Does it matter which goes in the glass first when having half/half tea?
I drink half/half tea. Half sweetened, half unsweetened. I think it tastes better when I put sweetened in the bottom of the glass. A friend says that's silly. It all mixes together. Is my imagination making me think it tastes better when sweet goes in first?
Best Answer
The answer of the question has little to do with cooking, and more with knowing how human cognition (= how do we know that we like something) works. To your brain, "X makes me think it tastes better" is the same as "it tastes better", no matter if X is the chemical composition of the drink or the knowledge that the sweetener went there first, or something entirely else.
It is possible that there is some objectively measurable difference in the drink. It is also possible that there is no such difference. In both cases, the outcome is the same - you have some reasons to like the drink sweet first better. Dividing them into "objectively measurable properties of the drink itself" and "anything else" is irrelevant to the outcome (your taste preferences). It specifically does not mean that, if your reasons turn out to be "anything else", your liking is somehow less real, or that you are being silly.
So, the answer is basically tautological. If for you it matters that the sweetened goes in first, then for you it matters that the sweetened goes in first. And it has nothing to do with whether if matters for your friend or not, whether you could taste the difference in a blind test or not, or any other possible tests of the "reality" of your feeling of liking.
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Quick Answer about "Does it matter which goes in the glass first when having half/half tea?"
Dividing them into "objectively measurable properties of the drink itself" and "anything else" is irrelevant to the outcome (your taste preferences).Why is sweet tea only in the South?
As the theory goes, a place like Memphis\u2014which pairs its barbecue with a sweeter sauce\u2014would have a milder sweet tea. The flexibility in its formula and ingredients\u2014as well as its DIY assembly and lack of alcohol\u2014made sweet tea the South's ultimate drink.Is sweet tea the same as iced tea?
Iced tea is plain brewed tea that is chilled and served over ice. Sweet tea is sweetened brewed tea that is served hot or cold. However, iced tea and sweet tea are often used interchangeably to describe black tea that is both sweetened and iced.What type of tea is sweet tea?
Sweet tea is most commonly made by adding sugar or simple syrup to black tea either while the tea is brewing or still hot, although artificial sweeteners are also frequently used. Sweet tea is almost always served ice cold.James Acaster On The Absurdity Of The British Empire
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Answer 2
Pretty minor but sugar tea is more dense so pouring it on top will be a little faster mixing. But just a quick stir will mix the sweetened and unsweetened tea. No stir is not as fast of mixing as you might guess.
You might be using a different ratio when you pour sweetened first.
Answer 3
This is such a pet peeve of mine so I’m loving this question! My personal opinion: When sweet tea is added first (like they do at about every restaurant here in SC since I’ve been here 20+ years) it will just sit at the bottom of the glass (since tea sweetened with sugar is much heavier that tea with nothing added to it) and the unsweetened will not drop down. No big deal if you have a tea spoon handy, but If you get tea thru the drive thru a lot like I do, it’s so inconvenient. When sweet tea is added after the unsweetened it automatically combines, no tea spoon needed!
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