If you get iced tea in this area, you get something quite often resembling Lapsang Souchong(aka campfire tea). This is a byproduct of Mark at MEM dominating the majority of the market in Boston and his chosen 'iced tea blend' has been a slightly smoky black tea in it.
I hate it.
No disrespect to Mark's palate but it's horrible. When you get Iced Tea, you get unsweetened plain cold black tea, that's pretty much the New England way and that smoke note is painful. When you go South, at a certain point, you start getting an option. Sweet Tea.
Now, it's not bad when done with care and made fresh but I grew up with my mother constantly making note of the simple fact it's sweetened tea, not sweet tea. She was a teacher, go figure. I had long since broken my habit of putting sugar in beverages but I got a chuckle from this page on 'Sweet Tea'and the Sweet Tea Line.
Someone had the gall and sense to do a paper on iced tea and used it to define the Mason-Dixon line. What it means is that you are in the South when you reach the point that 'sweet tea' is being offered.
It doesn't mention anything about the Great Lakes region and the most disgusting raspberry iced tea phenomenon there but that would be a good followup.
