and that is great. Of course there is a "but" here. The but is that I need a half a cup of honey in a gallon of tea to make it sweet enough for me. That will cost about $14 a week and I can't afford that unless I walk everywhere. This is really depressing me. I thought about running myself over with the lawn mower but the damn thing cuts off when you get out of the seat. Safety stuff sucks too.

Anybody have any sweetening suggestions for this poor semi suicidal southern boy?

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applestar
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Have you tried stevia? I've only tried the powdered kind that come in little packets which contains something -- monodextrin, but it's extracted from an herb. I'm trying to find a source for the plant (not frost hardy) so I can try using the leaves in teas directly. Not sure if leaves will work for you since you need the super sugar.

Another idea is Maple sugar -- dehydrated maple syrup.

I love honey in tea too. Maybe you could start keeping your own bees?

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hendi_alex
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I remember that southern sweet tea well. When younger my wife and I usually added one cup of sugar to one gallon of tea and that was only about half as sweet as what was generally served at those southern family reunions. We cut down on the sugar until we adapted to a little less than 1/2 cup per gallon of tea. Now we mostly drink a variety hot unsweetened teas: oolong, white tea, green tea, black tea. Knowing about all of those kinds of teas, and being able to tell the difference between one oolong and another, could mean this southern redneck has strayed way too far from his roots!

My wife bought a sweet herb last year. We didn't use it as a sugar substitute, but did taste it and the herb is very sweet. Some company is marketing a sugar substitute made from the plant. I saw the product advertised a few days ago. The article from the following link talks about both the plant and the new product that is offered.

https://healing.about.com/cs/herbaltherapy/a/stevia.htm

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rainbowgardener
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the stevia that's been mentioned a couple times is supposed to be really really potently sweet. I don't know from experience. I tried growing it one time and it died on me; haven't tried again, though I keep thinking I should give it one more chance. Maple sugar is also intensely sweet, but I would think way more expensive than the honey. Cane sugar? Cane syrup? Corn syrup? Are you also allergic to saccharine and aspartame?

That's all my ideas....

cynthia_h
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Tell me about it. I *can* drink unsweetened ice tea, but WHY WHY WHY???

Background: maternal grandmother born in Texas, lived all her life in the South.

Mother: born in Texas, lived in South until she married my dad, then we moved everywhere: Colorado, Wyoming, California, Panama, Texas (!), Florida.

I graduated H.S. in Florida and went to college in Atlanta, not only the capital of the Southeast but the capital in SWEET iced tea. Remember: this iced tea had to compete with the original Coca Cola!!! (Yep: International HQ of Coca Cola in Atlanta, right across the street from Georgia Tech, my first college.)

So...

I remember, CharlieMV, that you grew a passel of veggies last year, so many that you had 'em coming out of your ears, freezer, and fridge. There are bound to be some beekeepers living near you...hmmm...see where I'm going with this?

Perhaps one or more of those beekeepers would absolutely LOVE your home-grown, fresh, organic produce as it comes in over the season. The bees will be producing over the season, too...maybe all y'all can get some deals going?

Honey-sweetened iced tea...

I know what you mean about giving stuff up, too: migraines have forced WAY TOO MANY THINGS out of my life. Imagine living like this in the United States (Georgia and California) since college:

--no salted meats or snacks
--no orange or especially salty cheeses (e.g., feta, Colby, orange cheddar)
--no walnuts
--no chocolate (unless I'm willing to risk a migraine)
--no alcohol (it's not the *alcohol* per se, it's everything else that gives wine, etc. its character; cooking the alcohol off just concentrates the migraine toxins)
--no aspartame (Equal, etc.)

Also:

--working in fluorescent light + being in sunlight = probable migraine
--going to a movie = probable migraine due to sudden shifts from light/dark I got a migraine from "Mulan," for G-d's sake :evil:
--"too much" sunlight + heat = almost for-sure migraine (in fact, I have one today b/c I worked in MIL's yard yesterday from approx. 2:00 to 5:30 in 97 deg. heat, but I have only one afternoon a *month* to wrestle that thing into something resembling cooperation)

you get the idea.

So, when a man says he can't even use honey in his iced tea, I try to help where I can. You betcha...

Find that bee-keeping vegetable lover and work out a deal. Find two or three, just for back-up and the non-growing season...

Cynthia H.
El Cerrito, CA, in exile from the South

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Stepdad is diabetic with a gnarly sweet tooth, and I turned him onto agave nectar, which he loves, and stevia, which I have yet to hear about, but no glycemic index at all (which is why I put down the only sweet tea I ever tasted and cannot do it, and I have a sweet tooth, y'all). Seems if it won't nearly kill you instantly, Southerners are not interested. :lol:

But I love you all for BBQ and boiled peanuts anyway (and an OCASSIONAL chicken fried steak. With redeye gravy and mash. Maybe some deep fried cauliflower? With pecan pie for dessert... :D

(headed for fridge for last of falafels and salad, and knowing it just ain't right... :( )

HG

Charlie MV
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Thanks to all. Cynthia and Scott y'all gotta remember I'm a slow reader so I miss a bunch of sarcasm when you talk so fast. I am on a stevia search locally as we speak. I'll also find out if the maple sugar is available locally. Sounds like my kind of sweet and I'm sure it wont hurt my tooth. if I can find cheap honey, I have a virgin pump made for fiber glass resin that should work very nicely. It was messy trying to get all the honey out of the 1 cup measure thing. I actually better understand poor Pooh. That is some kind of sticky stuff.

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Scott just doesn't know what's good, Charlie. But he's right: felafel (sp?) and salad...just isn't right. But at least he knows that pecan pie is good. :lol:

It was a real job, trying to find good pecan pie when I left Atlanta for California. My own pie crust isn't worth eating. :oops:

The idea of swapping with a beekeeper doesn't fly, huh? So sorry; it seemed like a good fit.

Tip on getting the honey out of the measuring cup: use a glass measuring cup, if you have one, so you have a good handle to hold onto the cup. Get a spatula and scrape the last of the honey into the tea. This technique doesn't work as well with a spoon, and using your finger is just too much temptation (at least for me).

Unfortunately for the world, I type like I talk...very longish... :oops:

Hope some of my ideas work!

Cynthia, still feeling like an exile...

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hendi_alex
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"I tried sugar and it gives me major league heart burn in tea for some reason. I can eat other stuff with sugar just not sweet tea. I'm tired of giving things up."

Sounds like you already gave up REAL sweet tea, cause anybody knows that REAL sweet tea is sweetened with pure can sugar! Just kidding, but then again, NOT.

Interesting to hear you talk about giving things up. The topic is one that comes to mind from time to time. First thing that comes to mind is giving up things because of either aging or changing interests. I used to be an avid volleyball player and an avid runner. At some point the volleyball was hurting my feet and began to interfere with running. At that point the decision was made to quit with volleyball. With in the past five years I got to thinking that running 30-50 miles per week could be taking too great a toll on the joints, so the decision was made to quit running. Now in a seasonal way it is run/walk or walk/run 3-4 miles per day, and no more than 4 days per week.

When looking at other habits/activities it is the same. We used to eat pure southern cooking. Always a meat with two or three veggies for the evening meal. Veggies always seasoned with bacon drippings or fat back. Now we eat vegetarian about 80% of the time for me and about 98% of the time for the wife. And then there is television. I can remember the sweet anticipation of the new fall line up, and hardly being able to wait to see the new shows. I have not watched a series in well over ten years, and never know what new shows are coming on or even if a show has been running for multiple seasons. Just have no interest in balancing my schedule around that of a TV show. Also can remember the love, the passion of watching both college football and college basketball, especially the bowl games and the baketball tournement. Now I may watch a game if it just happens to be on when I happen to plop in my favorite chair for a rest, but otherwise, generally never know who is playing what, when.

A thread got a little deep the other day. In one post I mentioned the certainty of change, that nothing is so certain as change. Well, for us, switching from sweet tea to unsweetened specialty teas is a change, but IMO, an improvement. We still drink sweet tea, but probably only 10% of that consumed prior to the change. At home we brew hot tea and drink it unsweetened. Sweet tea is a treat for when we are traveling. WRT eating mostly vegetarian. Some would look at that as giving up meat, but that is not really true. It really involved the substitution of one choice for another choice, in my mind a superiour choice. The foods we eat now are far superior to that heavy salt heavy fat southern cooking of our early 20's.

So yep, things are constantly changing. New choices are often replacing previous choices. But giving things up, don't really think so. Just doing different things with my time and eating different foods prepared in different ways.

Gotta admit however, having to set the evening wine aside would be a loss. Can't imagine a good substitute for that daily celebration and ritual.

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hendi_alex
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BTW here is a tune, tells what that Georgia sweet tea can do for a guy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SexFjbe2XWA

ljcoolj
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I use the liquid stevia and love it, love it, love it!! Here's a link for you, its where I purchase mine. Half the price it is in local stores.

https://puritan.com/stevia-380?searchterm=stevia&rdcnt=1

Charlie MV
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Update... I found a store that sells agave nectar and stevia. I bought the stevia. Agave nectar is way way way outta my budget range. Thanks for the link to cheap stevia. because that is expensive too. I'll post results after we make the next batch of tea. We also bought unbleached sugar to try. Cynthia, the honey isn't off the table but I need to find a local supplier who may be interested in a barter. I also have cabinets/furniture in my barter repertoire as well as boat rides so don't feel like an exile.

Alex, I walk about 20 miles a week and lift 3 days a week and feel I just don't get enough protein in a less meat/fish diet. I guess you're right about the not real tea thing. I like the flavor of Splenda sweetened tea but the hives aren't worth it.

I've come to the conclusion that sweetening without sugar is gonna be a really expensive proposition.

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hendi_alex
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BTW happened to think of beet sugar as a possible alternative. It is sucrose just like with cane sugar, but some people are supposedly allergic to one and not necessarily the other.

"Beet Sugar is derived from the refining of sugar beets. It contains 99.9% pure sucrose and is suitable substitute for cane sugar in all recipes.

Some people who are allergic to table sugar may be able to use beet sugar. Use the same amounts as cane sugar. "

https://www.iherb.com/Now-Foods-Beet-Sugar-3-lbs-1361-g/12283?at=0

Though not quite as sweet as sucrose, fructose might also be an alternative.

https://www.iherb.com/ProductsList.aspx?cid=1605&gclid=CPrypZv5gpoCFUpM5QodezikFg

The online store links are just for info and price comparison. Have never shopped at this particular business.

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Until demand swings the supply side, and economies of scale make it less expensive, that is likely to be the case. You can call stevia an herb but you still cannot say sweetner; that is why it isn't out there in a big way yet, you can't market it at all. The price has being held artificially high for a long time by a lack of FDA approval, but I think we are going to start seeing those prices come down fast soon. Maybe not the agave nectar, and sorry, I should have warned you, but the stevia will get cheap fast, especially with Cargill behind the Truvia brand, but can we be sure we aren't getting into GM products from Cargill? Nope.

[url]https://www.steviazone.org/stevia-still-banned-fda.shtml[/url]

And they are still holding true stevia plants hostage, with the colusion of the FDA, to protect their brand, squashing a product that could reduce obesity, and diabetes, in favor of their genetically modified derivative. Shame on everyone involved. :x

Get some plants; they haven't made those illegal yet, get them started (looks like cuttings will work best for more...) and always keep one or two alive to harvest cuttings from. Inside in a south window for winter...

[url]https://www.steviazone.org/stevia-seeds.shtml[/url]

[url]https://hirts-gardens.amazonwebstore.com/Stevia-Herb-8-Plants/M/B001N1DF20.htm?traffic_src=froogle&utm_medium=organic&utm_source=froogle[/url]

I am buying some plants myself this year; the seed route is hit or miss (more miss) and you can get plants that won't be sweet from seed, but once you get a few good plants you can take cuttings from them (clonally) and get the good stuff every time...

Grow your own sweetner and your sweet tea gets that much sweeter!

HG

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hendi_alex
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I went to Lowes today and noticed that they have stevia plants in stock.

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Now we are talking!

Grow yer own!

HG

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applestar
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Found another source: https://mulberrycreek.com/cgi-bin/herbman/page.cgi?p=a_z;letter=S
Scroll down or use the browser's word search for 'stevia'
Haven't ordered from here before but looks good. Went ahead and ordered a couple pots of stevia along with 4 other plants (must order in multiples of 6 -- I'm guessing for packaging reasons -- but not hard to do :roll: :wink: )

Charlie MV
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OK, the stevia tastes good in the tea and it's almost affordable as a store bought thing. I'll head to our Lowes tomrrow. I hope they have it because I never buy online. I'm not savvy enough to protect my credit cards from the online goblins.

petalfuzz
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Here is how I make my iced tea:

tea over ice in a 2 liter pitcher
add 2 tbsp Fructose (granulated)
add 1/2 tsp stevia (powder)

Fructose is sweeter than sucrose, so you use less. Stevia tends to be bitter, but it is super "sweet" so you don't need much of that either. That's why I use both sweeteners to balance the bitterness of the Stevia. There are less bitter blends available, but they cost more. I get mine here:

[url]https://www.swansonvitamins.com/SW924/ItemDetail?n=4294967188[/url]

[url]https://www.swansonvitamins.com/SW1083/ItemDetail?n=4294967188[/url]

Stevia is about $1/oz and one container has lasted me more than a year. Fructose sweetens 35 pitchers of tea, so the cost of it isn't much. It takes time, but your sweet tooth can be tamed. When I first started making tea, I'd use 1/2 cup sucrose per pitcher. Then I switched to 1/4 cup fructose and weaned myself further to current recipe. When made this way, each glass only has like 20 calories.

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Charlie MV wrote:OK, the stevia tastes good in the tea and it's almost affordable as a store bought thing. I'll head to our Lowes tomrrow. I hope they have it because I never buy online. I'm not savvy enough to protect my credit cards from the online goblins.
You never buy online, whaa?? You are seriously overspending if you only buy local--for real!! If you buy online and need your info to be secure, just make sure your website checkout has a little padlock icon next to the website address. Or the whole address bar will turn yellow, and the https: will turn to https: meaning secure. I've been buying online for years and have never had a problem. Period.

The primo example was last winter I wanted to get some essential oils. At my local health food store, the cost would be $61.65 including tax. Shopping online at two different stores and paying two separate shipping charges, I paid $42.86 for the exact same oils. So I took my time, shopped for the best price, had my stuff delivered to my house and I still saved $20!

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Charlie MV wrote:Update... I found a store that sells agave nectar and stevia. I bought the stevia. Agave nectar is way way way outta my budget range. Thanks for the link to cheap stevia. because that is expensive too. I'll post results after we make the next batch of tea. We also bought unbleached sugar to try. Cynthia, the honey isn't off the table but I need to find a local supplier who may be interested in a barter. I also have cabinets/furniture in my barter repertoire as well as boat rides so don't feel like an exile.

Alex, I walk about 20 miles a week and lift 3 days a week and feel I just don't get enough protein in a less meat/fish diet. I guess you're right about the not real tea thing. I like the flavor of Splenda sweetened tea but the hives aren't worth it.

I've come to the conclusion that sweetening without sugar is gonna be a really expensive proposition.
You might be surprised how little stevia liquid you need to make a glass nice and sweet. I always just make tea and sweeten each individual glass, but then again, my hubby doesn't like his tea sweet. Also, just an FYI on the agave. I've used it in the past but did NOT use in iced tea. It only worked for my hot tea. Wouldn't dissolve in the cold.

ljcoolj
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petalfuzz wrote:
Charlie MV wrote:OK, the stevia tastes good in the tea and it's almost affordable as a store bought thing. I'll head to our Lowes tomrrow. I hope they have it because I never buy online. I'm not savvy enough to protect my credit cards from the online goblins.
You never buy online, whaa?? You are seriously overspending if you only buy local--for real!! If you buy online and need your info to be secure, just make sure your website checkout has a little padlock icon next to the website address. Or the whole address bar will turn yellow, and the https: will turn to https: meaning secure. I've been buying online for years and have never had a problem. Period.

The primo example was last winter I wanted to get some essential oils. At my local health food store, the cost would be $61.65 including tax. Shopping online at two different stores and paying two separate shipping charges, I paid $42.86 for the exact same oils. So I took my time, shopped for the best price, had my stuff delivered to my house and I still saved $20!
Oh yeah, I second the online purchases. I buy all natural soaps, deodorants, etc. Vitacost.com is one of my favorite sites to buy these things. We have a local store here that sells all natural products/vitamins, I can usually get them almost HALF off on vitacost.

Charlie MV
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petalfuzz wrote:
Charlie MV wrote:OK, the stevia tastes good in the tea and it's almost affordable as a store bought thing. I'll head to our Lowes tomrrow. I hope they have it because I never buy online. I'm not savvy enough to protect my credit cards from the online goblins.
You never buy online, whaa?? You are seriously overspending if you only buy local--for real!! If you buy online and need your info to be secure, just make sure your website checkout has a little padlock icon next to the website address. Or the whole address bar will turn yellow, and the https: will turn to https: meaning secure. I've been buying online for years and have never had a problem. Period.

The primo example was last winter I wanted to get some essential oils. At my local health food store, the cost would be $61.65 including tax. Shopping online at two different stores and paying two separate shipping charges, I paid $42.86 for the exact same oils. So I took my time, shopped for the best price, had my stuff delivered to my house and I still saved $20!
Carolyn, I'm sure you're right but I don't do any business that involves my banking info on line. We still talk to bankers face to face. As I said I don't feel literate enough on a computer to protect myself from on line goblins.

I don't like what online business and big box stores have done to our small local retailers. I have to deal with big box stores to survive but I'll never like it. If there is a way to buy from the little local guy reasonably, I will. I am especially not comfortable giving credit card information to a business that doesn't even publish it's street address. I've never used an ATM! I'm sure it's as irrational as fearing flying. I guess if I had have grown up using computers I'd feel differently.

Thanks for the tea recipe. I'll try it.

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Gary350
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I have not used white cane sugar for many years that stuff sucks. White sugar has no flavor at all, it is just sweet.

I buy Dark Brown sugar it has a very good carmel flavor and it is great in coffee or tea.

When I lived in Illinois I would never drink ice tea. Northerns have no clue how to make good ice tea. First of all they boil the tea and that brings out all the bitter flavor in the tea. Next they drink it with no sugar. How GROSS can you get.

Now I live in Tennessee. Southern folks know how to make good ice tea. Never boil the water 165 degrees F is just fine. Heat the water sugar mix to 165 deg F remove from the heat and add the tea. Let it set for 10 minutes then it is ready to drink.

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Yet to a Japanese person brought up on sen-cha, that would be distasteful and they would miss the bitter. And I spent my formative years in England, where they take their tea very seriously, and consider asking for a third lump rather impolite...

To each their own; gross is as gross does... my morning cup is English breakfast tea with milk and two, my afternoon cup is green or white tea, sometime fruit flavored, but no milk or sugar. I even make tea from my garden plants; mostly catmint and monarda. I embrace most teas...

HG

Charlie MV
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I have a theory. My wife snorts derisively at it as she does most of my ideas but.. Is it possible that when someone else drinks bitter tea, it tastes really sweet like the way birthday cake frosting tastes to me? I've always suspected that anyway. I do really wish I was as happy eating broccoli as I am eating birthday cake.

This whole thing is kind of a pisser because I don't eat sweets hardly at all except for sweet tasting beverages. I exercise a lot and work hard controlling my diet. I guess it's broccoli and water from here on out. :x

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applestar
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You could try this: GRADUALLY -- and you can make it any small step you want -- decrease the amount of sweetening you put in your tea. :wink:

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As you back off of complex refined sugar, less sweet things start tasting more sweet. That's been my experience anyway... sure there is a bitter component to tea, but especially in white and green tea I find a sweet , vegetive note; more pronounced in the nose...

HG

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This is definitely off topic but speaking of how hot to heat the tea water, I was reminded of this story (I grabbed a good summary from a travel guide. "bonze" is an archaic English term for a Chinese or Japanese Buddhist monk):
sng2008-003
(Wednesday 19 March) Sculptures of the meeting of Hideyoshi Hashiba (羽柴 秀吉; later Hideyoshi Toyotomi, 1537-1598) and Sakichi (佐吉) the young bonze [later Mitsunari Ishida (石田 三成, 1560-1600)] in front of JR Nagahama Station.
One day Hideyoshi, the lord of Nagahama-jo Castle, dropped in Kannon-ji Temple (観音寺, now in Asahi-machi, Maibara City [米原市朝日町]). Sakichi, a young bonze, observed Hideyoshi in a muck of sweat, and brought him a big cup full of tepid tea. Hideyoshi drank it up and asked another cup. The bonze fetched a cup of half full of a little warmer tea. Then Hideyoshi asked one more cup of tea, Sakichi brought a smaller cup of hot tea. Hideyoshi liked Sakichi who was very careful of making tea, and took him into his service. Sakichi was later called Mitsunari Ishida who became a high-ranked retainer of Hideyoshi. This anecdote, known as "San-Kon-no-Cha" (三献の茶; Offering Three Cups of Tea) has been repeatedly handed down for generations. Sakichi was born as a child of a powerful clan in Ishida-cho, Nagahama City (長浜市石田町), five kilometer east of JR Nagahama Station.

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applestar
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This is definitely off topic but speaking of how hot to heat the tea water, I was reminded of this story (I grabbed the story summaries from a couple of photo travel guides. "bonze" is an archaic English term for a Chinese or Japanese Buddhist monk):
sng2008-003
(Wednesday 19 March) Sculptures of the meeting of Hideyoshi Hashiba (羽柴 秀吉; later Hideyoshi Toyotomi, 1537-1598) and Sakichi (佐吉) the young bonze [later Mitsunari Ishida (石田 三成, 1560-1600)] in front of JR Nagahama Station.
One day Hideyoshi, the lord of Nagahama-jo Castle, dropped in Kannon-ji Temple (観音寺, now in Asahi-machi, Maibara City [米原市朝日町]). Sakichi, a young bonze, observed Hideyoshi in a muck of sweat, and brought him a big cup full of tepid tea. Hideyoshi drank it up and asked another cup. The bonze fetched a cup of half full of a little warmer tea. Then Hideyoshi asked one more cup of tea, Sakichi brought a smaller cup of hot tea. Hideyoshi liked Sakichi who was very careful of making tea, and took him into his service. Sakichi was later called Mitsunari Ishida who became a high-ranked retainer of Hideyoshi. This anecdote, known as "San-Kon-no-Cha" (三献の茶; Offering Three Cups of Tea) has been repeatedly handed down for generations. Sakichi was born as a child of a powerful clan in Ishida-cho, Nagahama City (長浜市石田町), five kilometer east of JR Nagahama Station.
In front of Nagahama Station is a statue of Toyotomi Hideyoshi meeting a young Ishida Mitsunari at Kannon-ji temple. Hideyoshi was doing falconry and took a break at the temple where Mitsunari served Hideyoshi three cups of tea. The first cup was a large bowl of lukewarm tea to quench Hideyoshi's thirst. The second cup of tea was a medium-size cup and medium hot. The third cup was a small cup of hot tea so Hideyoshi could taste the tea. This so impressed Hideyoshi that he hired Mitsunari on the spot.
https://p-www.iwate-pu.ac.jp/~acro-ito/Japan_pics/Japan_SNG/imageidx.html
https://photoguide.jp/txt/Nagahama,_Shiga

The Helpful Gardener
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So, cooler for thirsty people, and less so for those who would like to linger...

Wakarimashita!

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Charlie MV
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Applestar, your post makes me want to read the Shogun series again.

Update on sweeteners. The stevia gets kind of bitter tasting after a gallon or so. I am happy to say the unprocessed [unbleached] sugar sometimes called raw sugar hasn't given me heartburn after 2 gallons. I may try mixing the stevia and raw sugar as well.

Kroger is selling a sweetener made from stevia but I don't know how it's processed .

I've read that chlorine is used in the manufacturing process of Splenda and I assume it's used in the bleaching of white sugar. I know I developed a hyper allergic reaction to chlorine cleaners in the navy. That may have something to do with my recent reactions to Splenda and white sugar. The way this is going it may take months to find an acceptable sweetener. Thanks for all the suggestions on sweetening as well as weaning myself from sweets. Giving up sweets isn't on my list right now.

cynthia_h
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Charlie, this is an idea from out of left field (or further), since the "bee keeper swap" doesn't seem to work for you.

Would it be possible to plant sugar beets? Then process their juice yourself for a sweetener? That way, you could be absolutely *certain* that no chlorine had been used.

Cynthia

Charlie MV
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Cynthia, I'm still seeking out bee keepers. Bear in mind that we're in the heart of farm country. Most of the bee keepers are gardeners anyway so vege barters haven't had much appeal. Sugar beets would be a way off as far as growing and I have no idea if I'd like it as a sweetener. I think I'll experiment with the suggestions I've gotten so far. Like I said I have to use any given idea for more than a few days to get a feel for side effects. It took a few gallons of stevia sweetened tea for me to decide I didn't like the bite it had. I'm on my 5th gallon of raw sugar sweetened tea and so far, no heart burn. If the heartburn doesn't show up this will be a simple and cheap alternative to splenda and processed sugar. I can up my walks and lifting a tad to keep the weight down.

I may still try the sugar beets just to see if they'll grow here.

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applestar
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This had been bumped by a spammer, but I liked re-reading it, I’m bumping it again. :>

gumbo2176
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Many years ago I befriended a couple who had moved to my neighborhood from Georgia and I can still taste that young ladies iced tea------or better yet, syrup. I've never had a glass of liquid taste that sweet in my life and finished it not to appear rude, but always refused after that and asked for water instead if offered anything to drink.

Now, this is not to say I don't sweeten tea when I make it, but for a gallon of steeped tea, I'll use a level soup ladle of white sugar and that ladle can't hold more than 1/3 cup of product, if that much. I also like to use mint in my tea and will snip several leaves picked fresh off my mint plant in the pot on the patio.

imafan26
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You need to be careful with stevia, too much and the bitterness comes out instead. I like honey in my tea. The flavor is different but honey is actually sweeter than sugar and if you use less to get the sweetness, it saves a few calories.

Nyan
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Tea you say?
I've lived in the south for 25 years and have yet to drink any tea at all!
(My mother gave it to me when I had the flu as a youngster, and I could never stand the stuff after that.

But, if you want an idea of what a moderately sweet tea is, the recipe we used (based on Chik-Fil-A's proportions) is about 40 oz. volume of white sugar for 5 gallons of tea. I've seen other people use over 60 oz. for five gallons which has got to be almost a saturated solution.

I grew some stevia a few years back, and it grew quite well, but I couldn't figure out how/why to add it to Dr. Pepper... LOL

(It was very sweet in a strongly chlorophyll sort of way.)

I think it was splenda that was discovered by accident when one of the scientists working on it misread the notes that said to "test" it and he thought it instructed him to "taste" it. It was patented as a sweetener soon after...



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