Half-and-Half (sweet tea + unsweetened iced tea)
“Half-and-half” (or “half-‘n’-half”) iced tea is half sweet tea and half unsweetened iced tea. The drink is popular in the South, where sweet tea (with lots and lots of sugar) is also popular. “Half-and-half” is cited in print from at least 2002.
Other drinks by the same name include “half-and-half” (dairy product of milk and cream) and “half-and-half” or “Arnold Palmer” (half iced tea and half lemonade).
Wikipedia: Iced tea
Iced tea, also known as ice tea, is a form of cold tea, often served in a glass over ice. It may or may not be sweetened. Iced tea is also a popular packaged drink. It can be mixed with flavored syrup, with common flavors including lemon, peach, raspberry, lime, and cherry. While most iced teas get their flavor from tea leaves (Camellia sinensis) , other herb-infused beverages are also sometimes served cold and referred to as iced tea. Unsweetened iced tea is sometimes made by a particularly long steeping of tea leaves at lower temperature (one hour in the sun versus 5 minutes at 80-100°C). In addition, sometimes it is also left to stand overnight in the refrigerator.
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Half and half (Arnold Palmer)
There is also a growing popularity in the United States of a mixed drink called “half and half”. Often called an Arnold Palmer, the drink was eventually marketed by Snapple, Nantucket Nectars, and Arizona Iced Tea; half and half is a mix of both iced tea and lemonade, giving the drink a much sweeter taste as well as a bite. A John Daly is an alcoholic version of the drink, often made with Sweet Tea Vodka and Lemonade.
Another popular use for the term half and half is that of a mixture of sweetened and unsweetened tea at a restaurant or fast food establishment that offers both choices. This provides a middle ground for those who want sweetness but not as much as the sweet tea being served. In some parts of the southeastern United States, a half sweetened/half unsweetened tea is ordered as a “Chris Rock”, named after the comedian originally from Andrew, South Carolina. Also, in certain areas of Florida this drink can be ordered as a “Caddy Cooler”.
Google Groups: alt.appalachian
Newsgroups: alt.appalachian
From: “Helen” <@abuse.roman.gov>
Date: Sun, 13 Jan 2002 17:03:08 -0500
Local: Sun, Jan 13 2002 5:03 pm
Subject: Re: Interesting Sweet Tea recipe
Here in Georgia when I go to a restaurant I order Half-and-Half. That’s one glass of sweet tea and one glass of unsweetened tea….I then get a third glass and mix it so it isn’t soooo sweet. Golly bum…theses folks make it so sweet it’s just like syrup…..I can’t handle that…I’ll sick with the half and half.
16 June 2002, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA):
House offers half-and-half (half-sweetened and half-unsweetened glasses of tea).
eG Forums
TheFoodTutor
Jun 21 2004, 01:35 PM
Some people order “half and half” and they mean they want half sweet tea and half unsweet. I always just assume that they want a big glass of coffee creamer, though.
Wednesday’s Child
Sunday, September 10, 2006
You Are What You Eat
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I love sweet tea when I’m south of the Mason-Dixon and usually ask for it “half and half”. Half sweet, half unsweetened, lots of ice.
Ask the Waitress
Thursday, November 15, 2007
Endear Yourself to Me!!
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“Is the sweet tea TOO sweet”? “Why yes ma’am. If the spoon does not stand straight up on its own, we just keep adding sugar until it does.” Also, ordering half and half tea is lame. Either you want sweet tea or you don’t. I will let you in on a secret. If someone orders half and half tea, I just give them unsweetened. It saves (me and them) a lot of aggravation. Sweetness is subjective anyway. I have never had a complaint serving unsweetened tea for half and half tea. I HAVE however, had half and half tea sent back for being “too sweet”. Anyway, why haven’t these people heard of Atkins? Diabetes? Splenda? Sugar is the new second hand smoke.
Washington DC & Baltimore Area - Chowhound
When I lived in Central Virginia and Tennessee, we called iced tea that was a mix of half sweet tea and half unsweetened tea, “half ‘n half tea”.
trillgirl Mar 22, 2008 03:30PM
Vineyard Conversation
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Sweet Tea
On a trip to Columbia you get to drink the perfect southern drink; Sweet Tea.
I’m talking real Sweet Tea. Not that fake stuff they started selling in McDonalds. This is the sublime Sweet Tea that is just refreshing. I’m still working my way up to handle it straight. I am still a half and half northerner; half Sweet Tea, half unsweetened. But it’s still great.
Mudpies to Dragonflies
Monday, September 29, 2008
Sweet Tea, Please
I love sweet tea. Well, even after three years of living in South Carolina- where sweet tea runs in the veins of many- I can’t get into the syrupy sweetness of full “sweet” Sweet Tea, so I order my “sweet tea” half and half. That would be a glass of half unsweetened tea and half sweetened tea.
Journey to Noelle - And Our Life This Moment
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Sweet Tea
You’d think I would learn.
Here in our new community you can’t order an “iced tea"and expect to receive the cool, brisk refreshing drink I’ve been accustomed to. You have to specify “unsweet”. Even after 7 months in Tennessee, I still struggle with this concept. Up North you say, “Iced tea, please” and it comes to you unsweetened, as a matter of course. But here in the South, an “iced tea” is actually tea with a healthy dose of sugar. This is known as “Sweetea”.
I freely admit that I like my sugary treats from time to time, so sometimes I have a hankering for tea with a dash of sugar. I order a “half and half”. That’s just about right for me. I can still taste the tea, but I get an extra pow.