Today for the first time in my life I sampled the traditional Southern drink - Sweet Tea. My sweet Southern Belle friend Kerrie has introduced it to me when we went to lunch on this hot and humid day in New York City. She was quite excited when some time ago she had seen a street cart in Midtown Manhattan that offered Sweet Tea served in the traditional mason jar just like they do in the South. So today we went to that cart so I could try the drink that the Southerners drink by gallons on the hot days like this.

Sweet Tea is similar to sweetened Iced Tea, but the difference is that the sweetener is added while brewing the tea or post-brewing, but before the beverage is chilled and served. The oldest known recipe for sweet ice tea was published in 1879 in a community cookbook called Housekeeping in Old Virginia, by Marion Cabell Tyree. The Southerners pronounce "Sweet Tea" similarly to "Sweetie".

The jar in which the tea was served is made of real glass and is called mason jar, but not after masonry. It is named after John Landis Mason - the inventor of the screw-in lid which he patented on November 30, 1858. Antique mason jars are heavily saught by collectors. You can find many of them sold on ebay.

The cart that offered the Sweet Tea is located on 50th Street between 6th and 7th avenues. It belongs to the restaurant Daisy May's BBQ U.S.A.. We also had delicious meat sandwiches that they offered with a very tasty sauce.

By the way, the photo is taken with T-Mobile Sidekick II.

Finally, do you know how to tell if you're in the South? If you go into a restaurant and ask for sweet tea and the waiter has a puzzled look on his face, you're not in the South.