Who’s Doing Their Sweet Tea Right?

Meeting our six local sweet tea teams:

Raising Canes large sweet tea. photo delani taft/ lariat

This local adventure was in quest of who has the best sweet tea within a five minute drive of my moms house. As someone who doesn’t like soda or overly sweet drinks, sweet tea is one of the few exceptions. Lets meet our contenders.

McDonalds, Raising Canes, Chick-Fil-A, Lucilles, Popeyes, and Sonic.

1. McDonalds- You have a 50/50 shot with this one. Half the time it’s the best there is, the other half it tastes like mop water with a little bit of sugar. I had a friend who used to work there who told me how it was made. “We brewed the regular tea in the morning and would pour it into a bigger bucket to mix it. The recipe called for five pounds of sugar per batch so it was really bad for you.” said Austin Mendez. Granted, it is the cheapest for $1 any size so that’s a plus. 5/10, not worth the risk of getting mop water.
2. Raising Canes- Kind of expensive, almost $3 for a large. Might as well spend the extra $2 and make it a gallon to take home. Although I did this once, and tried drinking it all within the “best if used within 4 days” timeline and my stomach hated me for it after the second day. They have the good ice that crushed up into little pieces. I usually only go here for the tea. 9/10, best taste.
3. Chick-Fil-A- When I think of sweet tea, for some reason I never think of Chick-Fil-A. Not the best tasting, kind of bland. I really only go for the chicken sandwich. 3/10, not my favorite.
4. Lucilles- Not a drive through, I’ve only tired this because I work here. I feel like this place only has sweet tea to fit the “southern charm idea”. It is rarely ordered, not that sweet. Made with regular tea and simple syrup. 1/10, tastes gritty.
5. Popeyes- Another place that I will only get it if I happen to be there for the food. Not too sweet, but also isn’t ever that cold. 4/10, wish it was not stored at room temperature.
6. Sonic- The crushed ice is the best part. I don’t normally go to sonic because I’m not a huge fan, but all their other drinks are way too sweet so thats why I stick with the tea. 6/10, mostly for the ice.

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