Is Texas a Part of the South?

[Seamus Fermanagh]

The tea definitely needs to be brewed with the sugar. You can dissolve more sugar in the hot water to create a supersaturated solution when it gets chilled. I can't get the stuff proper here in northern Virginia (I should though, this is "the South"), but they serve it in restaurants all through the south. Nectar of the gods, just don't try it if you are diabetic.

Northern Virginia hasn't been part of the South for quite a while now. It is the scene of many of R.E. Lee's triumphs, and has been part of Virginia since the founding, but it hasn't been part of the cultural South since the 1950's.

Why? Government. Washington DC and the Beltway communities swamped the Southern Locals -- and shoved many of them further South -- when government exploded in the late 1930's and onward. The NOVA counties don't vote, tax, govern, think like, drink like, or connect well with the rest of the Old Dominion (and yes, I speak from direct residential experience in both regions). Northern Virginia is a Mid-Atlantic enclave that occasionally uses the word "ya'll" or honors a Confederate general when naming a high-school.

At best, Northern Virginia has become an extension of Washington, D.C., a place best summarized by John Kennedy when he said is was a combination of "Southern efficiency and Northern charm."


As to "Swee-Tea," adding the sugar at near boiling temperatures does allow you to super-saturate the solution. Classic Sweet Tea literally makes my teeth ache as I drink it -- and I'm the kind who puts three sweeteners in my coffee and actually likes the taste of a Krispey Kreme Vanilla-filled.

[Byzantine Prince]

I think of Texas the same way I think of Florida. It has a metropolitan feel in the big cities and hicks in the bush. By the way I love both these states for the simple fact that their cities rule.

[BDC]

You get iced tea here. I always thought it was a French thing...

[drone]

At best, Northern Virginia has become an extension of Washington, D.C., a place best summarized by John Kennedy when he said is was a combination of "Southern efficiency and Northern charm."

I've never heard that phrase before, hilarious.

It's not very southern but as a DC extension it's still better than Maryland. I do miss Atlanta though, the sweet tea was good there...